well...remember my one student that I had a rough time with.

Guess what, i've actually had to move to her house since my mom,dad&little bro have left 1st just because she's my aunt.

I knew that it was going to come again

My aunt the other day could'nt handle her little girl so she sweetly told her little girl:" Why don't you get Amelia to teach you piano again, since you are so bored and have nothing to do.", I immediately made up an excuse that I did'nt have my teaching materials with me which was true.

Well, my little cousin has'nt forgotten since then, she has been bugging me about it, ever time she asks me I will just firmly say,"No, my exams comming and I have too much to get done", I know she's actually thinking and she's knows I have the time to do it since I'm teacher a student and babysitting as well.

I have been suggesting that she goes to another teacher but my cousin insists that she only wants me to teach her and my aunt just obviously is going for someone who charges less and knows how to teach.

Anyway i'm about to leave canada soon, in just less then 2 months time and in less then a months time, after my teacher's concert, I will be moving to her house to make sure that I am ready for my ARCT exam on June 21st so aboviously I will be able to make use of this excuse this time.

So wish me all the best and I hope that I will be able to hear all of you teachers say that you're so proud of me for finally being able to be firm and make a decision.

Amelia:
Stick to your guns about your cousin. She would only just be getting used to piano lessons and have to switch teachers because you're leaving. That's no way to do piano lessons. Just tell her mother that it is in her best interest to find another teacher if she's serious about lessons.

Best of luck to you on the exam!

Don't ever teach obstinate family members!!

When I was in middle school I was duped into teaching my younger cousin. He would get all upset and throw toys. Now he's failing out of college.

I don't know the backstory, but it sounds more like you're making excuses to the family of why you can't teach her rather than the real reason? Perhaps stating the real reason (I assume something in her behavior?) might cause them to ease up on the begging?

Amalia, sometimes diplomocy is a good thing to exercise. You seem to be handling it well. I only got the tail end of the story when I joined in December. Best luck in your ARCT exam and the move that follows.

for those of u who have no idea what happened...

I started teaching my cousin in 2006, she did well at 1st but after christmas 2006 she just stopped practising partly probably because her sister stopped lessons.

well...I tried all sorts of ways but nothing motivated her, she just practised on and off and no one supported her at home. In the end she decided to take a break as my aunt said as she did'nt want to practise and was not moving at all.

I started group lessons slightly later on for her and another little girl, it was working for a while at least it seemed to till she came one week screaming to me that she did'nt want to come for her lesson and demanded that i cancel it but I talked to the other little girl who was her best friend and still wanted lessons so I did carry out the lesson for that day.

After a while, I don't exactly know what happened in between but my cousin apologised to me and wanted lessons again, so I let her back and made it clear that this time was her last chance as well to her mom and dad.

She still never got her work done, started falling behind so she decided that she again wanted to stop.

that was last year around october and I haven't taught her since

Ya, she's definitely had more than enough chances with you. Since you told her that was the last chance, you need to stick to it. It will help her in the long run with making good decisions. And if she really wants to learn, she can always take from someone else.