Meet Ryan and Jennie, and their two children, Abigail 13 and soon to be 11 Aidan. They are a homeschooling family in Tennessee! However, they have lived in Kentucky, Texas, and Minnesota.
Tag: Busy Moms Do Piano
January Member of the Month
Meet Josh and Chelsea and their three children Naomi, 9 years old, Jonah, 7 years old, and Aiden, 5 years old. They are from Indianapolis, Indiana. Not only are the kids part of the Busy Kids program, but Mom is too!
Q: What’s your musical background?
My husband and I [Chelsea] both played an instrument in junior high and can read music, but neither of us have natural musical talent, nor pursued learning beyond the basics. However, we both have siblings and parents who are talented musicians and want our children to have the opportunity to develop basic music skills to see if they love playing music as much as some of their extended family does!
Q: Anything fun or unique you’d like to share about your family?
While Josh and I were raised in the midwest, we have lived in LA (where Naomi and Jonah were born) and Colorado (where Aiden was born), and we love to return to those places when able, as well as travel to new places as time, resources and safety allow! We have also been a foster family for the past 5 years, so the number of children in our family fluctuates between three and five as other children join our family for the season that they need to and then often return home to their families.
Q: How do you structure piano lessons/practice for your family? Any tips to share?
Since we homeschool, piano is part of their daily checklist for school. Once they feel like they are ready for the next lesson we go over the end of lesson checklist and “perform” the songs from that lesson for whoever is around at the moment, and then the next day they’ll go on to a new lesson. Each child definitely works at their own pace based on difficulty of lesson/determination. One of our children easily goes throughs two lessons a week when motivated, and another typically takes two weeks to get comfortable with the new information and songs. By making it a part of their daily checklist for school, we all feel less pressure to be making quick progress through the lessons and staying on a tight schedule of lessons v. practice.
Q: How did you learn about Busy Moms/Kids Do Piano?
I did some research for online piano lessons and was amazed at the cost of Busy Kids Do Piano! When you considered paying for three individual lessons a week, four times a month, this was such a great deal! I had my older two children (who were 5 & 7 at the time) watch her sample lesson to see how they engaged/followed along and it went well, and then I saw that Carly offered a Busy Moms course as well and I was sold! I am sloooowly making my way through the Back in the Saddle course.
Q: Do you have any stories you’d like to share about your musical journey with piano lessons?
I just love how proud the kids are when they learn a new song, especially one they already knew how to sing. We bought a couple Christmas song books this year and they have each loved learning different Christmas songs and play them for their friends and family over Facetime whenever they get the chance!
Q: What is your goal with having your child learn to play the piano?
Our goal is for them to learn basic music skills/theory, as well as hopefully instill a love for playing music. We also love that it teachers perseverance!
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.
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.
Meet Our Team: The Folks Behind Busy People Do Piano
Whether you’ve been an e-mail subscriber or perhaps a student of one of my online courses, chances are that you’ve interacted with me (Carly) — the creator of Busy Moms and Busy Kids Do Piano and seen my face in all those lesson videos – hah!
But I am not the only person running the show. While there have been others along the way who have helped me with certain projects — creating my site or assisting during a webinar — there are two constants who have been by my side for years now. They make our community so special and I am constantly grateful for them. Continue reading “Meet Our Team: The Folks Behind Busy People Do Piano”
April Member of the Month
Meet Fares Al Twal and Diana Abou-Assaleh Al Twal. They have children Adrian, who is 13 years old, Cassandra, who is 10 years old and , Alex who is 8 years old. They live in the small town of St. Catharines, Ontario Canada just minutes away from Niagara Falls, one of the world’s wonders.
March Members of the Month
Meet Yenson, Fabienne, and their daughters Eva age 7 and Matilda age 3. They are from a lovely village in Cheshire not too far from Manchester in England. Eva is student in the Busy Kids Program while her mom, Fabienne is part of the Busy Moms program and just recently Matilda has tried out the preschooler program! Continue reading “March Members of the Month”
Royal Wedding: THE MUSIC!
I know I typically use my blog to share valuable practicing tips, musical resources and all kinds of super important stuff with readers.
Today I’m blogging about the music from the Royal Wedding.
While this might seem a bit “off-topic” for me, I actually think using real life moments and events to draw musical connections is an awesome and exciting way for kids to learn. And there was so much great music in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding that I simply HAD to make it a teachable moment! Continue reading “Royal Wedding: THE MUSIC!”
May Member of the Month
Meet Julie, Robert, Andrew and Rachel Gastler from Columbia, MO. Julie is a student in the Busy Moms program. She is currently taking a brief and unplanned hiatus from the piano due to injury.Last Friday she cut her right index finger with a table saw. She still has a finger but is unable to play the piano at the moment. She says, “That is by far the worst result of this injury. I can manage not writing and am happy to be banned from washing dishes for a while, but my piano is calling me and I can’t answer.” The good news is that she should be able to play again once she done healing, but it will be a while the stitches wont even come out for 2 weeks. Continue reading “May Member of the Month”
January Member of the Month
Meet the wonderful Williams family from Pennsylvania. This awesome family of 9 includes Mark and Kelley and their lovely children, Ben (20), Ann (19), Sam (16), Gabe (13), Jaden (10), Sarah (9), and Sol (7).
Q: What’s your musical background?
We grew up in Tennessee so the musical influence in our lives is rich and varied, from rock to worship and rap to bluegrass – we enjoy it all. Up until we started Busy Kids Do Piano, only the oldest three had taken any lessons, and only the oldest really connected with it, though everyone likes to play around on the piano and guitar and ukulele. Continue reading “January Member of the Month”
