August Members of the Month

Allow me to introduce you to our August Members of the Month, the Brander family. They have been a part of Busy Kids Do Piano for over 1 year, and have two boys in the program, Dominic (11) and Allen (8).
The boys attend school at home and access the BKDP online materials several times a week. We love the enthusiasm and commitment, boys!
Melissa, mom to the boys, took 8 years of piano lessons as a young person and has spent some time in music programs through church. She says the boys initially started taking piano lessons from their “Oma” (grandmother) but were unable to continue after she moved onto a boat!
Melissa shares, “Playing piano is important to me so that [the kids] have a solid understanding of music. Additionally, I think that learning to play an instrument brings a lot of brain benefits for people of all ages! We really like the practice challenges to help keep them motivated.”

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July Members of the Month

Allow me to introduce you to our July Members of the Month, Saanvi and her family from Australia. They have been a part of Busy Kids Do Piano for just under a year with their daughter, Saanvi, who is 8 years old. Saanvi attends a local elementary school and digs into the BKDP online materials several times a week. Way to be committed, Saanvi!

The family immigrated from India to Australia, and they all enjoy music, even though neither mom nor dad had any formal training. Likewise, Saanvi had no musical background, but her mom, Ruchi, says her primary reason for keeping her in the BKDP program is to encourage her self-confidence through learning to play and read music.

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May Members of the Month

Allow me to introduce you to our April Members of the Month, the Tare family. They are long-time members, a part of Busy Kids Do Piano for more than two years, and have their son Lanz in the program, who is 17
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Lanz attends school at home and works through the BKDP lesson videos 2-3 times a month. Nice work, Lanz!
Lanz started taking piano lessons around 5th grade, but when the pandemic interrupted his learning a couple of years later, he took a break. Mom Jizel shared, “We encouraged him to continue learning piano because we saw his potential and knew the benefits of playing piano. We were thankful when he
enrolled in Busy Kids Do Piano. We love how well this piano program is taught and how it works well with our busy schedule.”

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March Member of the Month

I am excited to introduce to you March’s Member of the Month, Amy Hochstetler.
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Amy has been a member of Busy Kids Do Piano for over 2 years, and her son Henry, 10 years old, is her star piano student. Little brother Jack, 6, gets to listen to all of Henry’s practice sessions. The boys attend school at home, which has helped enable the family to do lots of traveling. This year alone, they’ve visited 9 states!
One of Amy’s favorite things about the Busy Kids Do Piano program is that it’s flexible, able to meet their piano learning needs when they are back home in Maryland.
“We recently had our third child, and it has been difficult to get out of the house…I appreciate the versatility of both being able to do the lessons at home when we can, and also not doing the lessons during a busy season, knowing they will be there for us when are ready to return.”
After moving to a new state in the past year, Amy loved that they could take BKDP with them! She says, “It was nice to have the stability of our same music lessons in the midst of so much change.”
Here are some more of Amy’s and Henry’s answers from our interview.
What else do you love most about the BKDP program?
“I greatly appreciate the price of Busy Kids. It is an incredible value compared to traditional lessons, and makes music lessons possible for our family.”
Why piano, and what would you like to share about your family?
“Although I am not a great musician, I believe I benefitted greatly from my childhood [piano] lessons. It taught me to have a deep appreciation for music, even if I am unable to play it myself as an adult. I hope my children will have a deeper level of commitment to learning than I had as a child. I would love for them to be able to read music well and play in a church setting as they mature.”
Now let’s hear some input from Henry. What is one thing you liked to learn from the program?

“When I learn about a new scale in music, it makes me realize other songs I have heard before in the same key. Like when I learned about the A Minor scale, I figured out it is the same notes as ‘Arabian Nights’ from Aladdin.”

What advice would you give other kids who might want to try BKDP?
“Don’t get frustrated with your music, just keep working at it.”
What great advice, Henry! Perseverance is so important when learning something new.
Do you have anything else you’d like to tell us?
“My favorite animal is a cat. We like to foster them for the Humane Society. We feed them and play with them and let them get a taste of what it is like to be in a family. When they get big enough, we take them back…so they can be adopted by a new family. I also have a keyboard that can make lots of different sounds. I use it to make up songs. I don’t write them down, but I practice them frequently enough so I won’t forget.”
Wow, Henry, we love that you are a composer as well as a cat-caretaker! I’m sure your cats enjoy your unique compositions.
When Henry isn’t writing music or caring for their foster cats, he loves Matchbox cars, Legos, reading, and drawing. We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know the Hochstetler family. Accessing BKDP on their own schedule, as well as enjoying both the flexibility and price structure of the program, makes it a great fit for their family’s needs.

