Question: What type of lesson is best?
Answer: Some kids need other kids around in order to have fun, and for them, group lessons are clearly best. For younger beginners, the games available in a group lesson are more fun, too. If a kid is comfortable on her own with a pro, private lessons will yield the quickest improvement. Semi-private lessons are sometimes an ideal compromise, but for most kids, it's important that the lesson partners have comparable abilities, because if one kid constantly has more trouble picking up new skills than her partner, she's likely to get discouraged, even if she's progressing quite well. Kids with above-average talent, making great progress, can think they're doing terribly because they're comparing themselves to a partner with unbelievable talent.
For much more on lessons for kids, see this article.
