This Memo includes:

• Feature Article: How To Put Fun Into Practice Repetition

• Students Hall of Fame

• Practice Tip

• Parents Ask Pam - We very much enjoyed the fall session of piano lessons at the community center. Today I went to sign up for this winter session and was dismayed to see that there are no available openings for my child’s age. I will attempt to add us to a wait list if that is available.

What options can you offer for us to continue lessons? I don't want to lose momentum from the gains he has made so far in your course.

Feature Article - How To Put Fun Into Practice Repetition

It is January, the month of new beginnings and resolutions to do life better. For children, it is about getting back into their regular routine of school, home life, and early bedtimes. When a child is returning to their routine for learning piano, it can seem like they have forgotten everything and are starting all over. To parents and teachers, this is frustrating because it feels like the child is slacking and not very interested. However, from the child’s perspective, it can feel quite overwhelming with so many things changing all at once, even if the change is just going back to “normal.” After all the holiday excitement, “normal” may seem “boring” and so there is this additional lack of enthusiasm. Since practicing is about playing the same thing over and over, it is very easy to see why it seems so hard to get back to the routine that was established previously. Here are some ideas to help get back into the piano routine and maybe even look forward to it.

This Memo includes:

• Feature Article: Piano Lessons: For Vocation or Avocation

• Students Hall of Fame

• Practice Tip

• Parents Ask Pam - Our regular lesson time is on a holiday next week. May we reschedule for a different day?

Feature Article - Piano Lessons: For Vocation or Avocation

Condoleezza Rice is a prominent African-American woman in our country’s politics and education. She is probably best known as Secretary of State under George W. Bush in 2005-2009, the first black woman to hold this position, and National Security Advisor in 2001 - 2005, the first woman to hold this position. Since then she continues to serve on various company’s boards as well as teaching political science at Stanford University. What I find is so fascinating about Ms. Rice, is that in addition to her career in politics and education, she is also an accomplished musician performing with musical professionals such as cellist Yo Yo Ma and singer Aretha Franklin.

This Memo includes:

• Feature Article: Back To School

• Practice Tip

• Student Showcasing

• Students Hall of Fame

• Parents Ask Pam - How do we use the practice app?

Feature Article - Back To School

The arrival of a new school year can usher in mixed feelings for everybody in your family. Your children may be bursting with excitement to see their friends every day, or they may dread the idea of having more homework. Either way, this is an emotional time for everybody involved- and, as time would have it, this new school year has once again rolled around. If you haven’t thoroughly prepared, you can feel lost while trying to navigate these times of turmoil.

As a parent, you want to keep your children feeling stable, especially during these rough times of transition.

This Memo includes:

• Feature Article: What Makes A Child Prodigy?

• Practice Tip

• Student Showcasing

• Students Hall of Fame

• Upcoming MOM events includes Fall registration for CLASSES at North Kirkland Community Center and Spartan Recreation Center in Shoreline.

• Parents Ask Pam - What is proper piano hand position?

Feature Article - What Makes A Child Prodigy?

What makes a piano prodigy? We have all seen those videos of cute little children playing amazingly fast, classical piano pieces. Did this child really do this on their own or do they just have extremely involved parents pushing them along?