I decided for my 40th birthday I would learn how to play the piano,so my husband bought me a piano,I absolutely love it, and have started lessons straight away.
I have two children aged 8 and 11, we knew the 8 year old would have lessons as she has been asking for a couple of years and is a natural with all things musical, she takes after her father (my husband has been playing guitar since 8years and has a room full of instruments). What has come as a surprise is our 11year old has wandered over, read my music book and taught himself my first lesson in about 15mins, I'm still learning it ,we were sitting talking and all of a sudden he just started playing.
Riley is a very bright child and has aways been in advanced classes for maths and reading so I guess this helps him understand the theory? do you think that would be the case?
Ok so here lies my problem I have one child who who just bursts with colour and noise, Tannalee will dance her little fingers over the keys with such delight it is a thrill to watch, no matter how it sounds ,and I have my mad little scientist who will analyse each hit of the key and keeps lifting the lid to see what happens .They both want to learn but we didn't count on paying for all three of us to have lessons ,with dancing and karate lessons it really adds up.
Now the big question, we have the option of having them taught at school for 1/2 the price but it is on a key board, is this a huge mistake ?, will it cause problems for them later if they continue playing ?, we can afford the piano lessons , but it would be easier at 1/2 price .
What is your experience or advice ?
Thanks Deborah.

Are they specifically learning piano on a keyboard? (That would seem a bit odd as surely the teacher is the most expensive resource). Or would it be specifically keyboard lessons? If it's the latter then that's a totally different thing to piano lessons: usually involving block chords and rhythm accompaniments, rather than piano playing.

It is piano lessons on a key board, it is cheaper as it is in a group of seven students, rather than one to one.

To be honest, and probably not what you want to hear, learning on an acoustic piano is the only way to learn to play the instrument properly. The feel, touch and feedback from a real piano can never be matched by even expensive digital pianos let alone a "plasticky" keyboard. I have both an acoustic piano and a Roland digital piano, the latter of which I use only for recording and composition work, but the difference in "playability" between the two is quite significant. All of my serious playing and practice is done on my acoustic piano.

However it depends on how serious you and your children are about learning to play. My son who is taking grade 2 was very keen a couple of years ago but just lately he's "waxing" and "waning" about going to his weekly private piano lesson and does not practise as much as he should. I try to inspire him by example but you cannot force your 'kids' to continue if the basic desire begins to ebb away as they get older and more preoccupied with other things.

I've heard of beginners only having a keyboard to practise on, but never heard of piano pupils being taught on a keyboard! It's often the case that a parent wants to hold back on buying a piano till they're sure the child is going to stick with it - but I think they should at least be TAUGHT on a real piano! Touch and dynamics (even if it's touch-sensitive) can really only be properly demonstrated on a piano.

I would also have serious reservations about a group of seven. How could the teacher be sure that each individual was receiving good enough instruction on things like posture, hand position, fingering, etc? Also, there are bound to be some pupils who catch on more quickly than others; will she teach to the middle ground, or to the best, or will everyone have to hang back for the slowest learners? If it's just a couple of demonstration-type classes to instil an interest, then that's fine, but I think you'd be much better advised to go for individual lessons on a piano.

I did my first year on a keyboard when i was 6 and i think this helped to keep me entertained with all the different timbres.

I I'd agree with others that piano and keyboard lessons are 2 very different things. Keyboard can be fun in a group and pupils can enjoy using the different rhythms, voices, etc-but that's if they're being taught how to use them effectively-which if they're actually being taught 'piano' lessons on a keyboard they may not be-and as other posts have said, they'll be missing many of the vital elements of learning to play the piano. It depends if you want them to learn about music theory and notation generally, and maybe move onto piano at a later stage-or learn how to play the piano-in which case piano lessons will be much better value long-term, even though initially more expensive. Worth mentioning that several of my pupils started off with keyboard lessons in a group before coming to me for individual piano lessons-the positive side is that the keyboard lessons sparked an interest in playing and gave them a basic grounding in treble clef notation, rhythm and chords-however without exception all had weak or non existent reading of bass clef and using the left hand for playing other than chords. Another point is that if they are learning to use the keyboard properly at school-ie the different sounds, rhythms, etc, they won't be able to practice the same things at home on a piano.

My friend once told me that learning piano on a keyboard causes the pianist to develop wrong finger postures in the future. Nothing can beat a real piano because the touch is different eg. the bass is harder than the treble. In weighted key digital pianos nowadays, the keys are weighted but the hardness is uniform.

Thanks for your help, piano it shall be.

Can you find a piano teacher who will teach them together for the same fee? My sister and I used to have this arrangement when we were young (for financial reasons). Instead of both of us each receiving a full lesson, we got half the lesson each and spent the remainder as an audience member.

Both can learn from the mistakes of the other and you learn more than if you had a lesson of half the length. It might even remove fears of playing in front of other people at an early stage.

HTH

Do you know what type of keyboard it is?
If it has 88 full size weighted keys and an approximately piano like sound it ought to be OK to start with at least.

I've never learnt piano this way, but like Spaceman says, if it is a full 88-key keyboard with a piano like sound, this should be fine. However if, like a normal keyboard there is virually no weight on the keys, this might be a problem for later on if your children want to start playing on a proper piano, as it will be hard to get used to the weight. Lessons would probably be cheaper and would work though if they had a piano at home to play.