Private lessons should provide you with an appropriate level of challenge. It is important that students be challenged!

But what that looks like will differ vastly for every student. A great teacher will always be observing and sort of evaluating your level of commitment and practice, as well as how you handle the challenges we give and try to offer appropriate challenges proportionate to the student’s work ethic. But there’s still more to it than that as well. A compassionate teacher will also be concerned about the student’s emotional and mental well-being, so we will seek to challenge them in a healthy way that motivates, inspires, and moves them forward, not in such a way that would cause them unnecessary frustration or anger with missing the goal.

This does also require something important on behalf of the student though (and probably parents too of children):

If you or your student wants a challenge that you aren’t getting, if you are hoping for a specific challenge—please tell us! Tell your teacher. We simply cannot know if you don’t tell us, and I can guarantee that at TIA, we have teachers that can challenge you in pretty much any area you could hope for, you only have to let us know what mountain you wish to climb and we will lead you to the base and point you the way up!