Last week was fall break for my studio. My family and I took a belated Senior trip for my son. He chose DisneyWorld and Universal Studios Florida for 10 days. We had a blast! I think my favorite place was Harry Potter’s World at Universal. It totally felt like we were in HogWart’s. I tried some ButterBeer, which tasted very much like creme soda, topped with a butterscotch flavored whipped creme. Yum!

If you look at my studio calendar, you will notice that I give plenty of studio breaks. The breaks usually coincides with school breaks. I think it is important to have breaks for several reasons.

1. First and foremost; My family needs a break from students coming in day in and day out.

2. My family needs a break to go on vacations like our most recent one.

3. I need a break so I can recharge.

4. Students need a break to recharge.

My calendar reflects a yearly tuition broken up into 10 equal monthly payment installments regardless how many lessons are given that month.This works well for me. I explain this concept clearly in my calendar as well as my studio policy so when parents sign up they know that tuition will be the same each month. I do charge for my summer workshops separately but make them mandatory if they are planning on continuing in the Fall. Occasionally I may have a family tell me they are taking a break and not participating in the summer workshops and I just remind them that is fine, but they won’t have a spot for Fall if they want to come back. When they are reminded of this, they decide to take their summer workshops, which still leaves them plenty of time for a summer break.

Having breaks throughout the year is important for me and my students. As much as I love seeing my students and teaching, I look forward to my breaks too.

Extra Tip: Adding breaks into your studio calendar is also a great way to give yourself a raise without affecting the tuition. Tuition rate can stay the same but you now have an extra week off!