Do you think its fair to charge adult students full price for the month if you(the teacher) plan to take the same student breaks that kids at school take?

What should adult students say to this? To an adult its just another week and very costly when you(the teacher) decide to take a week off for Thanks Giving and two weeks off for Christmas to coincide with kids school breaks, yet we (the adult students) are expected to pay for the whole month.

Plus you (the teacher) reserve the right to take a couple weeks off during summer too.

My teacher doesn't charge for the 2 weeks off over the holiday. I'm surprised that some do.

During December, I ask my students and parents tell me when they are going to be available. I know some of them travel and be out of town. I charge only the weeks that they are available. I do not think it is right to charge someone when your students are not going to be available for teaching.

Mmm let me clarify, when I said "you", I was referring to "you-the teacher" not "you- the self reference".

No one charges for something you're not getting. If a teacher is pro rating lesson fees over 40 weeks, say, but setting an uniform monthly payment, it means some months you'll be ahead, and other months you'll be behind. Most people appreciate a constant payment rate rather than a constantly fluctuating rate.

Let me add that when students need special considerations, such as adults often do, then I charge by the lesson, at the full rate. Tuition students get first choice of lesson times, but don't get make-ups, as they're paying for a lesson time each week. Adults are ad hoc, and pay for the lessons they take. The booking keeping is greatly increased (unless you're accepting payment under the table), scheduling is in constant turmoil, and in general, everything is unpredictable. The greatly increases the teacher's work load and why adults have the privilege of paying full freight.

I can respect that some months youll be getting 5 weeks for the price of 4, but lets examine that against the kiddies school breaks.

I dont know anyone that would prefer a constant rate if it was ultimately not in their favor as opposed to a fairer fluctuating rate.

1 week spring break(March)
3 weeks Summer vacation
1 week Thanksgiving (November)
2 weeks Christmas (December)

Total 7 weeks vacation full paid

Assuming you have Tuesday lessons, there are 4 months that have 5 weeks worth of lessons that would be to your(the student) advantage if you paid a constant rate of 4 lessons each month.

March (teacher break because of student spring break)
May
August (teacher break for summer vacation)
November (week off for thanksgiving)

So I am paying for 6 weeks of full vacation for 1 extra week? yeah, no thanks to that constant rate. Time to find a different day. Especially when the rate is very high for the teacher.

I charge for a block of lessons for adults. They pay for a block of 12. If they don't cancel ahead and don't show for the lesson, I don't refund that. But if they cancel 24 hours in advance, we simply move the block one week in their favor. I take the normal school breaks, but they don't really figure in because of the 12 lesson block.

There's no possible answer to this question, because you're expecting us to understand all kinds of things about your particular situation that you haven't actually told us.

Did you make an agreement at the beginning of your lessons, to pay in a certain way? If you did, then now is not the time to be asking questions.

Are you paying per lesson, or are your fees averaged over the time that your lessons are taking place?

You say "to an adult it's just another week" but in general that is not necessarily true.

The vast majority of piano teachers follow the school calendar because the vast majority of piano students go to school. That is unlikely to change.

Again, missing information. This analysis is not valid unless you know the teacher's expected rate in dollars per hour, and unless you have asked that specific question then you might not know it.

I understand your consternation. I didn't express myself well. What I meant was not over 40 weeks, but 40 lessons over a period of time, say 46 weeks. If you show up, you get all 40 lessons, and the added benefit of a constant monthly payment rate.

As an adult student I can say .... clarity is key. When I signed up with the studio I take lessons for it was crystal clear what every month was the same cost regardless of the number of lessons. Breaks were clearly stated and there was, presumably to pre-empt questions, words similar to John's above saying that the tuition was averaged out over the year.

The only break that we don't pay for is the summer one where the studio switches to a pay by the lesson scheme.

I actually pay twice a year and get a decent discount for that so it makes no difference to me.

