Weekly music therapy sessions and parent meetings

Give each child a fixed weekly slot that you book yourself for the whole term, and set parent meetings as a separate, shorter service that parents book online or that you book with them. A fixed day and time is part of the work for a child in music therapy: the same room, the same instruments, the same moment in the week. Parent meetings, on the other hand, have to fit around the parents' working hours, so they deserve their own slots.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service with its own start and end. Separating the kinds of appointment keeps the right lengths and the right people in each slot:

Lengths and prices are examples: set your own. The weekly session length should include setting out instruments before the child arrives and putting them away after, so you're not rushing between children.

After the assessment, agree with the parents on a day and time that works around school, other therapies and after-school activities. Then book it yourself for each week of the term from your calendar. First and last name are required, email and phone are optional, and there's a note field for the child's first name. If you enter the parent's email, they get a confirmation email and a calendar file for each session, which puts the whole term in their diary.

Regular meetings with parents let you share what you see in sessions and hear what's happening at home and at school. Decide a rhythm you can hold, such as once a term or every few weeks, and open parent-meeting slots at times parents can make: early morning, lunchtime, early evening, or by video. Parents book online, without an account, and write the child's name in the note.

If a meeting should include both parents, say so in the description. The public form books one person per booking; the second parent simply comes along.

Weekly work depends on continuity, and holidays interrupt it. Set the end date of your repeated slots to the last week of term, so no sessions appear during the break. If you offer holiday sessions for some children, create those slots separately and book them with the families who want them.

When a child is ill, the parent contacts you: nobody can cancel online. Cancel or move the session from your bookings list. Book doesn't email parents about changes, so confirm the new day and time with them yourself, by message or phone.

Some children are referred by a school, a medical centre or another therapist. The booking still goes in the parent's name, since they are the ones you contact. Keep reports and personal details out of the booking note: it appears in the calendar file the parent receives. Share reports by the channel you normally use, and keep the note to practical details such as the child's first name.

With sessions booked for the term and parent meetings in their own slots, your week is visible in one place: who comes when, which parents you see this week, and where there is still room for a new assessment. Book syncs with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars and shows times in your time zone. It costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.