Sherwood Suzuki Program 2013-2014 Policies & Updates

Sherwood Suzuki Program 2013-2014 Policies & Updates:

Attendance and Parent Involvement:

• Parents are required to attend their child’s lessons, including group classes and performance classes. Parents should take notes of group activities and follow up by practicing whichever pieces their child needs the most assistance with. 
• Dalcroze Eurythmics attendance is not required, but the instructor may invite parents in to participate. 

• Parents should attend the monthly enrichment classes offered in the Recital Hall. These classes are offered at no extra charge, and are an opportunity for parents to share experiences and insights, ask questions and discuss specific aspects of the Suzuki method and pedagogy. 

• One of Shinichi Suzuki’s most famous sayings was “You should only practice on the days that you eat”. This was his way of telling his students to practice everyday. A short but consistent practice session will yield more long-lasting results then a few longer sporadic practice sessions throughout the week. We recommend that parents practice with their child daily, even if the session is only 5-15 minutes long. 

Performance Requirements:

• Students are required to pass a Suzuki Book One jury, when they have completed the material in the book.  We recommend that students complete Book juries and perform graduation recitals through Book 3, but this is not a program requirement. Your teacher will give you more information about this process as it is appropriate.

• Students must dress appropriately for all performance opportunities, including monthly performance class recitals and Department recitals.  Students should not wear jeans, shorts, or gym shoes to a performance. When representing the Sherwood Suzuki Program off campus, students should wear dark bottoms (black or navy blue) and white tops.

• In an effort to raise our performance standards and reiterate the importance of the review process: String students will be required to take a review playing test 2 weeks prior to each Department group performance. The recital list will be given out at the beginning of the semester so that students have ample time to prepare. Group teachers will use the SAA performance descriptors to score each student’s performance. Each piece is valued at 10 points. If a student scores less than 7 out of 10 on any piece, then they will not perform that piece on the recital. Students will perform all pieces that they score 70% or higher. 

Studio Policies:

• At Sherwood we strive to create an optimal learning environment. If you are experiencing any difficulties in your private lesson setting, please let the office or your teacher know right away.  Our first step is to assess what the difficulties are and to see if the relationship can move forward. Should you decide to request a different private instructor, please inform the office. You will need to fill out a form, and you will be assigned a different instructor as soon as possible.  Please do not approach another teacher directly to request a trial lesson. We need to follow procedures so please go through the office.

• The new academic calendar includes a make-up week for private lessons during each term. Teachers may use Jan 6^th-11^th and March 24-29^th for make-up lessons.  It is also possible to use November 25-27^th for make-up lessons as well. 

• This fall we will be supporting teachers in exercising their right to teach the “million dollar lesson”. This is a lesson practice popularized by Ed Kreitman, who is a widely respected Suzuki Teacher Trainer and author of Teaching from the Balance Point, amongst many other things. Basically, this is a method to deal with difficult lessons in which the child is not in a cooperative state that follows the logic of “three strikes and you’re out”. The child & parent are told of the policy ahead of time, and given specific feedback as to what the undesired behavior is (it could be running around, rolling eyes, etc.). The student is allowed two warnings. On the third offense, the teacher may decide to end the lesson early. They may alternately decide to have the child pack away their instrument and teach the parent instead. Teachers may opt out of this lesson format altogether. It is entirely their choice. 

Updates for 2013-2014:

• We are adding several initiatives to increase the interaction between our Suzuki piano and string students. This includes the participation of Suzuki piano students in our new chamber music class, as well as the Concertina Competition.
• I am excited to announce the start of a Sherwood Suzuki Parent Committee. This volunteer group will serve as an organizational body to express parent & student needs, organize fundraising & community building activities and assist with off-campus performances. I will monitor the first meeting, after which the committee will operate mostly on its own and decide how to organize itself, based on the perceived needs of the program. I hope to see representation from various instruments and age groups. 
• There are many ways to be informed about our program and stay on top of upcoming events. You should join our Facebook group to get updates, and share pictures and comments. There will also be an addition of a Blog/message board that will be linked onto our website. Important information will always get posted onto our Bulletin Board on the 2^nd floor of the building. The program coordinator will refrain from sending multiple mass emails pertaining to a single topic. All of that information will be available online, and on the bulletin board.