I am excited to introduce to you March’s Member of the Month, Amy Hochstetler.
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.
