I have often heard it said that one of the best perks for any teacher are the months of June, July and August. I am beginning to agree. I have had open ended summers for all of my life and some have been better than others. I struggled in my first years as a full time piano teacher, trying to find a way to keep a somewhat continuous income, but still enjoy some time off. Now after 25 years of teaching, I have found some productive ways to bring in income, and to thoroughly enjoy my time off.
In my own studio, I keep a school-year schedule running from September - May 30. I usually teach about 27 weeks during that time, taking basic school holidays off. When June 1 comes around, I begin with interviewing new students for the fall and confirming times with students who will be returning in the fall. That process goes on and off throughout the summer.
As far as teaching piano over the summer, I currently teach one week of piano camp. There have been some summers when I taught as many as 4 week-long sessions. This is a great way to keep the income flowing throughout the summer, and it adds a lot of variety to the regular type of private lesson teaching that goes on during the school year.
I also offer private lessons when I am in town to my current students. Any new students I am planning to take begin in September. Private lessons can be hard to schedule with any consistency over the summer. I prefer to teach on certain days of the week in blocks of time so that I can make the most of my free time with other summer projects.
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