I let my Granddaughter start sewing on my Janome 6600 which has all the bells & whistles including using the start/stop button. After a while I realized she should be using an ordinary mechanical sewing machine to learn so she knows the basics of a machine. She is 12 now and is taking sewing in home ec and uses a mechanical machine. I now let her sew on an Elna mechanical and she is doing great. What I'm trying to say is start on a simple machine, learn the basics and then if the opportunity presents itself, move up to more features. Kind of like my Dad said - learn to drive a straight stick car so you know how if you have to as anyone can drive an automatic. Thanks Dad as that situation did present itself more than once in my lifetime.