Providing snacks for 9/10 year olds

[redvlagrl]

I'm a musician and have some students who come to my house for lessons. Every few months they come for a group lesson which is an hour long. There's one this afternoon.

Because an hour is quite a long time to be concentrating I had thought I might bake some cookies or something for a snack halfway through. Then I began to worry. So I'm not doing it and the students will just have to suffer through an hour of me, LOL.

For future reference, would you be mad if your child was offered home made cookies and water at a violin lesson ('m talking one each)? I was assuming that children of this age would know if they had an allergy and be able to say something. Of course for some of the parents i could just ask, but today there is a colleague's student coming and I don't have her contact details to ask.

When I was a kid this kind of thing would happen all the time and it was fine. Am I being overly paranoid? What should i do before the next one? Parental consent seems like overkill.

Thanks

[blessedwithboys]

Originally Posted by redvlagrl

Of course for some of the parents i could just ask, but today there is a colleague's student coming and I don't have her contact details to ask.

So how is this 9/10yo getting to the location of the lesson if not by parental drop-off?

I would want to be asked. I say ask the parents, even though most won't care at all.

[redvlagrl]

Good point - she will probably be dropped off. Though I had thought if someone objected i just wouldn't serve any snack at all. I would want to do this in advance.

Though today it is moot because I nixxed the whole idea.

[pianojazzgirl]

Hi Leila! I was reading the beginning of your post and thinking "oh, another mama who's a musican... cool" and then I realized I know you, lol!

Anyway, I think the snack is a great idea, but you probably should talk to the parents first (just in case they do get freaked out about it for whatever reason). But, at the same time I don't think an hour is all that long for kids of that age to sit through a lesson. Maybe you could just take a 5 min leg stretch/water break half-way through. Another thought I had was to break up the class by playing a game or games relating to what they're working on. Or by playing for them.

Anyhoo... Hope you've been well! Take care!

[cjam]

I wouldn't want my child to be given a snack at music lessons. I pay a small fortune for my kids to be in music lessons and I expect the entire hour to be focused on music. Maybe a two minute stretch in the middle but that's it. My daughter started lessons at 4 and had no issues paying attention for an hour. And it kinda bugs me when my kids are given treats at their lessons. My kids are still young enough that a single cookie can throw off her next meal. I prefer to give them treats when I know it won't mess up her eating for the day. I appreciate your kindness but I think feeding should be left to the parents.

[redvlagrl]

Hi Kate!!

Well it seems that the consensus is that I won't feed them. We took a quick break today and had some water and did some theory.

For these kids, an hour is too long for them to be playing because they all generally have half hour lessons.

FWIW, the parents pay for a half hour lesson during group lesson weeks, but the kids come for an hour...so I felt a short break was reasonable. It is all in preparation for busking on Saturday morning.

Thanks for everyone's input.

[ollyoxenfree]

I think you are very kind to think of offering a snack. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but we don't have special food requirements or concerns (food routines and disrupted meals, weight issues, etc.). I guess these days, the safest thing is to check with parents first.

A break after a half-hour to stretch muscles and joints is a good habit to prevent over-use and repetitive strain syndromes. A few deep breaths will help re-energize and re-focus too. You sound like a really great instructor for understanding what's reasonable and what children need.