LeeAnn K. says, "Ms. Malijewski has been privately tutoring my 10 year old daughter in piano for almost 3 years, and has just recently begun tutoring my 8 year old daughter as well. Both my daughters sit at our front windows, awaiting Ms. Kristina’s arrival, anxious for their weekly lessons to begin.
Ms. Kristina has a great knowledge of my children’s ability levels, and has continually challenged them to do more, accomplish more than they think they can, thereby building a healthy sense of accomplishment, confidence and self-esteem.
My 8 year old, after her first lesson with Ms. Kristina, wrote a song. At her next lesson, Ms. Kristina was so supportive of her curiosity and enthusiasm, she added the newly written piece to my daughter’s lesson plan. Together, they wrote lyrics, and it became a part of each week’s lessons.
My 10 year old is one of those children for whom learning comes easy. Reading music came very naturally to her, and when she started with Ms. Kristina, piano was quite easy. However, as she progressed, so did the level of music she was learning, and at times she became frustrated with not learning her assigned pieces quickly and easily. Ms. Kristina did not do as some teachers would and give my daughter less challenging pieces. Instead, together they kept with the piece, and of course, eventually my daughter would master the piece of music that she had once thought terribly difficult. This is a testament to Ms. Kristina’s knowledge of my daughter’s strengths and weaknesses and teaching to them both.
I believe they both feel she is a bit more than a piano teacher. She’s a mentor for the arts in general, sharing her personal experiences and recordings with them. She focuses on aspects of their personalities that can be strengthened by the discipline learned through practice, persevering over more difficult pieces, working hard and finding joy in working hard. She never lets them “off the hook” for not practicing as much or as well as they should, yet I do not find her rigid or cold in her methods of holding them accountable. She tolerates very little “goofing off” during a lesson, yet still has fun in the lesson, always staying very positive. I find her to be the perfect balance of discipline and joy in her methods of teaching and inspiring my two little students. These are not just piano lessons, they are life lessons." Read more
