Start your new year off on the right foot by registering for Parents as Partners Online!

The 2012 event will begin Monday, January 30
and run through the end of June.

During February and March, new talks on parent education and Suzuki-related topics will be posted weekly, as well as selected presentations from PPO 2011. What better way to nurture yourself and your own studio parents along the Suzuki journey than watching a short video at your convenience?

We encourage teachers to guide parents in their viewing selection, organize a parent meeting or create a new year’s challenge to watch a post a week! See the bottom of this email for further ideas on how to incorporate PPO in your studio.

Check out 2012’s new inspiring talks, relevant to both teachers and parents:

• Sue Baer: A Star for Victor
• Lauren Baker: Sharing the Vision of Excellence
• Beatrice Blanc: Practice Buddies
• Reagan Brasch: Let’s Hear from the Students! An interview with ten-year-olds
• Jennifer Burton: The Importance of Group Classes
• Beth Cantrell: Nurturing the Individual: Rivers, Trails and Time
• Donna Davis and Debby Bandy, with Irene Mitchell: Why Are Summer Institutes Worthwhile?
• Teri Einfeldt & Anne Lambright: Our Ambitions, Our Children—A Reality Check!
• Sasha Garver: Preparing for Recitals and Performances
• Danny Gee: Working with Adolescents and Teenagers
• Carrie Reuning-Hummel: Help! I’m So Different From (and Similar To) My Child
• James Hutchins: Guarantees for More Progress During Practice—The Sequel
• Karen Kimmett: Around the World in 8 Minutes: Where Suzuki Can Take You!
• Ellie LeRoux: A Realistic Look at Balancing Activities
• Joanne Martin: Why Delayed Reading is Important
• Lynn McCall: The Suzuki Early Childhood Experience
• Irene Mitchell: The Benefits of the 100 Days Practice Club
• Sarah Montzka: Dynamic Practice: Creative Movement Games for Channeling Energy, Regaining Focus and Productive Practice
• Donna Ngai, Jessica Meyer and Calida Jones: Parent Power!
• Fernando Pinero: The Power of Music
• Koen Renz: Competition: Striving Together or Against?
• Robert Richardson: Ideas for Creative Review
• Tal Schifter: Graduation: What It Really Means
• Laurie Scott: Children on the Autism Spectrum: Collaborating Towards Success
• Lucy Shaw: Are We Having Fun Yet? Part 2
• Kimberly Meier-Sims: Suzuki Perspectives
• Ann Montzka Smelser: Trusting Your Teacher
• Kathleen Spring: How You Can Be Helpful and Supportive of Your Teacher
• Ed Sprunger: Power
• Rafael Vidiera: The Rewards from the Special Ones

Plus, your subscription includes selected talks from PPO 2011!

Prices

Studio
Teacher (you!) plus your studio parents. You will need the name and email of each parent to enroll them. Parents do not need to be SAA members.

$45 for teacher plus 1 to 5 parents
$8 for each additional parent

Individual
$25 for SAA members
$45 for non-members

Studio Ideas for Parents as Partners Online

For you and your studio parents to benefit most from PPO, please consider one or more of the following activities sometime this winter or spring:

• Share the gift of Suzuki inspiration by registering a parent(s) for the Parents as Partners Online Project.

• Studio incentive: Challenge your parents to a New Year’s resolution to watching a post a day!

• Remind parents weekly to schedule PPO watching time throughout the five months’ PPO event.

• Post signs within your studio listing talks you as a teacher recommend for that particular week. Call attention to highlights!

• Arrange a parent meeting and watch a presentation or two together, followed by discussion. If interest merits, make it a monthly gathering! Remember, the PPO will be open until the end of June!

• Schedule a parent get-together to share ideas from presentations they have already watched. Perhaps have the get-together be a potluck or provide a wine-n-cheese gathering.

• During group class time, arrange for parents to meet in a separate room, watch and discuss a topic while kids are occupied at group.

• Start a PPO Club in your studio! Similar to a book club, those participating would meet informally to discuss specific talks. Ask a parent to organize the gatherings and help build community within your studio.

• Collect questions from within your studio on posted talks and submit those questions on the Parent Exchange. A PPO moderator will answer the questions on a weekly basis.

• Consider volunteering to serve as a PPO moderator for a week!

• Post your comments or write an article on your experience with PPO 2012.

Just as Dr. Suzuki encouraged us to be life-long learners, our own studio parents need nurturing along their Suzuki journey. The SAA hopes that both teachers and parents will take full advantage of this rich opportunity to further their Suzuki education, no matter their age or level of experience.