Teaching Music Appreciation in Your Homeschool
Monday, June 10, 2013 at 5:00AM
Welcome to Day 1 of The 5 Days of Music Appreciation!
Each day I will be tackling a topic (and incorporating a couple fun giveaways, too!) that will aid you in teaching music appreciation to your children.
While I am a musician, I have spoken with plenty of non musicians who tell me they just don't have the KNOWLEDGE of where to start with their children.
As with so many areas of homeschooling, I believe we're also educating OURSELVES.
My favorite book for music self education is Raising Musical Kids. This books teaches parents how to teach their children to LOVE music and also how to motivate your children to develop their own musical abilities.
So often music gets pushed to the sides in our homeschools, and this is such a shame, because it nurtures a part of our children that is so deep and meaningful. It speaks directly to their hearts and inspires beautiful thoughts and quiet contemplation.
I love the words of Jim Henson:
“Music is an essential part of everything we do. Like puppetry, music has an abstract quality which speaks to a worldwide audience in a wonderful way that nourishes the soul.”
Martin Luther, ever the master of directness, said this about music:
"I always loved music; who so has skill in this art is of good temperament, fitted for all things. We must teach music in schools; a schoolmaster ought to have skill in music, or I would not regard him."
Today I'd like to talk about how to go about beginning the study of music appreciation in your home. Let's start with a little lesson!
The Eras of Music
There are 4 basic eras of music (more if you count early music before the 1600s). For our intents and purposes we begin music appreciation in the 1600s.
(For a detailed description on these periods you can read The History of Classical Music.
Baroque : 1600-1750
Classical: 1750-1830
Romantic: 1830-1920
Modern: 1920- Present
Using The Eras of Music to Guide Music Appreciation Studies
I believe there are two logical ways to approach the study of music appreciation:
1. Study the era of music that coincides with the era you are studying in history. If you are studying the Renaissance, a survey of Baroque music would be appropriate. If you are studying the Revolutionary War era, then a study of Classical music would be in order.
OR
2. Study an era of music in depth, exposing your children to the great composers of that era. This era can be chosen at random or based on a special interest in your home. For example, last year in our homeschool we took a trip to the Oregon Trail. I wanted my children to learn about modern music and how that music was a direct reflection of the adventurous spirit of that time.
Know the Composers and their Famous Works
As you decide on an era to study, research some of the composers that were prominent during that era and their most famous pieces.
There are many sites online that will help you with this. I also love the book Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and their 1,000 Greatest Works.
{It's always bothered me that we refer to all "old" music as "Classical" - because this isn't really correct, is it?}
Listen, Listen, Listen!
Whatever you do, just LISTEN to beautiful music. Even if nothing else than pulling up a "Classical" station on Pandora, it's still valuable.
Make time to incorporate a little great music each day. Maybe you want to accompany one meal a day with music or maybe you want to play music at bedtime. Choose a time of day and stick with it!
Dig Deeper and Start Teaching Music Appreciation
In my years as a classroom music teacher and now in my time as a homeschooling mom, I have found enormous value in listening to a piece and then talking about the musical elements of that piece.
Just like we read a classic novel and analyze the elements of that work, we must do the same thing with great pieces of music.
To that end, I have been working on a music curriculum that I am SO EXCITED to share with you today!!
The SQUILT Curriculum
It was put on my heart about a 6 months ago to begin writing a music appreciation course.
I wanted this course to be designed for parents who have LITTLE OR NO MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE.
Currently I have completed Volume 1: Baroque Composers, and I am working on three more volumes (Classical, Romantic and Modern).
In a volume of the SQUILT curriculum you will find 10 lessons dedicated to Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening. Each lesson focuses on a great piece of music and guides you step by step through teaching your student about that piece.
It is a 10 week music appreciation course made EASY!
The curriculum includes notebooking pages, listening links (you don't need to purchase any music - the ebook is 100% internet linked!), informational pages about all the elements of music, coloring pages, copywork, and fun activities.
Sound good?
You can visit my new website SQUILT Music to learn more, and to purchase Volume 1.
{I'm offering the book at an introductory low price for a limited time... so if you're planning your curriculum for next year you might want to snag this!}
Do you teach music appreciation in your homeschool?
If you don't, do you mind sharing WHY? I'd love to know!
Please stay tuned for tomorrow - Day 2 of The 5 Days of Music Appreciation.
This post is part of a Summer Hopscotch from the iHomeschool Network. Visit other bloggers to read about more topics that can help you on your homeschool journey!
Reader Comments (7)
This is great, Mary! I haven't taught anything music related because I wasn't taught either. I sent my girls to piano before we moved and miss it. Looks like I will be learning along side them!
love this Mary...I have to admit that I am not the best at bringing music (taught) into the school or home...we have music on all the time..but I am not teaching anything about it....I really have to push myself in this area...thanks for the post!
Hi Mary, congratulations on the launch of your new site! My son listens to Baroque music all the time, he loves Vivaldi! I think he is ready for a more structured music education this coming year in first grade. We've sampled your Squilt lessons and he enjoys them very much.
Awesome, informative post!
Thank you!!
I appreciate this post and really want to incorporate music into our homeschool. I will start homeschooling our oldest (age 5) this fall. I'm wondering if your SQUILT curriculum would be appropriate for a child that young. What would you recommend for young children? I play Pandora classical stations all the time at home and have checked out books on composers at the library to read with the kids, then listen to their pieces. But I'd like to do more. I also have a 2 and 1 year old.
Thanks so much for this series and all your work on this blog. It's such an encouragement to me.
This is fantastic Mary! I am JUST barely starting on the homeschool adventure and have LOVED your blog. I especially love your attitude and philosophy about music education and it's importance. My boys are ages 5,4,3 and I have really wanted to help them cultivate a true love and appreciation for GOOD music. I am really looking forward to this new curriculum. Is it easily adaptable to the younger ages??
I've done music appreciation in a variety of ways over the years . I like the Charlotte Mason approach of picking a composer and listening to different pieces for six-ten weeks. I always like to add in a biography as well - I think knowing about the composer helps us appreciate their music. Classics for Kids radio show was great when they were younger. One year an older child did one of the Great Courses on music history. Right now Miss 12 and I are enjoying Duke Ellington , starting off with Anna Harwell Celenza's The Nutcracker Suite. Since I don't have any music background you SQUILT lessons will hopefully with the more technical terminology. In fact we ended up at Duke Elllington via your SQUILT lesson on Benny Goodman.