I forget to mention that we finally stopped using the graded piano books and let my son pick out sheet music for songs that he loved. Most of the songs he chooses are at an intermediate level and his teacher just teaches what he needs to know for that song. There is a lot of beautiful music written at this level. He is appropriately challenged, has control over what he learns and he feels good about it so he practices a little more and he can talk about music with his college age friends in his musical theater class. I told one of them I thought he would be a really good music mentor for my son.
