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I have a question about which books are good to use for young beginners (5 years old). To make a long story short, I use the Bastien series - I would normally use the "Primer A and B" books for students of this age, but I have a couple of students who started on the "Primer" level and now their younger siblings are asking their parents if they can "practice" and they are trying to play piano like their older siblings - so the parents would like them to start on lessons. Since the siblings who are already taking lessons started taking lessons when they were older (7-9), the Primer books worked very well for them - I am hesitant to use the Primer book for a 5 year old, but for some reason the parents do not want to purchase the "Primer A and B" books since they already have the "Primer" books. ANYWAY (haha, sorry I tried not to make this a long story) - I would love to start these students now since their siblings are doing well and they are showing much interest in lessons and practicing, I am thinking of letting them borrow some of my other books to get them started. I do not have Bastien books for them to borrow, but I have primer levels of Alfred, Fletcher, Faber, and Schaum, which I wouldn't mind letting them borrow since I do not use them. I do not care for Fletcher or Alfred, and I think the Faber goes rather slow, but that may be good for their age (I had taught students 4 and 5 who were previously started on Faber and Alfred books and they seemed to do well) - the Faber book also looks rather "busy" (a lot of cues and writing all over the page). Some of my friends from college also use Faber and love that book - I am thinking of letting them borrow the Faber lesson book (Primer level) and slowly incorporating their sibling's Bastien Primer level books...and then eventually they will go on to Bastien Level 1. Do you think this is okay? What method/series do you think works well for young (age 5) beginners if you had to choose between Alfred, Faber, Fletcher, and Schaum? Would it be okay to use a few different methods for them to start...or will that be confusing (I will obviously plan ahead and coordinate between one method and the other).

Thanks for your help and for reading all of this!!

I like Music Tree for a slow approach.

You'll find that a lot of posters on the forum prefer Faber's My First Piano Adventures. There are three books which cover the same things a primer does - it just moves at a very slow pace and makes lots of new skills into games. It's written for ages 5-6 but many have successfully used it with 4 yr olds. Some 5-6 yr olds may be too old for it, but I've found it to be very helpful. And the CD that comes with the book is very well done. I would recommend these series over a regular primer which targets ages 7-8.

Music Tree is a great series, but for kids that young, Faber's MFPA is a much better suit.

At that age, mixing and matching may confuse them because they'll try to make sense of WHY they have all these different sources.

And just to throw it out there, I'd never use the Alfred Basic Library for ANYONE. That method is just horrible. Fletcher and Schaum are out-dated and filled with uninspiring music.

Thank you for all the responses so far, I do appreciate them. I think that I did not word my question properly - The potential young student (ages 5) already have older siblings using the Bastien series - since their older siblings were older when they started they started with the "Primer" level instead of the slower-moving "Primer A" and "Primer B". For some reason the parents do not want to buy the Primer A and B because they already have copies of the Primer books (I already explained to them that the Primer level may be a little too fast-paced for their age). I was hoping to start the young siblings now since they are showing a lot of interest in the piano, except I do not have copies of Primer A Bastien to lend to them - I have copies of Faber Primer level ("Piano Adventures", not MFPA), Alfred, Schaum, and Fletcher - out of these books I really do not like Fletcher or Alfred, so I was thinking Faber would be good to start them off. I was wondering if it would be okay to have them start slowly on the Faber "Piano Adventures" primer level? I am not sure if the Faber Piano Adventures Primer level is suited for children who just turned 5?

Thanks again.

Mich I have used the Faber PA primer. It is NOT suitable for a 5 year old.

I think it's time to simply let parents know that if they want their 5 year old to start lessons, they will have to pay for appropriate books.

Don't let the choice of materials be based on what you happen to have lying around.

+a million.

Seriously, the MFPA books cost, what, $15 per level?

Tell them that just because they have one book doesn't mean they can use it for all the children. And you shouldn't be lending them copies of things anyway - that's not your responsibility.

Continue to educate these parents! Some people do not understand the importance of using the correct method books. Children love getting colorful new books! If the parents are indeed too cheap to buy new books, then they might not last very long in lessons.

MFPA is perfect for a 5 year old and coupled with the accompanying writing book it's a great way to keep a young student's focus as well. I'm sure if you explain that having the right book series can make the difference between a good first experience with the piano and a poor one, the parents will understand.

I was recommended MFPA on this forum and tried it. I find it brilliant for my 4 year old son. He is really interested in it compared to the other 2 books that I bought, which looking back now and comparing them to MFPA, they are really rubbish, so I won't bother mentioning their titles here.

But like some mentioned, it is pretty slow, so it is really more suitable for children 4-6 yr. Beyond that, I thik the other books suggested in this thread will be more apt.

Thanks all - you are right in that I should put my foot down and explain to the parents so that they understand better. They can afford the books so I'm not sure what the problem is! Thanks again.