Dd’s teacher suggesting I sit in on the lesson so Dd remembers what to do

I completely agree with you, but it definitely isn’t a popular view on here!

OP, if your daughter is becoming less enthusiastic about piano but she’s still interested in music, it might be worth exploring if there’s a different instrument she’d be interested in learning.

Then you must have forgotten how exhausting it is to have younger children and how important a half hour break in your car might be for your sanity.

Or she has poor working memory like my youngest, as many children and adults do. My older daughter would remember her homework and probably everyone else's individually if she were in a group situation, my youngest would have certainly forgotten what to do by the time she gets home.

Have you read the thread?

Yes, grown up children.

Teacher said it would be supportive for child, parent complained that it would interrupt them sitting in their car on their devices. Parent then swiftly moved along to maybe it would be better, rather than them accompanying and helping, if the child gave up all together.

It’s not worth continuing if they are not practising and are not showing any enthusiasm in lessons

when dd stopped practicing he said it was fine because she was engaged during the lessons and making progress.

If she is really struggling, is it possible that the teacher is trying to push her to learn music that is too difficult for her. If she has not been playing long it may be she needs to work on recognising notes. There are apps to practise this.

Learn to read music?? Like that is so easy. I mean, I know what the basic notes are and technically how they appear on the page but I couldn't sight read to save my life.

If she isn't that enthusiastic then I'd stop the lessons. I wonder if she's saying she doesn't understand the homework when really she doesn't want to do it.

Do you have a child?

For most of their activities you drop them off and pick them up, and are even expressly forbidden from being in the class! There's absolutely nothing wrong with waiting in the car and going on her phone even if she is playing Tetris for half an hour, never mind doing life admin. What would you rather her do?

Oh and my DD sometimes says she doesn't know what to do. Its usually means she can't be bothered practising.

Most children don't actually enjoy practising at this age. Effective practise can be quite boring, its taking the bit of the piece you find hardest and doing it repetitively. Or it can be things like scales which are crucial foundations but plenty of children dislike. Learning an instrument requires discipline.

Apologies, I was responding to you previous point about how you'd rather sit in your car on your devices.

I would probably sit in to a couple of lessons to be agreeable about it, and see if it makes any difference. I feel like having a parent there might distract them a bit though.

When DDs learned piano we had to buy certain books for them, and the instructions were very clear to all, to practice certain pages. Why can't the teacher give something like that which is clear to all?

I'd see how she organises the homework during the lesson then suggest making mutually agreeable adjustments so that it works for you all. And if h/she is inflexible it might be time for a change to a different teacher. Some are much better than others.

"Worth continuing".

It is not worth continuing if they are not going to be a concert pianist? What if they just enjoy it or it's improving?

It sounds to me that sitting in the lesson would be a good way to start. Then the teacher can explain to you both and you are more likely to understand the written reminder in the notebook than your daughter.

Perhaps you can learn to read music at the same time, so that you are better able to support her?

My DD is a bit older now but been in drums since the same age. We get videos from the teacher by WhatsApp and she uses them to remember what she’s been working on for practice and before a lesson.

I can understand what she’s supposed to do, I recognise the order of things but I can’t replicate it. The videos are helpful for breaking things down for me and DD.

ETA, I think (know) my DD would clam up if I sat in she would hate it.

Ask the teacher to switch her WhatsApp to recording a voice note to send to you each time she gives your DD a bit of important advice or instructions during the lesson. Then she's not having to write out each thing separately as well as saying it - she's soeak8ng to your DD but the phone us recording it at the same time, but you can remind DD of what was said in the lesson when she comes to practicing.

Can you read music yourself op?

It would be usual at age 7 to expect about 10 minutes a day of practise. Usually there would be a piece or two they are practising, in addition to a couple of scales, and there might be finger exercises like dozen a day or Hanoi.

If you can even just get the teacher to write the name of the piece, then get dd to

• start playing it separate hands if its new, then try to bring the hands together slowly
• if shes already learned the notes, get her to play it through and listen for note mistakes or sections where she falters/slows down. Get her to do those little bits on their own slowly 3 or 4 times, then play the whole piece through again.

Re-read your comment.

If YOU cannot remember what to do, and your DD cannot remember what to do, then perhaps this isn't the right teacher for your daughter?

Piano lessons at this age need to be super fun and shouldn't leave a child not wanting to practice.

I have a 7 year old learning an instrument. I go in on his lessons so I understand what's happening and to support him practicing at home. I had zero musical knowledge prior to this. I feel like im having lessons too 😆

We had a similar problem with dc. What worked for us was short instructional videos made and sent via a mobile phone.

It helps to sit in lessons. However, it helps even further to listen to practices, especially with a young child and a non orchestral instrument.

As I posted above, can you tell us what was written in her notebook which you didn't understand? One of us might be able to help.

I am sure you are invested in her so why not sit with her for this piano lesson as well. If it's too much for you, maybe it's too much for her too? I'm not getting at you - I teach piano and I sometimes get children (and parents) coming along who are just doing far too much already and the piano is the last straw as it were. Piano is hard and needs a lot of work to really get going.

You may as well learn how to play aswell then?