May Members of the Month

Meet Ben, Karissa, and their 9 year old daughter Savannah from Coral Springs, Florida. They have a lovable, yet often mischievous, Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix, named Zip that they rescued a few years ago.

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Q: What’s your musical background?

Our family’s musical background is fairly limited.  I [Ben] took piano lessons for several years when I was around Savannah’s age, and then taught myself a little guitar from method books in my early 20’s.  Oh, and my wife can sing pretty good karaoke!  My recent attempts at music have been non-existent until recently when I got Savannah into the BusyKids program, which also motivated me to pick up the piano again, with more focus than ever!

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

Savannah is an only child, and sometimes when asked if she has any brothers or sisters, she will respond with an emphatic yes!  Her dog Zip!  Zip is a lovable, yet often mischievous, Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix who we rescued several years ago.

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

We use the monthly challenges to provide motivation for practice.  These work really well for us, providing motivation and goals every month.  When we first started, practice was easy and exciting.  However, like I’m sure happens to many children, as things get more challenging, practice becomes more of a chore.  I think the lessons provide good reasonable progression for someone my daughter’s age.  Most lessons can be completed  in a relatively short amount of time so she doesn’t get frustrated.  It’s always a sense of accomplishment every time she gets to check off that she completed a lesson.  I tried Ms. Carly’s recommendation to not focus on practice time, but instead work on completing specific lines, measures, or hands, etc.  This worked great for a while, but Savannah kept wanting an amount of time she had to practice.  I asked her what amount of time she thought she should do.  She suggested 25 minutes, which was perfectly fine with me, so that has been our daily practice requirement.  Of course, it’s not truly daily, typically, she practices around 4 days a week.  This has worked well, allowing her to progress at a good pace, feeling good about steadily accomplishing new things, and not getting too upset about being pushed to practice too much.  Overall, I think the monthly challenges, and the results she sees in herself when she accomplishes a new piece, are what really help with keeping her motivated.

Savannah-Zip piano

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

I considered private lessons for my daughter for some time, but given the price, commitment, and not having a huge desire from my daughter at the time I never pulled the trigger.  Then one day my sister told me about this program called BusyKids, that she had started using for her son.  She learned about it on social media.  She told me that she really liked how personal it was and of course the price!  She also told me about the free trial course which was nice to try out before committing.  I mentioned it to my daughter a few times, and a few months later she expressed a desire to start learning!  It just so happened it was during a special open enrollment period due to the unfortunate virus situation, so we were able to start right away.

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

I really like the structure of these lessons as compared to many online programs.  Gearing them for kids is great, plus Ms. Carly teaches how to play the piano, not just how to press notes.  When Savannah started, it got me motivated to start learning again also, which I have not done much of since I was a child.  When I started looking for myself, I had no idea the world of stuff that is available online for piano lessons these days.  As I looked around, and did trials of several programs for myself, I learned how many of these are structured.  This made me appreciate the method used by Ms. Carly in her program even more.  I think it’s perfect for children learning.  So Savannah’s musical journey also renewed a journey of mine that I have tremendously enjoyed this past year.  But just as much, it’s been such a pleasure to watch how well Savannah has progressed over the past year.  I often wonder that having the ability to set our own pace at her progression, and being able to move to the next lessons when she’s ready, has advanced her just as quickly if not more so than private lessons would have in her first year.

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

My goal is for Savannah to develop an appreciation of piano, and get to a level where she feels comfortable playing pieces that challenge her and give her joy, so that she can develop a lifelong interest and hobby.  Of course, to get there, my more immediate goal is to help her maintain interest enough so that she will continue to challenge herself and learn!  Wish me luck!  A more near term goal has also been to give Savannah something productive and educational to focus on, especially as we are home more than ever these days where having additional structure really helps.

 

April Member of the Month

Meet the Kaur family originally from Punjab, India and currently living in Seattle, WA.  Dad, Aman and Mom, Simmi have two princesses Avneet and Emleen.  Avneet turned 8 years old on Valentine’s day. She is a Valentine’s day baby. Emleen is turning 4 yr old next month. Aman and Simmi both work  full time. He is a software developer and she is a pharmacist. Aman’s parents also live with them, making a wonderful multigenerational home.
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Q: What’s your musical background?
 
We don’t have any musical background. I [Simmi] have always wanted to learn musical instruments but never got a chance. However, I want my both daughters to learn music.
Avneet has been learning another instrument Harmonium (like Piano but you have to sing, you use one hand to press notes and other hand to pump the fan in front of the instrument) since she is 5 years old. She started learning Piano last summer in August with Carly. Emleen wanted to learn Piano after watching her sister. First I thought she is still pretty young for Piano but found out about preschool program that Carly offers. I purchased it and can’t thank Carly enough it was so engaging and wonderful that she is in love with piano lessons.
Q: Anything fun or unique you’d like to share about your family?
We all work together as a team to get any activity or learning done in a fun way. Her dad is learning piano with her. They both work as a team to motivate each other and learn at the same time. Avneet enjoys her piano lesson with her dad.
Q: How do you structure piano lessons/practice for your family? Any tips to share?
 
