If you're searching for the best homeschool music curriculum, you probably want to know more than what's listed on a sales page.
Each week, your homeschool music curriculum should introduce new concepts and musical styles.
What do you actually get when you join? What do the lessons look like? Where do you start? Will you have to spend time figuring out what to teach each week? And what can your children actually learn through an online homeschool music curriculum?
I'll show you where to begin when you log in, how the Music Lesson Calendar of the Month works, what you'll find in an actual course, how art appreciation is included with Fine Art Pages, and what additional resources become available at the different MIOH+ membership levels.
Your dashboard is the gateway to your homeschool music curriculum resources.
If you've wondered what it's really like to use Music in Our Homeschool Plus, come take a look!
First Stop: Your Music in Our Homeschool Plus Dashboard
When you log in to Music in Our Homeschool Plus, you'll arrive at your dashboard. This is where you can access the resources and courses included with your membership level.
But if you simply want the quickest possible way to get to today's music lesson—I have an even easier shortcut. Just type this in:
That takes you directly to the Music Lesson Calendar of the Month and the month's Fine Art Pages.
You don't have to search through a giant curriculum or spend Sunday night deciding what to teach during the coming week. You can simply head to the calendar and choose the lesson of the day!
All membership tiers (Basic, Core, Premium, and School/Co-op) have access to the handy Music Lesson Calendar of the Month and the month's Fine Art Pages.
Check Your Email, too!
To make it even easier for you, I send an email to members every Sunday at 4pm CT. Anything special for the week, such as LIVE music or painting lessons, will be mentioned so you get those reminders, but I also include the 5 lesson links for the week.
So, you can just click from the email for your lesson of the day, too!
See the Monthly Homeschool Music Curriculum Already Planned for You
The Music Lesson Calendar of the Month is included with every MIOH+ membership tier.
Each weekday has a short music lesson you can use with your children. I especially love connecting the lessons to interesting dates, birthdays, holidays, and special events.
For example, in the August calendar I showed during my MIOH+ video tour (see YouTube video below), families could learn about:
Georgia music for National Georgia Day
Louis Armstrong on his birthday
International Blues Day
National Vinyl Record Day
Elvis Week
Special music World Lion Day
The variety in your homeschool music curriculum helps cater to different learning styles.
One day your kids might hear a famous classical composer. Another day they might learn about jazz, Broadway, folk music, a movie composer, an instrument, or music from another part of the world.
This gives children a broad music appreciation curriculum for homeschool without requiring Mom to research dozens of musicians and musical styles herself.
And each lesson is designed to take about 15 minutes.
What Does a MIOH+ Music Lesson Actually Look Like?
One of the biggest advantages of using an online music curriculum for homeschool is that the music itself can be built right into the lesson.
When you see a lesson you'd like to do on the calendar, simply click the link to go directly to it.
Instead of receiving a calendar that says something vague like “Study Louis Armstrong,” you're connected with the actual resources you need for the lesson.
That means you don't have to spend your time searching the internet for appropriate recordings, videos, or background information before you can teach music appreciation.
I've already done that work for you!
Three Ways to Use Your Music Lesson Calendar of the Month
You're also not locked into using the calendar in one particular way.
Each month, you'll find three calendar formats:
A color calendar
A black-and-white calendar
A blank calendar
The blank version is especially helpful if your family is working through one of the complete MIOH+ courses instead of following the daily suggested lessons. You can add your own lessons to the blank calendar and use it to keep track of what you're doing.
Your homeschool music curriculum can fit your family rather than the other way around.
Take a Look Inside the Fine Art Pages
MIOH+ isn't limited to music. You'll also find a very simple way to add art appreciation to your homeschool through the monthly Fine Art Pages.
You don't even have to teach a formal art lesson to use these.
Print the pages you want and display them around your home. Put one on the refrigerator, beside your child's bed, in the bathroom, or near the door you use every day.
Your children begin seeing great works of art naturally as they go about their day.
There are different versions of the pages, too. Some include the title of the artwork, artist's name, date, artistic style, and an interesting fact. Others feature the artwork filling the page without the additional information.
You decide which approach you'd like to use.
It's one of the simplest ways to incorporate a little homeschool fine arts curriculum without adding another complicated subject to your schedule.
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Let's Open an Actual MIOH+ Course
Now let's go beyond the monthly calendar and see what one of the full courses looks like.
