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Blog Teaching Methods

What is the most destructive question that everyone asks themselves?

And how to ask a better question “What’s in it for me?” This is the underlying question almost everyone has running in the back of their minds. Someone makes you an offer and you automatically ask it. “What’s in it for me?” Parents ask a variation, “What’s in it for my child, my family?” It’s […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

Can special needs children learn to play an instrument?

Music lessons for special needs children? If you ask the average music teacher about special needs children as students, you may get a blank stare. There isn’t much literature focused on this. Children with special needs may include those with learning disabilities, developmental issues, as well as those on the Autism spectrum. At Park Slope Music Lessons, […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

Why I want my student’s “desk” as big as possible

Did you ever go to a library or coffee shop just to have a bigger desktop?  There’s something so spacious and freeing about just having more physical workspace right in front of you. Last week, I visited several co-working spaces in New York City just for that reason. Having a bigger desktop is incredibly freeing. […]

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The best way to praise your children

The best way to praise your children Take a look at these two sentences. 1) “Great job, you must be really smart.” 2) “Great job, you must have worked really hard at this.” So similar but a vast difference in results.   If you say “Great job, you must be really smart,” the child hears, […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

How To Set Up A Successful Practice Routine

Pick a time of day when you can always practice, even for just a few minutes. Choose a small amount of time that you can always do, for example, 5 minutes. Set it on the calendar or sticky note or smartphone alarm. Practice for just the allotted time. If you feel you can do more […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

How to ensure your child’s success?

What can we do to help our children become successful?  It’s a question that reverberates deeply in every parent. [box] “To give our kids the best possible potential for a successful life, we need to teach and model for them how to work well.” – Cal Newport[/box] The summer I was 10 years old, I would […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

Teaching Strategies For Growth Mindset

What is the most important factor in a student? Many people would say it’s talent, or effort, or persistence, or luck or some combination of these. Behind all of this is something that is more important – the proper mindset. Recent research (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007) has shown that there are two different mindsets among […]

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Some Kids Have A Secret Advantage

All parents want the best for their child and after-school is an opportunity for extra enrichment beyond the classroom. Yesterday, The Atlantic published an article,  After-School Activities Make Educational Inequality Even Worse.   The author, Hilary Levey Friedman, interviewed and followed 95 middle-class families over 16 months who were involved in soccer, dance and competitive […]