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The holidays can be magical—and completely overwhelming. Between school concerts, studio plans, nonstop decorations, and family expectations, our students’ senses get flooded and their routines get disrupted. We talk frankly about what actually helps neurodivergent learners during this season and how we, as teachers, can be the steady, calm center when everything else speeds up.

If you’re craving a simple, humane approach to the holidays, this conversation gives you the scripts, structures, and small tips that make a big difference. Subscribe, share with a teacher friend who needs a calmer December, and leave a review to tell us which strategy you’ll try first!

Subscribe to the new blog!

Looking for some new holiday fidgets, no-prep activities or Elizabeth's students' favorite Scratch Ornaments? Check them out here!

Check out our favorite Christmas/holiday repertoire (including the music mentioned in today's episode)

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Find the full transcript here of this episode and all past episodes!

📚 Join the waitlist for the next Piano Teachers Book Club Session!

Subscribe to Elizabeth's email list here so you won’t miss future courses, freebies, teacher events and more.

Let's stay in touch!
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You can find all of Elizabeth's favorite repertoire and teaching tools on the Amazon Storefront (affiliate link)
Questions or suggestions? Send Elizabeth an email:
elizabeth@creativepianopedagogy.com
As an Amazon Affiliate, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through our links. Thank you for helping support the podcast!

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Big shifts are brewing at Creative Piano Pedagogy, and we’re inviting you behind the scenes! After five years of building resources solo, we’re leveling up into a true partnership that pairs big-picture creativity with sharp systems and operations. That means better courses, clearer communications, and a brand-new website designed to make it easier to find the tools you need to teach with confidence. Expect offerings that blend evidence-based strategies with simple, practical steps you can use in lessons right away.

To keep things human, we also loosen up with rapid-fire questions: what we listen to when we’re not teaching, the coffee orders that fuel us, and the composers we love to play but hesitate to teach.

If you’re a piano teacher looking for inspired ideas grounded in solid research, you’ll feel at home here. Tap play, meet the team, and help shape what comes next by sharing your studio challenges and wish list. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a colleague who’s ready for fresh energy in their teaching.

Links:

Check out the new Etsy shop!

Jingle Bells- Elizabeth's favorite 4-hand arrangement by Robert Vandall (or get the single sheet music here)

Browse our favorite Christmas ensemble collections

Check out our favorite Christmas solo music (beginner-advanced)

Listen to Tara's first episode on the podcast

We are partners with Amazon's Affiliate Program to earn a small commission from purchases made through our links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the podcast and mission of CPP!

Support the show

Find the full transcript here of this episode and all past episodes!

📚 Join the waitlist for the next Piano Teachers Book Club Session!

Subscribe to Elizabeth's email list here so you won’t miss future courses, freebies, teacher events and more.

Let's stay in touch!
On the website/blog
Follow on Facebook
Follow on Instagram
Follow on YouTube

You can find all of Elizabeth's favorite repertoire and teaching tools on the Amazon Storefront (affiliate link)
Questions or suggestions? Send Elizabeth an email:
creativepianopedagogy@gmail.com

Send us a text

This episode challenges the myth that teachers need a diagnosis to teach well and offers practical ways to create a welcoming intake, read the learner in real time, and build trust with parents who value privacy. We share scripts, strategies, and a mindset shift: see the student, not the label.

• privacy and dignity as non‑negotiables
• welcoming intake that centers the learner
• improvisation and co‑composition as assessment
• lowering parent defenses with empathy
• labels as hypotheses, not prescriptions
• repertoire choice as motivation and access
• language that invites, not interrogates
• challenge to adapt teaching before seeking labels

Please tap the review button on Apple and leave a quick note about what you enjoyed or which episode was your favorite so Apple, Buzzsprout and Spotify will recommend the podcast to others!

Support the show

Find the full transcript here of this episode and all past episodes!

📚 Join the waitlist for the next Piano Teachers Book Club Session!

Subscribe to Elizabeth's email list here so you won’t miss future courses, freebies, teacher events and more.

Let's stay in touch!
On the website/blog
Follow on Facebook
Follow on Instagram
Follow on YouTube

You can find all of Elizabeth's favorite repertoire and teaching tools on the Amazon Storefront (affiliate link)
Questions or suggestions? Send Elizabeth an email:
creativepianopedagogy@gmail.com