Is teaching preschoolers something you’re passionate about? Is it something you’ve been thinking about doing for a while? Or does the thought of it fill you with fear?

Preschoolers are often an untapped demographic for piano teachers (and private music teachers in general). But teaching this age group has so many benefits —benefits for both student and teacher!

We’ve collated all our resources on teaching preschoolers to give you new ideas for lessons, strategies to keep wiggly students focused, and maybe that extra nudge you need to start welcoming these early-year learners into your studio!

Table of Contents:

1. Keeping Preschoolers Focused
2. What To Teach Them
3. Teachers Who Love Teaching Preschoolers
4. Free Download of TopMusicMag: Teaching Preschoolers

First Things First

Before we get into specifics, you may have one main question on your mind:

“But can preschoolers actually learn piano?”

Luckily, Rachel Ehring has answered that for you! (26-minute episode)

Spoiler: The answer is yes!

Keeping Preschoolers Focused

There are many advantages to teaching preschoolers.

From filling in those usually unwanted hours in your timetable to building a musician from the ground up.

However, for many teachers, these benefits are overshadowed by the worry of keeping preschoolers focused.

• Melanie Bowes has shared some actionable tips that will help you feel prepared in the blog “How To Keep Young Piano Students Focused and Inspired.” (6-8 minute read)
• Jenny Boster talks about her resources for teaching music history in fun and engaging ways in the podcast “The Playful Piano with Jenny Boster” (42-minute episode)
• Megan Desmarais finds movement-based activities a perfect way to engage students and details them in the blog “10 Tips on Engaging Preschool Music Students through Movement” (6-8 minute read)

What To Teach Them

One of the worst things you can do is try to teach preschoolers the same things you teach a 9-year-old beginner.

So what do you do instead?

• Ellen Johansen suggests using Musikgarten, and explains why she loves it so much in this podcast episode (56-minute episode)
• Want to start a rock band with 4-year-olds? That’s exactly what Dave Simon did – listen to his story in this podcast episode (46-minute episode)
• How about starting an early-childhood music program from scratch? Paul Myatt details how (and why) you can do that in this blog. (7-9 minute read)

Teachers Who Love Teaching Preschoolers

It’s always great to hear firsthand accounts of teachers who have “been there, done that.” You can learn from their mistakes, glean ideas, and gain a deeper understanding from their honest accounts.

• Claire Temple shares her success story of teaching piano to a 3-year-old (and proves it can be done!) in this blog. (5-7 minute read)
• Nicola Cantan (from Vibrant Music Teaching) is passionate about teaching preschoolers. She’s shared how you can help your young beginners to get started in a way that’s creative, exploratory and fun with Preschool No Book Beginners.
• Nine teachers share their techniques and strategies for teaching preschoolers in this course, “Playing with Preschoolers” (Available to members of TopMusicPro)

Free Download of TopMusicMag: Teaching Preschoolers

Grab a coffee and a notebook, download the free copy of TopMusicMag: Teaching Preschoolers, and delve into the world of little learners!

You’ll learn about:

• Why you should teach piano to preschoolers
• Things you should and things you shouldn’t do when teaching this age
• The importance of parental involvement
• Things to consider before you welcome early-year students to your studio
• Success stories from teachers who love teaching preschool kids