Music teacher again...

[Worriedandlost]

Need some view from the outside please....

dd1 was with her violin teacher for 3 years, rapid progress, excellent exam results. She is also doing second instrument.

ds2 (4yo) started his lessons in September.
I must admit I am still struggling to adjust to two children at school/after school activities/homework/one child has sp.needs/dh is working away the whole week. As a result ds2 music practice is not my highest priority and sometimes when I am short of time I just ignore it. But he seems to be better at it than I expected, so dropping the lessons is not an option.

I was away last week and returned only two days before the lesson and did not have time to practice again. Then at the end of the lesson teacher said "it is so offensive that you don't practice with him as my time worth more than you pay and if he does not practice there is no point in having the lessons". The tone of her voice matching the content of her speech-basically telling me off. Apparently I am not a new parent to her and surely dd1 would never had good exam results if I didn't control her practice, not being involved, etc.

Am I right thinking that this was over the top (esp wording as she could make her point in a more polite way) or am overacting?

[Worriedandlost]

Blowninonabreeze this is good idea! I came to the same conclusion some time ago and even got a second violin for my dd, so that she could play spontaneously. It ended up being cracked and on shelf though :(
One of them has problems with spatial awareness, another one is just too young and careless... But they can still use piano :)

[Worriedandlost]

Thank you Blowninonabreeze, I put in the basket and may consider buying later

[ReallyTired]

Dd was got beyond that stage now, but she used to practice just holding the violin between her shoulder and chin (with a shoulder rest) to build muscle strength. Some Suzuki teachers make pretend violins for this stage so if the child drops the pretend violin it does not matter.

YouTube has lots of bow hold games for violin on it. A video is the best way of showing a parent what to do. If I wasn't on my iPad I would give you some links to some good videos.

[AmeliaEarhartinBerlin]

oooh - that's not very nice of the teacher!

I've sent you a PM about this....

I hope you are feeling better!

[balletgirlmum]

My goodness that's expensive!

Dh admittedly charges about that but he only teaches professional level students & has a highly specialist area.

Also very rude. It's your child learning, not you.