Music Education: Making Music Happen in Your Homeschool

As a music teacher, I’m always getting questions about private lessons and ensembles to join, especially for homeschoolers. And while I do recommend a child’s involvement in formal music training if they are interested and show innate ability, it is not the only way to create a love of and appreciation for this fine art.

Children are naturally drawn to music. Even before they are born they can hear and respond to music, and classical music especially is known to calm fussing babies, focus young children and bring out creativity in people of all ages. To successfully add music to your homeschool, you need only to build off of this inherent love in your everyday life.

Since my husband and I are both classical musicians, music is a part of our life that can’t be separated from who we are. We don’t sit down with our children and show them written quarter notes and eighth notes, or formally analyze a piece of music with them. Truthfully, that would kill the joy already present. We simply fill their environment with good quality music and opportunities to learn and discuss (even the toddlers!) what they are hearing.

Stock up on music CD’s
Classical music CDs are among the cheapest you can find. It is easy to stock up on the classics for a modest sum of money and have them playing in the background while you eat, play, or work in your home and in the car. Choose a variety: choral, orchestral, opera, different instrument combinations, different languages and time periods. Some good, accessible composers to start with are Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Grieg, Holst, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert, Debussy, and Dvorak.

Discuss, using adjectives
To make the most of your and your children’s listening experience, talk about what you hear:

• “Wow, that was a really loud section!”
• “Did you hear how fast that was? How did they play so fast?”
• “I think I heard a flute. Did you hear any other instruments?”

Fast and slow, high and low, short or long, joyful or sad. So many adjectives can express the music, and there’s no wrong way to hear something. Before you try to make a foray into music in any kind of structured way, spend months listening and let your children surprise you with their experiences.

Play simple music games
When children feel musically that they have something to say, move from there into simple musical games. Buy a number of varied percussion instruments (these are relatively cheap and can be found online at websites such as www.musiciansfriend.com for a better price than your local music store) and allow them to experiment. Here are a few examples of challenges for them:

• Ask your children to play their name in rhythm- “My name-is Chris-tine” (long short-short long long), “My name-is An-tho-ny” (long short-short short-short long)
• Choose a dynamic poem or story and have them come up with a way to tell it using only instruments.
• Have a dinner when everyone is only allowed to sing and not speak. Opera-style “Please pass the buuuuuuutttttteeeeeeer!” can be a hoot for the whole family.

Attend concerts
Another important aspect of creating a music-appreciate family is to attend concerts in your area. Local universities and colleges often have free recitals and concerts at the music school. Our local community orchestra recently had a Star Wars themed concert with a multimedia element of pictures from the Hubble telescope and people dressed in costume. These gems are often marketed well, but sometimes not. Keep your eyes and ears open especially for these types of fun concerts to attract reluctant attendees.

Listen to Kindermusik
If you have very young children, I would highly recommend Kindermusik CDs, even if you can’t swing the classes. You can buy them on ebay or other swap-type sites. It is crucial for good musical and vocal development to have quality vocal models that young children can learn from and Kindermusik has a wonderful reputation for pleasing recordings and varied arrangements with many instruments involved. My children have also gotten a great deal of musical “tidbits” from the Disney show “Little Einsteins”! When your child can recognize a Dvorak song on the classical station, it’s pretty impressive!

Adding music to your homeschool need not be an intimidating undertaking. Not every child will be apt to study privately for years, but every child can and should be encouraged to express themselves musically. The process of creating and appreciating music is a wonderful way to share creatively with your family. And the musical world can always use more enthusiastic audience members!

Christine is a homeschooling mom of four, three boys and a girl ranging in age from infant to 7 years. A musician by trade, she desires to help other homeschoolers find the beauty and simplicity in teaching the arts to their children. Visit her blog at Fruit in Season.

Tags: classical music for children, creating music, kid friendly concerts, Kindermusik, learning music, Little Einsteins, music appreciation, music games, music in homeschool, musiciansfriend.com

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