My daughter was self (and Simply Piano) taught initially at age 6 and has been taking more formal lessons for about 4 years. Her biggest strength from what I can tell is her knack to almost immediately play songs by ear and quickly memorize them. Most importantly she loves playing and when she has time (stays busy with sports / school) will sit at the piano for extended periods. She enjoys contemporary most but also plays jazz (in her middle school jazz band) and a little classical. She plays some other instruments too, but piano is by far her favorite.
We don't expect her to do anything professionally with music (we know there are so many extremely talented musicians and it's such a tough profession) but also want to keep her passion ignited and don't want to sell her short.
She's currently taking 30 minute lessons about 3-4 times a month and she loves the instructor. Assuming it remains her passion, what would be the next step to lean in and level up..supplement with more and tougher lessons, study some music theory, work on unique arrangements, play more in front of people, learn more improvisation...?
Anyone who was in a similar spot as a kid, what worked well (and not so well) for you? Any other recommendations?