Oh heavens, no! I just charge adults when they have a lesson. Many of mine travel, and I just don't charge them when they, or I, am gone. I like John's idea of charging adults a little more because they require more flexibility, but right now, I only charge a dollar more.

Carol, it's not so much that I charge adults more, rather, if you pay tuition, you simplify my life greatly, and to show my appreciation, the fee is somewhat lower. The base rate is the base rate, and if any one, regardless of age, wanted extra lesson time on an ad hoc basis, that's what they would pay.

We're off for two weeks as well. I'm my teacher's only adult student and I pay as I go. I guess unlike some (a lot?) of adult students, I'm very reliable and have asked for only one reschedule so far this year. I don't pay more for being a pay as you go. I get an hour for the 45 minute rate because I'm on non-primetime and as she put's it, "I like getting to teach at least one adult."

My son, who takes lessons during the primetime, is on a 40 lesson during the school year plan. The break weeks that we're paying monthly for right now will be returned to us, so to speak, at the end of the semester. Once we've paid for 40 lessons, we get 40 lessons even if we don't have to pay anything in june. I've been assured that if we needed a leave of absence and gave reasonable notice, that she would carry our credit into the summer. That's way more than fair and beside her stellar teaching, is why we adore her. I try hard to return the favor by doing all the things we should. Payment is on time, checks don't bounce and we never treat her like our time is more valuable than hers. The pleasant result is that by being assiduously professional, it has created a space where an honest friendship has developed.

Kurt

I would imagine that it's all explained clearly in your teacher's studio policy.

Many of us full time teachers work in this way by charging 'tuition' at a fixed monthly rate so that our income doesn't fluctuate. You are not paying for lessons you haven't had, the cost of your lessons is simply being spread out over the year.

My students take 39 lessons per year and pay for exactly that ammount. The total cost is divided into equal monthly payments. I still get complaints at this time of year as I will be taking two weeks off over Christmas but I just refer people to my policy which explains it clearly.

The idea was hard for me to wrap my head around in the beginning. What you have is a package of x lessons per semester or per year, paid in equal installments. But since the payments are monthly, it feels like paying for lessons per month, getting bargains in the 5-week months, and getting cheated in the 2-week months (holidays). Maybe if the word "installment" was used instead of month?

I'm not sure it would make much difference how you word it. To me it's always made perfect sense as the majority of people get paid monthly and also pay their bills monthly. I have a budget plan for my utility bills and don't feel cheated paying the same over the Summer as I do in the Winter, isn't it the same kind of thing?

This is what I did last year. Students paid the same amount each month, so some months I got paid less per lessons, and some I got more. It all evened out to the 34 lessons per school year.

I'm not doing that this year because of my health issues last year, I had a lot of lessons to make-up. So now I just have students pay for however many lessons there are in the month.

When you are in your own field, things are very obvious and clearcut because of your own familiarity. In my own present profession, I continually deal with novices to my services. Even very intelligent and competent people often need to have things explained that I would take for granted. I always assume that they don't know and explain, and then invite questions for what they might not understand. You would be surprised at the questions one gets.

Besides the specific profession, salaried employed people cannot imagine the world of the freelancer. We're sort of like the Deep Space Nine hologram doctor who only exists when the computer activates it, pops up saying "How can I be of service?" and then zips back into the bowels of the computer as scrambled digits. We have monthly bills to pay, and need for down time to relax or go shopping. But we also do not have an automatic pay cheque that is always the same, with vacation pay, pension contributions etc. Many people simply cannot picture it.


Some of us don't have such arrangements. For utilities, I don't want to become complacent, use more without realizing it, and then suddenly be hit with a bill for underpayment after reassessing. This won't happen with lessons, of course.

Maybe not an automatic pay cheque but by charging tuition in this way it's possible to get pretty close to that ideal.

