Your homeschool schedule revolves around the basic subjects including math, science, and history, but you can enhance all of these with the addition of music education!
How?
Here are a few ways music ed can benefit your homeschool
If At First You Don’t Succeed
Learning a new concept, no matter what subject, isn’t an automatic process. Your kids must practice to understand:
Math facts
Science formulas
Spelling and grammar rules
Of course, students don’t always get everything right the first time, but with practice comes confidence and knowledge.
The same benefit applies to music. By practicing, failing, and eventually succeeding, your kids gain confidence to add new concepts to expand their musical skills.
This cycle spills over into the other subjects. Consistent practice leads to consistent performance.
Soft Skills Become Second Nature
Of course, concrete facts are important in education, but what about those soft skills your kids need for everyday life?
A Complete Worldview
Music offers your kids a window to the world. As they learn the basics and grow through more complex pieces, they can experience the world of the composer whether classical or modern, no matter where the music originated.
You can expand their music lessons with geography, history, culture, cuisine, and even science to help connect them to the songs they play.
Geography – learn about the landforms of the country where the music originates
History – learn about the time period the music was created
Culture – learn about the people who create and play the music
Cuisine – make a dish from the area to enjoy after practice
Science – explore how the musical instrument originated and evolved over time
These are just a few ideas to help you incorporate music into everyday subjects, and how you can use music to expand your core subject learning.
Core Is Good, Music Is More!
You will spend a great deal of time teaching basic subjects. But to give your kids an amazing, well-rounded education, be sure to include both art and music. Their brains will thank you!
But, you say, I know nothing about music!
Not to worry. You have many options when it comes to including music education in your homeschool. Seeking a dedicated instructor for your kids opens a whole new world of exploration.
A great music instructor understands the value of encouraging a solid work ethic, giving gentle and constructive feedback, demonstrating growth, and pointing out emotions and feelings. Your kids can develop a life-long relationship with a private teacher who brings the beauty of the world alive through music.
The best part? You don’t have to wait to add music education to your everyday lessons. You can begin today with any child, any age. Music has something for everyone…even you!
Josh Shriber is the owner and director at Jammin with You, a premier music education center with headquarters in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Josh has been working with children of all ages for more than a decade and lives in Newton with his wife, three kids and dog. Not only does Josh teach private lessons, group classes and lead religious song sessions, but he is also the lead singer in the national kindie rock band “Josh & the Jamtones.” He’s also competed twice on the national TV show American Ninja Warriors. Jammin with You offers virtual private lessons for individuals ages 5+ and powers the online music education platform, Music Class Pass, ideal for ages 1-7. From babies to bands, Jammin with You (and Music Class Pass) provides all the music education a family could need. Come Jam with us today! (mention this blog post and we will waive the annual $30 registration fee at Jammin with You; register for Music Class Pass to receive your first week free!)
How?
Here are a few ways music ed can benefit your homeschool
If At First You Don’t Succeed
Learning a new concept, no matter what subject, isn’t an automatic process. Your kids must practice to understand:
Math facts
Science formulas
Spelling and grammar rules
Of course, students don’t always get everything right the first time, but with practice comes confidence and knowledge.
The same benefit applies to music. By practicing, failing, and eventually succeeding, your kids gain confidence to add new concepts to expand their musical skills.
This cycle spills over into the other subjects. Consistent practice leads to consistent performance.
Soft Skills Become Second Nature
Of course, concrete facts are important in education, but what about those soft skills your kids need for everyday life?
- Music encourages active listening. To recreate a musical piece, a student needs to focus while hearing it played so she will know when her rendition is correct.
You can apply this skill to your core subjects. Read lessons out loud and ask your students to tell you what they heard.
- Music enhances the work ethic. Becoming proficient with a musical instrument requires a commitment to consistent practice.
With a solid work ethic, your kids will understand the value of practicing math and language arts skills. Not only will your school days benefit, those skills transfer to standardized testing later in their education.
- Music advances emotional intelligence. Listening to a moving piece of music and learning to mimic the emotion during playback encourages your students to feel what they are performing and understand how their emotions impact their actions.
Everyday life requires emotional control. By transferring this soft skill into daily life, your kids will be able to recognize and manage their emotions, even if math frustrates them to no end.
- Music encourages an openness to critique and feedback. Of course, students won’t get the song right the first, second, and possibly third time through. By exposing them to gentle correction, the instructor gives them valuable insight to do even better next time.
You will need to critique and correct your kids in every subject in your homeschool. When they are accustomed to consistent feedback, they will thrive on learning to improve their writing, their reading, and their narration skills.
- Music demands a growth mindset. Learning the scales or how to play one simple piece of music is just the beginning. Music isn’t a one-and-done skillset. Building on previous lessons enables your students to grow and expand their knowledge and musical skills.
You rely on growth and expansion in all subjects, beginning with simple ideas and building as you go. From simple math to more complex equations, from easy readers to classic books, and from basic historical events to a global perspective, adding ideas and growing becomes a natural part of your homeschool.
- Music encourages team effort. If you’re homeschooling multiple ages, your kids are already accustomed to working together. By adding music education to your subjects, they can engage in teamwork to play beautiful songs together and encourage one another as they improve. Music is for all ages!
These are just some of the soft skills your kids can learn through music that can be applied to every other subject they encounter.
A Complete Worldview
Music offers your kids a window to the world. As they learn the basics and grow through more complex pieces, they can experience the world of the composer whether classical or modern, no matter where the music originated.
You can expand their music lessons with geography, history, culture, cuisine, and even science to help connect them to the songs they play.
Geography – learn about the landforms of the country where the music originates
History – learn about the time period the music was created
Culture – learn about the people who create and play the music
Cuisine – make a dish from the area to enjoy after practice
Science – explore how the musical instrument originated and evolved over time
These are just a few ideas to help you incorporate music into everyday subjects, and how you can use music to expand your core subject learning.
Core Is Good, Music Is More!
You will spend a great deal of time teaching basic subjects. But to give your kids an amazing, well-rounded education, be sure to include both art and music. Their brains will thank you!
But, you say, I know nothing about music!
Not to worry. You have many options when it comes to including music education in your homeschool. Seeking a dedicated instructor for your kids opens a whole new world of exploration.
A great music instructor understands the value of encouraging a solid work ethic, giving gentle and constructive feedback, demonstrating growth, and pointing out emotions and feelings. Your kids can develop a life-long relationship with a private teacher who brings the beauty of the world alive through music.
The best part? You don’t have to wait to add music education to your everyday lessons. You can begin today with any child, any age. Music has something for everyone…even you!
Josh Shriber is the owner and director at Jammin with You, a premier music education center with headquarters in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Josh has been working with children of all ages for more than a decade and lives in Newton with his wife, three kids and dog. Not only does Josh teach private lessons, group classes and lead religious song sessions, but he is also the lead singer in the national kindie rock band “Josh & the Jamtones.” He’s also competed twice on the national TV show American Ninja Warriors. Jammin with You offers virtual private lessons for individuals ages 5+ and powers the online music education platform, Music Class Pass, ideal for ages 1-7. From babies to bands, Jammin with You (and Music Class Pass) provides all the music education a family could need. Come Jam with us today! (mention this blog post and we will waive the annual $30 registration fee at Jammin with You; register for Music Class Pass to receive your first week free!)
