Tips for Adult Students
Most adult students are taking lessons because they want to enrich their lives, attain a personal goal, or perhaps fulfill a long-held dream. A lot of students do it for rest, relaxation and therapy from a stressful job. The result is that most adult students are highly motivated to learn. Your teacher should function in the role of a guide and support system as you discover which form of learning is best for you, and which music you might enjoy playing.
The most important tip for adult students is to be patient with yourself. Give yourself the time to learn things and don't get too frustrated if these skills do not come as fast as the kid's do. The finger coordination is not that of 5 yr. olds and it will take a bit longer for this to settle in. Most particularly, don't expect to learn as fast as your 7 year old child; that expectation is unrealistic. Your advantage is the maturity to focus well on the task at hand and really to understand the musical language of the piece you are playing. Hence, chances are you will enjoy it more, even if your technique is slower to develop.
My advice to adults for practice techniques is much the same as that we would give for children. Here, you have an advantage in that you are probably more focused and motivated than the average child student. It's best to try to practice when the kids are not around, so that you avoid interruption.
Learning to play piano is more than just playing the notes. There can be no better way to begin to speak to "language of music", as opposed simply to knowing the vocabulary, than to immerse yourself in it. If you are working on a piece, try to listen to a recording of it. You will gain the benefit of the understanding of a professional musician, as well as develop additional insight into how you perceive and might play the music. It is much easier to develop a feel for the music when you don't have to worry about playing all the notes correctly.
This article is taken from http://pianoeducation.org/pnotlife.html#Adult