In my video tour (see below), I opened State Songs of the 50 U.S. States, one of the seven complete courses included in the Basic membership.
The course takes families through all 50 states in the order they entered the Union.
When you open a state's lesson, you'll find information about that state and even a short geography video. Then you move into the music.
For Hawaii, for example, students can learn about and listen to the official state song. They can access the sheet music and lyrics and then explore additional songs and musicians associated with Hawaii.
So, even though you're doing a music lesson, you're naturally connecting it to geography, history, and culture.
That's one of the things I love about music appreciation. Music doesn't have to stand alone as a completely separate subject.
Each lesson is crafted to fit seamlessly into your homeschool music curriculum and broader homeschool as a whole!
Seven Complete Courses With the Basic Membership
The MIOH+ Basic Membership is $9 per month, and in addition to the Music Lesson Calendar and Fine Art Pages, members receive seven complete courses:
15-Minute Music Lessons
Intro to Musicals
American Music for Elementary
World Music for Elementary
Learn Classical Music with Cartoons
State Songs of the 50 U.S. States
Music Lessons for Holidays & Special Days
+ the Music Lesson Calendar of the Month and Fine Art Pages “course”
You could follow the monthly calendar, work your way through one of these courses, or combine the two. This also means you're not limited to one age or one particular style of music appreciation.
What's Inside the Larger MIOH+ Course Library?
If you move up to the Core membership, you'll open up a much larger library of over 50 Music in Our Homeschool courses.
During the tour, I showed just a few of the possibilities.
And music can even complement your literature studies. If your family is reading the Little House on the Prairie books, for example, you can use Songs from Pa and Laura.
That's why I don't think of MIOH+ as simply a collection of online music classes for homeschoolers.
It's a library that allows you to choose the type of music education that makes sense for your children right now.
Behind the Scenes of the Premium Monthly Music Lessons
Premium members receive even more, including a brand-new music lesson that I teach each month.
And these aren't limited to composers from hundreds of years ago!
For example, recent lessons have explored Pasek and Paul, the songwriting team behind The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen, as well as the composers of the Spider-Man movies.
We've also studied Lin-Manuel Miranda and music from Hamilton, Encanto, and Moana.
Premium members can join these lessons live, but you don't have to attend at a particular time. You'll have access to the replay as well.
The resources may also include an audio replay, Spotify playlist, additional videos, and a printable pack with activities or games related to the lesson.
And Premium members have access to the library of previous monthly lessons, too.
Premium members also receive a new monthly LIVE art/painting lesson.
These are more in-depth than the art appreciation Fine Art Pages and generally take about an hour.
I teach the project step-by-step through a video tutorial, and you'll also receive supporting resources such as painting instructions and traceables in different sizes.
Again, if you can't join live, you can use the replay whenever it fits your homeschool schedule.
Premium members also have access to Fine Arts Topic Master Classes for high school students, with topics in music, art, dance, and drama.
This makes Premium especially useful for families who want to go deeper into several areas of the fine arts.
Can I Use MIOH+ With My Homeschool Co-op or School?
Yes—but you'll want the School/Co-op membership level if you're teaching students outside your immediate family.
This tier allows the MIOH+ resources to be used with students at your school or co-op, and your teachers can use the included resources as well.
Instead of asking each teacher to develop a music or fine arts curriculum from scratch, you'll have a large collection of ready-to-use lessons and courses available.
Where Should You Start?
If you're new to Music in Our Homeschool Plus, don't feel like you need to explore everything on your first day.
If you want more structure later, choose one of the complete courses. If your children become interested in music theory, instruments, a particular musical style, or more in-depth fine arts study, you can explore those options as well.
An Online Homeschool Music Curriculum You Can Actually See in Action
There are lots of ways to describe a homeschool music curriculum, but sometimes it's much easier to simply see what's inside.
That's why I created this MIOH+ walkthrough.
You can see the actual monthly calendar, Fine Art Pages, course lessons, Premium printables, live-lesson replays, art resources, and more—and get a much better idea of how you could use them with your own children.
Whether you're looking for a simple music appreciation curriculum for homeschool, a larger library of online music courses, or music and fine arts resources for your co-op, Music in Our Homeschool Plus gives you the flexibility to choose what works for you.
And you don't have to start with a complicated plan.
You can start with one 15-minute lesson.
Ready to look inside Music in Our Homeschool Plus and choose the membership level that's right for you?
