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Music--what do you use?


tmstranger
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Music instruction is a required subject in my state. 

 

My younger son takes guitar lessons, so he's covered, but my oldest doesn't play an instrument.  This year, using BYL's year 7 (geography), he explored music by each country.  Basically, he looked up some information, listened to samples on youtube, and wrote up a report. 

 

In the past, we have used composer studies. 

 

What else??  What do you do for music instruction in your homeschool?  He will be in 8th grade. 

 

Also, I won a gift card to Beautiful Feet Books for $50, so I've looked at their History of Classical Music to fill this need.  My gift card doesn't cover much of that!  It seems like a lot of money for "music" in my homeschool.  Has anyone used this?  Can I use pieces of it??

 

 

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I recently found SQUILT on a thread here.

 

I know we have used k12 as Independents for music. The 5th and 6th I believe use Music Ace which you can use all on your own for much less, I think. 8th I know is Music Appreciation. 

 

 

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I recently found SQUILT on a thread here.

 

I know we have used k12 as Independents for music. The 5th and 6th I believe use Music Ace which you can use all on your own for much less, I think. 8th I know is Music Appreciation. 

 

Thanks.  I've looked at SQUILT before, but always thought my kid would hate it...I'll give it another look. 

 

Appreciate the k12 suggestion...never even thought of looking there!

 

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For a music appreciation component maybe consider listening to Classics for Kids podcasts. Each one is 6 minutes long and my kids and I have both developed such a love for classical music through them. We tend to listen to one each morning as we eat breakfast.

 

A podcast sounds interesting! Thanks, I'll look into it.

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  • 1 month later...

I recently found SQUILT on a thread here.

 

I know we have used k12 as Independents for music. The 5th and 6th I believe use Music Ace which you can use all on your own for much less, I think. 8th I know is Music Appreciation. 

Yep, I'm quoting myself.

 

Just FYI- k12 no longer has music courses available. I talked to a rep today who said they recieved an email recently that the music courses would no longer be offered. No idea why, no explanation given.

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Please search for samples to decide if these will work. Check your library for cds of classical music. 

 

Themes to Remember (there are 4 volumes). Can you stretch this out over 4 years? Might be too juvenile for your kids.

 

Professor Carol's Discovering Music

 

The Classical Kids Collection Volume 1 and Volume 2

 

Maestro Classics which offers Curriculum Guides too

 

 

Check for reviews on all of the above too. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Music is my family's one weak spot and it is required by our state as well. In the past we have taken Music Together classes, which our whole family loved, but it's geared toward early childhood, so we aged out of that pretty early on. Then we did a year of composer studies, and last year we did Maestro Classics, which we all really enjoyed. This year, I think we are going to just enjoy musicals. (I refer to this as "music appreciation" at my reviews and have never had a problem.) So, my plan is to watch a musical every week or two and then try to get the soundtrack from the library to continue listening to the music in our home. There are so many famous, family-friendly musicals to choose from; I think this can float us for a really long time. Plus they're fun and a good way, in my opinion, to get in cultural studies, etc. So we're going to do that. My older daughter does ballet, and my younger would like to start a music lesson of some sort this year, so I will absolutely count both of those, too. 

 

I don't know what your state requires, but keep in mind that just because your state requires music, doesn't mean you have to give it the same kind of attention that you would another subject like, say, math. (My state requires health, too, but over the years I've realized that I don't need to go crazy trying to flesh out this super duper health curriculum, kwim? Kids in school only do health weekly or even just a few times a semester, so I keep that in mind as I plan. Likewise with music, most kids only get music once a week at school, so don't feel like you have to go crazy getting in tons and tons of music instruction if that's not your family's thing. Academics and art ARE my family's thing, so we give those areas tons of attention, but music is less of a priority for us and I think it's okay that our schooling reflects that. You can't do everything full-on all the time.) Good luck!

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For a music appreciation component maybe consider listening to Classics for Kids podcasts. Each one is 6 minutes long and my kids and I have both developed such a love for classical music through them. We tend to listen to one each morning as we eat breakfast.

I second the podcast- my kids enjoy it while we get dinner ready.  You could also try out the Maestro Classics CD's, which we also really like and delve in even more.  If you do need a musical instrument class, one of my kids is trying out the online, can be used as free, Hoffman Academy Piano course while I'm taking a break from teaching.

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