Is anybody have 5 year old students?
Any suggestions how to make the lesson more interesting?

I have some ideas but always will be happy to hear more opinions.

I had a few five year old students.
One was amazing and learned so very quickly. I was able to utilize more serious teaching techniques with him. He excelled so well.

The other five year old-well, I had to utilize a lot of games. Unfortunately, I had to start her out in the Bastien method-which I'm not a fan of. But, it worked for her. They had already bought the book and the method I used would not have been suitable for her.

Ear training, music notation drills, and taking simple five notes pieces and turning them into games seemed to help for her. At her age, her attention span was pretty short. So the more varied exercises and tasks completed during her lesson the better she learned.

I have taught several children this age. I really enjoy using Faber's My First Piano Adventures because it has many games and opportunities to use a multi-sensory approach to teaching.

Progress will be much slower in general, and you must do lots of repetition and reinforcement of the same ideas.

I have none.

I absolutely fear teaching anyone younger than 9.

Anyone who can get good results with a 5 year old is a master.

About 25% of my studio is 5 year olds. What a great age! You need to recognize the difference a 5-year old boy and a 5-year girl; the boys tend to be less mature and not as focused. Sometimes they need to wait 6 months or so before starting lessons. Typically, this age cannot sit still at the piano for a 30-minute lesson, so you'll have to be creative. Sing, do some movement activities, utilize some rhythm instruments like sticks, tambourines, cluster bells, triangles, etc...

You should definitely check out Faber's My First Piano Adventure series. Although it's actually geared more for 6's, I've know several teachers who have had great success with 5-year olds. You might even consider teaching two 5-year olds in a 'duo' lesson (activities are more fun when there's a friend to share with). I would also include the parent in the weekly lesson.

Much respect to you D3!

Young children seem to like coloring....ie: quarter notes, half notes, rests, etc.

This is the best time to expose them to music.

There are several books out there to help them along with this.

H1

Has anyone ever thought about including technology??? The best program out there is Music Ace Deluxe, has all the things kids love! Also two sites: www.musictheory.net and www.teoria.com have exercises and tutorials which can easily be adapted to suit the 5 year old's level. Used all three resources successfully with 4 1/2 and up! The best thing about the web sites is that you can use it from beginner level to much more advanced "theory pro" level (RCMT Advanced Theory - former Grade 2 Theory).

Thank everybody for information!