I love music. I admire talented musicians and appreciate the time and effort they put into practicing and developing their talents. We wanted our children to learn how to play the piano. There is a great article about some of the benefits of music lessons here and another here.We wanted our children to develop these skills and we felt that our first and second graders were ready. We had two major roadblocks, though.
- -TIME. Our school days are SO busy! We did NOT want to take our kids somewhere multiple times each week and figure out a way to keep our other kids still and quiet while one boy got a lesson. I didn’t even want to imagine trying to do this week after week, all school year. How would we also find time to practice if so much of our time each week was devoted to simply going to lessons? I imagined how quickly we would all hate piano and how willing I would be to abandon the whole idea the instant one of my boys said he didn’t want to do it anymore.
- -MONEY. Piano lessons can be reasonable, but I was multiplying times three. It would be a big expense. I am willing to invest money in my children, don’t get me wrong, but thinking of paying a lot for time-consuming, sanity-erasing lessons sounded a little crazy.
Fortunately I came across an article in my alumni magazine about Joseph and Kelly Hoffman, who created an online piano academy. It sounded like the solution to my problems and it came at the perfect time. I looked it up and then told my husband about it. We began piano lessons the first full week that we were back to school and we haven’t looked back.
Piano lessons have become a part of our daily school routine. We come home, the boys change out of their school uniforms and put them in the hamper. They change into play clothes and unpack their backpacks. Then we rotate between homework, reading, and piano, (the boy whose day it is gets to choose which one he wants to do first) until all three things are finished. Some days we repeat the same lesson if the concept is a little more difficult and I want to make sure my boys have it down. Other days (especially at the beginning) are pretty simple and one or two days on that lesson is all they need.
With Hoffman Academy we don’t have to worry about leaving the house to get our lessons each day and my boys practice every school day. I just prop the iPad on the music holder of the piano and I can go about doing other things while I can still hear the piano lessons going. We have incorporated it into our star charts too, so we encourage the boys to practice during the summer as well.
These piano lessons are also very affordable. You can pay a yearly subscription, with a smaller price for additional children and then take as many lessons as you want. You can even access many of the videos for free if you want try it out before you commit.
One of my favorite things about the Hoffman Academy videos is that at the end of each video there is a little silly finger puppet segment that changes with each video. My children love these! It keeps them watching all the way to the very end. They don’t try to rush out of the room as soon as they have played the last note—they sit and wait until they’ve seen every second of the lesson and video. I love it!
Because of the way Joseph Hoffman teaches the lessons and music theory, my boys are much more willing to try to play other songs by ear and can even transpose a song into another key (not perfectly, yet, but hey, they’re 8!). I am so excited about what they have learned so far and plan to have my boys continue to study piano again this year with Hoffman Academy. If you are looking to give your child an opportunity to learn how to play the piano, I cannot recommend them enough.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am in no way affiliated with Hoffman Academy. I just want to share what has worked for me and my family and hope it blesses your life as well.
