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.
Check out 10 Easy-to-Make Homemade Musical Instruments here!
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:)
If you want even more fun music ideas, be sure to join Music in Our Homeschool Plus: the elementary membership experience. Enrollment will be open ONLY for Waitlist subscribers on Oct. 17-18 so head over to sign up for the Waitlist right now!
Related Posts:
- The Top 100 Delightful Classical Music Pieces All Children Should Hear
- 10 Easy-to-Make Homemade Musical Instruments
- SQUILT Listening Maps to Guide Children in Understanding Classical Music
Download the Percussion Musical Instrument Printable Pack here:
Free for a Limited Time!
Includes a supply list for making homemade musical instruments.
Find these pages in it:
- Circle the Percussion Instruments
- Write the names of the Percussion Instruments
- Color Percussion Instruments
- Supply list for homemade musical instruments
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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