We have a wonderful early elementary general music class at our homeschool co-op. Since it’s canceled for a while, our music teacher sent out the following note. I thought this was great information for any moms who would like to provide a little music education when stuck at home, and Debby graciously allowed for me to share it!
[Today we have a guest post from experienced homeschool mom and music teacher Debby Richards.]
Keep Music When You’re Stuck at Home
Here are some suggestions to keep music part of your week…(and to keep boredom at bay). Some may be obvious and you already do them, but some may be new.
1. Play a lot of different kinds of music at home during lunch, free time, etc. (They can probably even name the style of music if you ask them!)
2. Encourage dancing! My kids love to have dance competitions. Music and exercise!
3. Ask your kids to teach YOU a song, dance, game, or skill that they have learned in class this year. You will get to participate in what they’ve been doing and it’ll keep the songs in their memory for when we come back to co-op!
4. Pull out any instruments you may have at home, real or toy, and play them! It doesn’t have to sound good. 🙂 Experiment with the different sounds together (This is a great one for pre-schoolers too). Turn on some music and play the instruments along with it. (again, it doesn’t have to sound good!) It’s all about the experience and having fun with it. You can use anything as a drum if you don’t have other instruments.
5. Go on a “found sound” hunt around the house or backyard. Have the kids find random things around the house or yard that make different sounds or tones. (ex: a wooden spoon and a pot, sticks run along a fence, containers of dry beans, a broom sweeping across the floor, etc.)
6. If you have a piano, have the kids walk around the house listening for different pitches and then have them try to figure out which note it is on the piano. For example, your refrigerator hums at a specific pitch. See if they can figure out on the piano which key matches the pitch of the fridge!
Have a great week everyone!
debby:)
I’m very happy to discover your website. We’ve been teaching from home since Feb. 26, and it’s been a steep learning curve. We did recorder, are presently doing some composing with the apps on Chrome Music Lab, and a music/dance video ad with Gr. 4 and 5. Some students explored Song Maker really well. They were asked to use the grid to create patterns, and to describe how their compositions were musically satisfying.
I need something interesting and achievable in a 20 minute lesson. Your 15 minute lessons look interesting.
Thank you for your work!
Yay! Did you check out all the freebies here? https://musicinourhomeschool.com/all-the-15-minute-music-lesson-freebies-in-one-place/
~Gena