The Ultimate How to Teach Music in Homeschool Guide
Homeschooling is life schooling, I say this time and again. Homeschool music appreciation curriculum doesn’t have to look like books and paper. The best way to teach music in homeschool is to have music playing in your homeschooling.
I think it’s important for homeschoolers to round out a child’s education with a study of the arts. We do this in a variety of ways like, visiting art museums, studying classic composers, enrolling in an art class or music lessons or just viewing or listening to great works of art.
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In our home music plays often. One of my favorite things to do is to turn on our surround sound, turn on Music Choice on the television and let music play in the background throughout our day. The genres vary depending on my mood, or the mood of the family. This is just one of the ways that I infuse music learning into our life learning.
Don’t miss this free music rescources for teaching music in homeschool.
But it’s not always easy to pull together a good round-up of ideas for teaching the “extras” in a homeschool setting. So I’ve pulled together the best of the best to share with you. Over the next 5 days I’ll share with you resources and ideas to help you stay on track with teaching music in your homeschool.
Finding Resources for Teaching Music in Homeschool
Sometimes, if you are like me, a music curriculum can become a cumbersome addition to the already full line up of core curriculums to be studied in the homeschool. Sometimes, we homeschool moms want simple, hands on, easy to find, and not labor intensive ways for our kids to study without missing out on some important information and key concepts. This is especially true when it comes to the “extras” in education.
That being said, music doesn’t just have to be an “extra” because it can act as an inspirational tool for young minds. Studies have shown that music and ignite learning in other areas such as math, and writing because rhythm, pattern and cadence are integral to both.
Since we live in a world that is connected 24/7 to the world-wide web, we have access to a wealth of learning resources right at our fingertips. With the click of a mouse and a few keystrokes we can download, print, listen to, observe and study world-renowned artists, composers, and music theory all from the comfort of our own homes.
3 Ways to Teach in Homeschool with Instruments
Gentle Guitar is an online one-to-one subscription based class where the student learns to play guitar from a music teacher through a video instruction using Skype. My son gave these lessons a try and you can read here about how easy it is to teach guitar in your homeschool.
The subscription includes all the learning manuals. So with a willing student, a guitar, and a Skype account you’ll be amazed at how easy and how quickly your students will learn to play with Gentle Guitar.
2- Piano Lessons Homeschool Edition
This video based course will take students through through a comprehensive Piano-Learning system, even if you have no musical skills and no previous experience.
3- Violin Lessons at Home
Have you seen Practice Monkeys? Sarah, a 27+ year experienced violin teacher and fellow homeschool mom created this online course for kids to learn to play violin in their own home.
20 Web Learning Resources for Teaching Music in Homeschool
- A Guide to Renaissance Instruments
- Archive.org – Music, Art & Culture
- Arts Alive
- Carnegie Hall Listening Adventures
- Classics for Kids
- Classical Guitar Ensemble
- Curiosity Stream
- Datadragon Music Education
- Good Music Guide
- Learn the Instruments
- Making Music Fun
- Music Genre List
- Music Theory
- New York Philharmonic Kid Zone
- Quia Shared Activities – Music
- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Education Programs
- San Francisco Orchestra Kids
- The Kennedy Center Arts Edge Educators Lessons
- Tune In Radio
- World Music
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for Teaching Music in Homeschool.
Music Ed Magazine – for parents and teachers.
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- Each issue is packed with the latest research, tips, games, teaching resources and creative ideas to make teaching and learning music easy and enjoyable for everyone.
Apps for Learning Music in Homeschool
Droid
- Beethoven Symphony 9
- Best Music Set
- Chicago Symphony
- Ensemble Composer
- GCSE Music Questions
- Interval Recognition/Ear Training
- Music Rhythm Master
- Music Theory Scale Net
- Music Tutor Sight Read
Droid & iOS
iOS
- A Jazzy Day Music Education for Kids
- Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
- Music Flash Class
- Music Theory
- Rhythmic Dictation
- Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
YouTube Videos for Listening to Music in Homeschool
I wanted to break down great music into a variety of genres, but the later genres of Rock & Roll, Modern Country, and Alternative Music choices are so varied in composition that it’s difficult to break down into manageable groupings. So I will simply suggest that you choose for your children the songs that speak most to you, allow them to listen along with you and teach them why those songs have great meaning to you. Here I’m sharing some genres that are good to study along with history, Blues and Folk music are great companions when studying American History, The Classics are good when studying world history and Jazz and Blues are good to listen to when studying about black history, cultural diversity, or just as a way to teach dynamics and rhythm structure in music.
Bluegrass & Folk Music
- 16 Greatest Original Bluegrass Hits
- 100 Fiddle Tunes, Old Time, Bluegrass and American Folk Music Favorites
- Bluegrass And American Folk Music
- Flatt & Scruggs – instrumental bluegrass
- The Best of Bluegrass
Classics
- Classical Music for Kids
- The Best of Beethoven
- The Best of Brahms
- The Best of Chopin
- The Best of Debussy
- The Best of Dvorak
- The Best of Haydn
- The Best of Handel
- The Best of Gershwin
- The Best of Liszt
- The Best of Mendelssohn
- The Best of Mozart
- The Best of Paginini
- The Best of Rachmaninoff
- The Best of Rossini
- The Best of Schubert
- The Best of Strauss
- The Best of Tchaikovsky
- The Best of Vivaldi
- The Best of Wagner
Jazz & Blues
5 Music in Homeschool Posts
- The Ultimate How to Teach Music in Homeschool Guide
- Top 10 Music Appreciation Curricula for Homeschoolers
- Teaching Music in Homeschool with Field Trips
- Unit Studies for Teaching Music in Homeschool
- Learning to Play Music in Homeschool
Whether it’s a practical hands-on approach, cultural study or simply surrounding your family with beautiful music, whatever way you choose to include music in your homeschool studies I’m sure you will find it to be a wonderful “extra” addition to your child’s learning experience.
Learn More about Teaching Music in Homeschool
- Top 10 Music Appreciation Curricula for Homeschoolers
- Teaching Music in Homeschool with Field Trips
- Unit Studies for Teaching Music in Homeschool
- Learning to Play Music in Homeschool
This 5-day Homeschool Hopscotch is part of the iHomeschool Network
Homeschool Hopscotch and Ultimate Guides.
7 Comments
Samuel T. Cummins
I think we would all agree that music can enrich and add to our appreciation and enjoyment of life. . Our family is full of musicians, my wife and I are music lovers and our two sons each play a different instrument. Needless to say, music education is a high priority for our family. Thanks for the resources ..
Renee Aleshire Brown
Oh it does sound like you are a musically inclined family! How marvelous. Our son plays piano. We all love to sing, but I never really learned an instrument.
Thanks for your feedback.
Elan Chalford
An impressive set of resources here. I especially like the folk and bluegrass category, since that is my wheelhouse. And the 5 days concept is brilliant. Someday soon I hope I can borrow it. Maybe, “5 Days of Learning to Fiddle.”
Amri
Wow, great compilation. Thank you!
Renee
Oh so glad you like this! Isn’t it great to include music in your homeschool?
AP
Misspelled: Haydn NOT Hadyn AND Debussy NOT Debussey
Renee
Thanks for catching that for me. I updated.