I graduated from a pedagogical university and hold Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Pedagogy and the art of Teaching. I attended music school for 8 years, studying violin and piano, as well as solfege and music literature. I started teaching violin 23 years ago, and have taught students of all ages– up to their 70s. 

My violin teacher personally studied the Suzuki method with Shinichi Suzuki (how cool is that!) While I am not accredited in the Suzuki method, I implement its main ideas in home practice.

I try to cater to students' preferences for music styles. I have had students who wanted to play mostly country/fiddle music, or pop songs, or hymns. If a child wants to play a certain song but we can’t find an arrangement for his/her level, I arrange it myself. I believe that playing scales and some technical exercises/etudes is essential, but students should have some choice in the pieces they play and the music style they enjoy. 

When I had more students, we held composer festivals in February. We discussed a specific composer, played games/charades/fun quizzes about him and each student performed a small piece by that composer. I believe that playing scales and some technical exercises/etudes is essential, but students should have some choice in the pieces they play and the music style they enjoy.  

I try to find out a child's interests and use them at the lessons to make learning more engaging. With all children and beginners, we sing and clap songs before playing them. If adult students have difficulty with note recognition or rhythm, we simply name notes and clap (as grownups are sometimes self aware and shy about singing). I introduce some ear training games in the lessons, theory is given along the way as we need it for pieces to be played. For most younger children I like them to have a staff paper notebook to practice writing notes, etc. I recognize the importance of learning to play with other people in a group, and when possible I try to have students play duets/trios, etc.]