I have my students pay for 5 lessons at a time. I was offering an option of 10
and discounting it, but more and more of my students were paying for 5, and I
found keeping track of who was at #5 of 5 and who was at #5 of 10 to be a little
confusing, especially for those who had switched from 10 to 5. (Interesting
economic indicator, I think.)
If someone forgets to come and they haven't paid, getting money out of them is
like pulling teeth. And you don't forget it, either, which doesn't make for a
good teacher-student relationship - the trust isn't there. When they've paid
for it already, they're more aware of cancelling within the time frame
established, showing up, or accepting that they screwed up and paying for the
time. It's been a MUCH better plan for me. I have a policy sheet, although I
don't have them sign it and return it to me. Perhaps I should, but right now,
things are fine this way.
Christine Thomas,
Mezzo Soprano
"I love to sing-a, about the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a!"
----- Original Message -----
From: Sharon Szymanski
To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 11:28 AM
Subject: RE: [vocalist] Re: Teacher-Student Written Contract Question
(For those who cannot pay for a "semester," why not keep it really
simple and
just have payment due at each lesson, before it begins? This works
really
well for me.)
I'm glad it works well for you, but I would fear the loss of income if
students were, for whatever reason, unable to actually make the lesson.
You have reserved your time for them, but if they do not show up, you
may not get paid, or may have to spend time and effort collecting from
them for a missed lesson. Having some form of "pre-payment" helps
insure that you do not fall into this situation and seems to help the
students take the commitment more seriously in my experience.
Sharon Szymanski
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