February Members of the Month

Meet the Nesbitt Family from California! They live in the beautiful San Fransisco Bay area. They are a busy family with two kids in the Busy Kids Do Piano program. Jonah is in 2nd grade and Kyle is in kindergarten. At the start of the pandemic the Nesbitt family started their own YouTube channel called This Japanese American Life.
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Q: What’s your musical background?

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January Members of the Month

Meet the Chan family, who live in California, around the San Francisco Bay Area.They are a family of four, Diana, her husband, Amelia Busy Kids piano student, age 7, and her younger brother age 3.  They adventured as a family to see snow for the first time this winter season.momjan
Q: What’s your musical background?
I can play some piano, but it’s always been off and on. I took a piano class in my elementary school for a few years. Then I took some lessons in high school and college. My husband played the trumpet and baritone horn in high school.

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November Members of the Month

Meet the Cook family from Fort Campbell, KY. Mom, Amy and Dad, Andrew have 4 children: Hannah is 14 years old, Katelyn is 13 years old, Sarah is 13 years old and Audrey is 10 years old. 

 What’s your musical background?

 I (Amy) took piano lessons for about 10 years as a kid. 

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

I homeschool and we’re a military family. We’re originally from Pennsylvania. We’ve lived in Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, New York, and now here. Our 4 children were born in 3 different states. 

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

 I have the girls each take their piano lesson a different day of the week. Then, I help them if they need help and listen to them play it every evening after dinner. 

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

 I heard about Busy Kids from a Facebook friend. 
What is your goal with having your child learn to play the piano?

I would love to see the girls play in church once in a while and also just enjoy playing!

 

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October Members of the Month

Meet the Johnson family from the hills of Perth, Western Australia. Clara is 11, Caleb is 9, Camden is 4, and Piper is one.

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What’s your musical background?

Mum (Jill) is a dancer and Uncle Glenn is the keyboardist/guitarist of a popular band in Australia.

 

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

We live in the hills of Perth, Western Australia

It’s beautiful because we enjoy the native animals sharing the space around us.

 

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

The children play the piano daily and record/tick off our family diary. We use the word ‘play’ rather than practice because…playing the piano is fun❣️

 

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

Finding out about Busy Kids/Moms do Piano was the best thing ever🤗🤗🤗

I can never thank Social Media enough for giving us this opportunity to discover this wonderful family – BUSY KIDS/MOMS DO PIANO❣️

 

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

We feel an attachment to Carly that is unexplainable. She is so amazing💞

Her program has given the children more than knowledge of playing an instrument. They have grown in confidence. Carly is such a multitalented person who has made a tremendous difference in the children’s lives. They never show any disinterest or dislike when it’s time to play the piano.

 

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

We are constantly surrounded by music. Learning the piano, in my opinion, is the best foundation to learning all other instruments…like learning ballet is the best foundation for learning all other dance genres. This is my personal opinion.

Finally, being part of the Busy Kids/Moms do Piano family has been the best decision our family has made.

Thank you Carly❣️❣️❣️

June Member of the Month

Meet LaNise and her 11 year old daughter Erelyn-Marie from Columbus, Ohio. They are a thrill seeking  mother-daughter duo who spend their summers riding rollercoasters at  Cedar Point the roller coaster capital of the world!

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Q: What’s your musical background?

I [LaNise] don’t have any musical background but Erelyn has been playing piano since she was 4 years old. I’ve learned music along with her but do not play.

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

We love riding roller coasters together. Every Summer we take multiple trips to Cedar Point [the roller coaster capital of the world] and ride as many as possible in a day or two.

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

Erelyn practices almost every day usually after dinner time. She doesn’t always do a lesson though. Sometimes it’s just a song she’s learning for church.

The only tip I can offer: To keep her motivated, I let her pick a gift she wants at the end of each week if she has practiced a certain number of days. Nothing big, maybe a fast food run or something from the dollar store. 

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

I saw an ad on Facebook and watched the free lesson. 

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

When Erelyn first started piano, she was 4 and caught on very easily. She progressed much faster than expected and she loved learning something new each lesson. She’s played in a few recitals and now plays the accompaniment for our kids choir at church. She did have about a year of not playing when her piano teacher moved away so after being out of practice it took some motivating to get her back in the practice mood again but, she’s bounced back tremendously. 

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

I’d like her to want to play piano for fun but also so she can be a help in our church one day.

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.