I recently attended  a workshop by the wonderful Randall Faber, author of the Piano Adventures method books.

I want to share some great things I learned from him.

When teaching young children, we need to be aware that when they like something, they want to do it over and over again.   With that understanding, teachers need to adapt to that mentality.  If our students are struggling with a certain technique, a smart way to approach that struggle is to create an activity involving that technique that the student will want to do over and over again. 

For example, if a student is having a hard time with rounded fingers, perhaps a fun chant or rhyme that goes along with getting fingers into rounded shape could be taught.  Or if a student is having a hard time reading notes, a fun game about notes played away from the piano can help reinforce a knowledge of notes.  If the student enjoys the activity, s/he will want to do it over and over again, and if the teacher allows that, the student will benefit.

I’ve always been a huge advocate of games, as they make piano lessons fun.  Having it pointed out to me that children want to repeat fun things over and over again will help me tailor games to be more appropriate for each child.

And how will I know if a student is actively engaged in the activity I have chosen?  Randall Faber also taught to moniter the students’ eyes in order to determine their attention to the lesson, activity, discussion, explanation, etc.