Piano Lessons are offered here for students with an IEP or other accommodation requirements.
Chesapeake Piano is specifically designed to accommodate your child's cognitive and educational needs.
 

As students begin piano lessons I am often the first educator to sit with them one-on-one for 45 minutes at a time. As a result, I may observe a student who is struggling and may be in need of educational assessments.

 

As an educator with 35 years of experience teaching children, it is important to communicate to you what I observe in lessons that may interfere with piano progress or deviate from your child’s general education progress.

 

This can be a sensitive situation for both of us. I ask for your understanding- my observations mean only that I see your child struggle week after week in their lessons with materials, concepts, or behaviors that could be successfully negotiated with the proper professional educational assistance and accommodation.  

 

All of my students, regardless of learning styles, have a right to a thorough music education and to become equally successful in piano.  

 

Accommodation reports that result from school assessments help me develop and design a lesson plan that will be better suited to your child than my traditional methods. Your partnership with me in lessons and during home practice can give your child that breather from the pressure which a general education student might not experience and provide a much greater probability of long term success.

 

Assessments can be requested by parents at any time (in other words you don’t need to wait for the beginning of the  school year). Assessment reports  (IEP’s, 504’s or LRE’s) can be broad or geared toward the challenges of your child.

 

Assessments may be administered through the public school system or using a “Child Find” Evaluation if you attend a private school or are home-schooled.  

 

Public schools receive federal funding and have the funds for the legally required certified special education teachers and staff for your child, therefore they are able to administer the required professional accommodations.

 

Private schools do not receive federal funding and (in Maryland) are not required by law to follow accommodations; some simply do not have the funding for certified faculty.

 

However, if your child has already had an assessment or is currently receiving support either privately or through school, has an IEP, 504, or other assessment reports, is taking medications for a diagnosed disability, please share what you can with me as specifically as possible. I will mimic the accommodations suggested by the assessment to the best of my ability and tailor my lesson plan accordingly.

 

If I am unaware of the therapies they already receive at school or I am left to guess or discover these for myself it can create a negative experience for your child.

 

Please share with me all the information needed to make piano lessons a positive and lifelong skill that not only teaches them the cognitive skills they will need for other academic subjects, but skills they will carry with them for life.    

 

Should your child require an adjustment to the curriculum that I am unable to provide or they need accommodation that is beyond my skill, education, experience, and training I will recommend a learning environment better suited to their specific needs.