June Member of the Month

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Meet the Daniel family Philemon and Betty and their daughters Aviya, who is seven years old and Micah, who is two years old. They live on the beautiful foothills of the great Himalayas in a small town called Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India.

Philemon teaches Electronics Engineering at National Institute of Technology Hamirpur. They live within the university campus, the campus that received the most beautiful campus in India award in 2016. Betty is a homemaker and an excellent baker. She specializes in eggless recipes to serve our neighbours.

 Q: What’s your musical background?

None. Both Phil and Betty have attempted learning guitar in their childhood but it lasted only for a few weeks. I think it’s mostly because of lack of awareness and an inspiration to enjoy and learn music.

Phil attempted learning piano from an online app in order to encourage Aviya but had to give up because it was too hard.

We always love singing gospel and worship songs and always dream of making our small student group singing sessions complete with some music.

Q: Anything fun or unique you’d like to share about your family?

As a family we love traveling. If we don’t travel for two weeks, we feel something is missing in our lives. We have driven to some of the remotest parts of the country and enjoyed the beautiful creation of God.

We also love spending time with people, studying Bible together and helping people.

Recently we have revived our passion for sketching and illustrations and have self-published our first kids counting eBook.

Aviya has started blogging to display her drawing skills and other things she explores. (https://aviyadaniel7.weebly.com/)

Incidentally, both Aviya and Micah have their birthdays in this month, on 9th June.

 Q: How do you structure piano lessons/practice for your family? Any tips to share?

Piano follows her Tennis / Badminton lessons and her Bible time in the morning. There is no reminder needed. She plays for 30 mins every day except on Sundays. I try to review her lessons after each module. Apart from this, she practices and has fun whenever she has free time. Micah also has fun playing almost every day. Aviya takes care of helping her sister. I think the most important thing is that kids should enjoy and do whatever they do.

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Q: How did you learn about Busy Moms/Kids Do Piano?

Someone forwarded a list of free activities during Covid-19. Before the end of the free month, we decided to become life members. Hurray!!

Q: Do you have any stories you’d like to share about your musical journey with piano lessons?

Since we live in a small town, we could not find a piano teacher. When Aviya was 4 years old, she practiced her fingering skills, few notes and a few songs with the help of an online app. It never went smooth and many times we had to make it a rule to practice for 20 minutes. But without a teacher, she couldn’t keep up the progress. We had loads of doubts and with no one to guide, we had to discontinue after 2 years. Until March this year, she was learning a few songs here and there but nothing systematic.

That is when we found busykidsdopiano. It was like water for a thirsty soul. From day 1, we never had to remind Aviya to play her piano. The lessons, the Facebook page, the emails, the podcasts and unlimited instructor support has worked out very well. Aviya never felt like she is listening to a set of videos. She always says that “Carly aunty taught me this”. There is a definite personal connection and someone to encourage always.

Micah has also started her preschool lessons learning rhythm with Thumbelina, Pointer Pig and Middle Mouse.

Q: What is your goal with having your child learn to play the piano?

Our goal is to see Aviya play music fluently, enjoy composing music and enjoy worshiping her Heavenly Father. We desire that she gets comfortable playing for Hindi and Pahari (mountain language) songs as she grows up.

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