I have seen many good suggestions for how to teach kids, and I would like to use some of them, but several of them use "stuff" to help teach. My problem: I go to some of my students houses to teach lessons.
Question #1) Do any of you teach lessons at your students' houses?
Question #2) If you do teach at your students' houses, how do you stay organized and how do you know all the "stuff" you will need to use in that lesson? (I find it hard to bring everything I might need with me )

This is one of the main reasons I don't teach away from my own studio. I think you would just have to be pretty organised, perhaps having a sizable bag packed. This becomes a problem if you teach at home as well, because the things couldn't live in the bag if you know what I mean, and would find their way back to your shelves . I'd be interested to know how those who teach at the students' homes do this. I suspect they'll be organised people!

I teach a few nights a week after my normal job with up to 6 students a night back to back.

I teach at their house and just keep a mental note of what is needed for each lesson and/or student. All my handouts are in folders. Till recently, I've not even had to take a bag with me as I like to keep as lightweight as possible; I've walked to the next students' house. A good memory and preparing beforehand goes a long way. You could always have a notebook to jolt down what is needed and check it off before going to the lessons.

I'm okay with the remembering part, what I'm having trouble with is sometimes there is something I wish I would have brought with me, something that I didn't know I would need until I get to lessons...

Oh, and I do teach at home too...so the things I bring to my students' houses definitely don't live in a bag, and they usually do find their way back to my shelves!

I prefer not to teach at my students' houses, for several reasons:

--When students come to my house or studio, they're on "my turf". Distractions are at a minimum, and I have lesson materials readily available.

--Gas is expensive! By having students (or parents) do the driving, I save money and avoid having to raise my prices. Some parents carpool or run errands during lessons to take advantage of the several stores nearby my house.

--My students have the advantage of playing a well-tuned grand piano at their lesson. This motivates and inspires many who do not have a quality instrument available in their own homes.

Once in a great while I will teach in a student's home for a limited period of time (such as when a parent had surgery and was unable to drive for a few weeks). But generally, I avoid it--let them come to me!

I, too, do not teach in student's homes, but I did at one point. The best thing to do is as miaeih said, write down notes to yourself (the thing you didn't think to bring) and bring it next time. That activity will just have to wait. For me, that usually isn't much different, as I always encounter a new problem that requires research on my part to find or create just the solution. Sometimes, I have something at my fingertips, but many times I don't want to take up valuable lesson time looking for something anyways.

I stopped teaching because we live in central Wisconsin, where the winters can be pretty harsh (still snow on the ground as we speak!). It was very tough to get around and still be on time, even with allotting 15 minutes in between lessons. I felt that I could teach more students if they came to me, thus saving me on the travel time, and of course, the gas prices (though that was long before the recent increases). The fact that I was sometimes teaching on a keyboard, with dogs and siblings wanting to get in on the attention to the student, etc., also played a factor in my discontinuing teaching in the home. There have been times when someone will ask me if I do that, and usually it's someone with 3 children. I simply tell them that she could drop them all off, and they can do homework, or play on my keyboard and computer, play music games, etc. while they wait.

If you enjoy going to their homes, then keep on doing it, as I know that it gives you an edge in competition with other teachers in the parent's mind. Whenever I did this, however, I charged extra.

You would basically have to charge extra, wouldn't you? I freelance as a translator and so I sit comfortably in my home, receiving and sending most of my work electronically. I also tutor two family members who are learning a language and for this I drive to their house. The one hour lesson involves a half hour round trip, which isn't bad. But that is an unpaid half hour, and a bunch of them would add up to one or two lesson time slots if I were primarily a teacher. For me, because I can go days on end without seeing a living soul, it is a wonderful break, and I get plied with delicous snacks, gourmet coffee, sometimes breakfast ... I doubt that usually happens in music lessons, though.

When I taught in the public school system I had my home room, but I was also the traveling French teacher. I had to load up my equipment in a cart, and I was not able to have a permanent display of charts and such on the wall which I would have in my home room. Moving stuff around, and discovering that something I could use was still in the home room was a pain.

I only travel to one family's home (they have 3 kids ). At the moment, I also teach at a music school and not out of my house yet so I usually have a bag o stuff with me that I bring to lessons even if I don't think I'll need it. You just never know for sure what may come up in a lesson! I also take my monthly planner whever I go and I'll make notes to myself on post-its and stick them on the current or following week as a reminder.

i only go to 1 students house, but i also teach at 2 studios. i just have a medium/large canvas bag that i tote around with me, that i can put EVERYTHING in.

what all do you think you need to bring to lessons? i have lined paper, staff paper, 2 different beginner books (to work out of if a student forgets their book) a theory and answer book, 4 sets of flash cards, and 2 string games, as well as pens, pencils and stickers. that's really not alot, and it all fits into one bag...

Get organized! I am a traveler teacher at the school district, so I have to be extremely organized. I have a travel-size filing cabinet that I take with me with all the music in tabbed folders. You should see my file under "Classroom Management."

For my piano teaching, I do lesson plans, so I bring with me all the materials I will need for lessons. Once in a while I do forget things, even if I do write everything down in my planner. It's one of those things when life becomes hectic.

I teach at two homes because they have no way of getting to me.

Preparation before the lessons is the same as if I were teaching at home - I need to make sure I know what I want to cover and have the appropriate resources ready.

Then I just grab my 'tools' being a pencil; pen; eraser; metronome and sticky tape. And of course my diary with all the details of prior lessons which I update each lesson.

I stuff it all in my bag and it's not too bad except that I have to remember to dig it all out of my bag again when I get home.

One day I'll invest in a sort of teaching briefcase and fill it with a second set of teaching tools that I just use while teaching out of my home. That would be ideal.

I don't teach at students' houses although I did when I first started teaching. There are benefits to paying home visits. It is easy to keep in regular contact with parents. Sometimes I don't see parents for weeks on end as they just drop their kids off for the lesson. Also I think it is good to experience the piano they use at home and see what their practice environment is like. I can't be 100% sure what my students practice on at home or if they even have a suitable space in which to work. They tell me they have a piano but I have no way of knowing what it is like. These things can play a major part in how they progress. Unfortunately it make very little financial sense to go to them unless you have no choice.

I only have 2 students and I have them coming to my house. This is mainly becuase I barely charge enough to cover the costs of a bus to their homes and back!

It's an interesting point about knowing what a student's piano is like. Does anyone see a marked difference in students who play on an electronic piano to those who have the real thing?

PandO,

Yes, definitely! I find that usually those who play on an electronic piano do not play dynamics very well. Of course, if they have a very battered up or ancient piano, they don't play dynamics very good either!

I have nothing against electronic pianos, though.

I am not a teacher, but I might add to the discussion - my teacher mostly teaches at her home, but if she has to come to me, she charges additionally. That's what we set up together and it's fine with me, and completely understandable. I don't know how well she is organised though, as I have almost everything we need - from scores, through metronome, ending on the piano itself ;-) I prefer to take lessons at her place though, mainly because of a different instrument which gives me ability to feel something different than at home from time to time.


M.