The key is to be as clear as you can in your policy so that people understand exactly what they are getting for their money. I would never go back to pay as you go as unfortunately too many people take advantage. If you (the teacher) don't really need the money then I suppose it doesn't matter.

I would be fine if the tuition covered X amount of lessons per year and in my teacher's policy it says the tuition covers 4 lessons per month, so my teacher charges for 4 lessons and you get the 5th lesson for free in the months there would be a 5th lesson but in return you pay for her vacation weeks. My problem is that the months I would get a 5th lesson free are the same months she is taking vacation so I would never get a 5th lesson in any month and certainly would not be getting 4 lessons a month when 7 weeks are free paid vacation on her part. It wouldnt be so bad if I wasnt having to pay $400 a month. She came back and said that extra costs were for pre lesson work etc.. but what I dont understand is that the students who take less time with her than I by only 30 min are having to pay less for the same amount of prep work by my math.

When the policy says 4 lessons a month and Im not getting 4 lessons or any free 5th lessons but am paying out of pocket for 7 weeks of your vacation.

NO TY.

What if you calculated how many lessons per year everyone should be getting and come with an arrangement?

The problem with self-employment is that the freelancer must have several sets of skills. They may be very good at their actual profession (teaching, bricklaying, etc.) but lacking in business knowledge. So they don't know how to calculate, how to administer, or how to present to clients. They may know how to interact with you in the sense of teaching you as a student, but not in the sense of a service provider with a customer. I've had to grapple with the same thing in my business, and previously I also tutored. My fee did not reflect the preparation time or traveling expenses for the lessons I provided.

KS

I did the math on this so you figure there are 52weeks in a year. Studio Policy states 4 lessons a months: 4 x 12 = 48 lessons per year. Teacher takes total of 7 weeks of vacation in line with student breaks: 52 - 7 = 45 lessons she is actually giving. So I am getting 45 lessons out of the year but am paying for 48 lessons. So I am giving away 3 free weeks total for $300 for free. She said that tuition expenses included her extra work and made that out to be why the extra wasnt just free, but I read that as the monthly cost includes that extra stuff, otherwise it would say extra fees may apply and not state that you are getting 4 lessons a month.

So why not just divide the total annual fee you'd pay by 45 lessons, and you'll know what your teacher's per lesson rate is. If it's too high, quit; if you're getting your money's worth, then stop griping!

Speaking as an adult student, I've always been charged by the lesson. The teachers have been very flexible about scheduling lessons, understanding that a working adult with a family needs more flexibility. I wouldn't consider a teacher who operated differently. That said, I keep up my end of the bargain by being committed to doing the work and showing improvement at each lesson. I can understand a teacher's frustration with a student who is constantly cancelling and not showing any improvement.

I ended up telling her that I thought she was amazing person and excellent teacher but that I would need to find a more affordable studio because there was nothing about extra costs outside of tuition in the policy and Im not getting the number of lessons indicated in the policy.

So was there a point to the question if you already did that?

I'm still stuck back at where you are paying $400 per month! This must be some extremely high-level teacher, or awfully long lessons? Or is that a normal price in Fort Worth? Here in Albuquerque an hour lesson goes for about $45.

By the way, I have a rather irregular schedule, and my awesome teacher is willing to schedule me every 2, 3, or 4 weeks as it becomes possible. I am so grateful that we're able to work this out, as I would not be able to go every week. I reliably show up when I'm supposed to and pay at the time.

When I used to teach I charged by the month, but on the basis of how many lessons were expected that month. I've never heard of charging for lessons that the student didn't get-- and charging for prep time-- yeah, in your dreams.

I often noticed that if a student failed to show up, it was likely to be on the first lesson of the month, when they were expected to pay.

It's very interesting and useful to hear how the successful professional teachers here at PW handle their businesses. Thanks.

Elene

No, let me clarify. Based on the info I got from you guys I did that. I did some thinking over the past day or two when I posted the question and made my descision. Not that I did that and then asked the question.