> What beginning books do you use with children?  I
 > remember using a small blue book for the first year or two then 
transferring
 > to John Thompson.  I'm thinking of starting some lessons for my
 > daughter this year.  We have an electric keyboard that she loves to
 > dink around on and is soooo proud of "Mary Had A Little Lamb".
With kids, I use the Alfred series. I use the Young Pianists series if the 
child is less than age 7 when they start. I use the Basic Piano Library 
series for children ages 7 to 12. The difference between the two is how much 
extra reinforcement literature is in the young pianists book - 4 songs for 
every two in the basic series (Basic Book 1A is actually 2 books for the 
Young Pianist series, Book A and Book B.)
I used to use Thompson but finally decided that I liked Alfred's approach 
better. They move their hands from position C to position G which is, at 
first, somewhat startling, but they seem to get used to it pretty easily.
 > it at 7 years old.  But 9-10 is so individual in their
 > maturity.  I would be concerned about putting them in school with
 > the intention of pulling out in a couple months.  Would that slow down
 > the transition to homeschooling?  I don't know... just thinking out
I couldn't chance it, leaving them at home if there was even a remote 
possibility that they might have to stay in school because I had to keep the 
job I'm in now. I'd rather they be in school, even if it meant a slower 
transition to homeschool later. Honestly, tho, I don't expect that the 
transition will be too tough for them. I expect to "school at home" them for 
awhile anyway, to ease the transition - I would do that even I started in 
September.
                                 -donna
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