We try to choose at least 2 days per week for lesson/practice. There is no fix day or time we do it. Usually, we put in in the schedule depending on our work schedule and other classes for kids. We keep one day for learning new piano lesson and second day of the week for practicing the lesson we learned or any previous ones.
The tip I would like to share is that don’t force your kids to keep going for lesson if they are not interested at that moment. Choose the time when they are mentally ready. which will make it very easy for you and for them.
Q: How did you learn about Busy Moms/Kids Do Piano?
 
I found out about Busy Moms/Kids through facebook. I was trying to find some activities or online classes for her when COVID arrived last year. This program offered by Carly seemed like something I was looking for. It has advantage over other program offered including in person Piano lesson which is pricing, flexibility and accessibility.
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Q: Do you have any stories you’d like to share about your musical journey with piano lessons?
We are amazed by how much Avneet and Emleen have learned so far in such a short period of time.
Q: What is your goal with having your child learn to play the piano?

We would like to continue learning piano with Carly even though we have option of going in person classes now just because our daughters are in love with the way how Carly teaches the lessons. We can’t wait for them to move forward with this program.

December Members of the Month

Meet the Woods Family from the western suburbs of Chicago!  Darla and husband, Darnell have four daughters, Anayah 10, Kenzie 6, Teagan 4, and Tessa 2. Four years ago, they took an epic road trip from Illinois covering Texas, California, Nevada, and Colorado. They have plans to travel as much as possible when it can be done safely again!
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May Members of the Month

Meet the Mumma family from Jackson, Wyoming! Matt and Sara have four children 11-year-old Owen,  10-year- old twins Adelyn and Anabel and 7-year-old Noelle.

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What’s your musical background?

I, Sara, have had almost no musical training before starting this program. The only musical training I had was a couple of months of playing the recorder along with my fourth-grade class, and a musical appreciation course in college, which to me was like entering an upper level foreign language class with no previous exposure. It was a wonder I passed at all, as none of it ever made sense. My now husband took that class with me, and as he asked me out for the first time as we walked back to the dorms from that class, I can’t say it was completely useless. It was however always a dream of mine to be able to play piano and I started taking the Busy Moms course as my children started the Busy Kids course. I had always thought that my lack of musical knowledge was due to a lack of talent, and while I would not say I am musically talented, I realized that my lack of knowledge was actually due to a lack of instruction. It was incredible to me the first time I played Yankee Doodle, and someone actually recognized the song. I had made music! Learning to play the piano along with my children has enabled me not only to help them succeed, but motivate me to continue learning. Continue reading “May Members of the Month”

April Members of the Month

Meet the Baltzersen family from Atlanta, Georgia. Mom Allison, dad Jasper and their daughters Annika who is eight and Ava who is six. Allison is a working and homeschooling mom who is now working her way through the BusyMoms program.
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July Members of the Month

 

Meet Andrew and Amy Cook family from Fort Campbell, KY. They have four wonderful children: Hannah, who is 12 years old, Katelyn, who is 11 years old, Sara, who is 9 years olds and Audrey, who is 7 years old. Like many of our Busy Families they are a military and homeschooling family.

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May Member of the Month

Meet the Martin  family from Kincardine, Ontario, Canada a small town on the shore of Lake Huron.  Pastor Brian and wife Heather have three children Liberty who is 8 years old, Caleb  who is 7 years old,  and Elijah who is 2 years old.

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What’s your musical background?

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Pacing Piano Lessons: Is My Student Ready for the Next Lesson?

One thing that is unique to online piano lessons is that while I teach all the concepts, music and theory in the program, I do rely on parents to help in pacing the program for the student. I have parent guides and checklists to help with this, but I want parents to feel completely comfortable when it comes to answering the question, “Is my child ready for the next piano lesson?” Continue reading “Pacing Piano Lessons: Is My Student Ready for the Next Lesson?”

February Member of the Month

Meet David and Rene Parsons from Tucson, AZ. They have five children, Ella who is 10, Ben who is 8, Owen who is 7, Clara  who is 4 and Jonathan who is 1. Four of their children are members of the Busy Kids program.
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What is your musical background?

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January Member of the Month

Meet the Dauenhauer Family of 8 from Texas! Dustin, DorothyAnne, Aidan (12), Aliyah (10), Daniel (8), Liam (5), Evan (2) and Avery (2mo). This Busy Family loves travel, baseball and shopping! Busy student Aidan is enjoying lessons and has even composed a song with his mom!

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