70: The Top Frequently Asked Questions I Get About Music in Our Homeschool

Are you a homeschooling parent eager to incorporate quality music education into your curriculum but unsure where to start? In this episode of the Music in Our Homeschool podcast, veteran music educator and homeschooling mom of eight, Gena Mayo, answers the top frequently asked questions she receives about bringing music into your homeschool. Drawing from her decades of teaching experience and insights gathered from homeschool conferences, Gena unpacks everything you need to know to get started with music in your homeschool—no matter your musical background.

Discover how easy and affordable it can be to add music theory, music appreciation, and even instrumental or singing lessons to your home education. Learn about the best online music courses for kids of all ages, from preschoolers to high schoolers, including options for group lessons or independent study. Gena explains the difference between music appreciation and music theory, highlights how her courses accommodate families with multiple children, and discusses how to fulfill fine arts requirements for various state homeschool standards.

Curious about the flexibility of online music classes? Find out how Gena's curriculum allows your family to go at your own pace, with lessons as short as 15 minutes, and lifetime access included. You'll also hear about faith-based and secular options, free sample lessons, seasonal and holiday music units, tech-friendly access including mobile and tablet, as well as Gena’s money-back guarantee.

Whether you’re looking for a full music curriculum, fun supplemental music activities, or resources to help your children meet homeschool music requirements, this episode has you covered. Tune in and let Gena guide you through bringing the joy of music into your homeschool—no musical expertise required!

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/questions-about-music-in-our-homeschool/

Please follow/subscribe to the podcast and leave a 5-star review and comment if you liked this episode! Find all courses at https://Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com ,free music lessons here: https://MusicinOurHomeschool.com/FreeMusicLessons , and lots more links here: https://linktr.ee/genamayo !

Transcript

70: The Top Frequently Asked Questions I Get About Music in Our Homeschool

Gena: [00:00:00] Hi friends. Welcome back to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. This is Gena Mayo, and today I'm talking about the most frequently asked questions I get about Music in Our Homeschool. I just got back from exhibiting at a homeschool conference and a lot of these questions were asked there, so I thought, what better way to share the answers than here on the podcast?

So that's what we're going to do today.

Let's start out with some general questions about Music in Our Homeschool.

What is your experience in music education? Well, I have always been interested in music. I grew up singing at my church and at school and playing the piano. I started piano lessons when I was seven and then switched to voice lessons when I was in high school.

And then I decided to be a music major after participating in a lot of choir and vocal contests while I was in high school. So I [00:01:00] became a music education major with a vocal emphasis, and then I started teaching in the public school system in Texas. I went to Baylor University. I taught junior high choir for three years and then switched to elementary general music, and by that time I had gotten married and was pregnant with my first child.

But also while I was teaching, I got my master's degree in vocal pedagogy, which is how to teach voice lessons. Another thing I had done while I was teaching was get certified in Early Childhood Music and Movement with Musikgarten, and after I had my first child, I started teaching that out of my home. So I had babies and preschoolers come on over with their moms or their dads or their grandmas, and we had fun music classes. I did that with all eight of my children.

As my kids grew, I also got [00:02:00] involved in CYT Chicago, Christian Youth Theater and started directing musicals and teaching classes in musical theater and voice. So I think that answers my experience in music education.

Next question: Is everything you offer online? Yes. I do teach in person, like I just mentioned, the early childhood music and movement. I teach those through my homeschool co-op and vocal directing through CYT Chicago. But everything through Music in Our Homeschool is online.

Do I provide private lessons? No, I don't. I actually learned pretty early on when I was working on my vocal pedagogy career that I prefer working with groups. I love choirs and big c asts in the musicals or groups of little kids for my early childhood music and movement classes. [00:03:00] I enjoy that more than private lessons, so after teaching for a while privately, I decided not to anymore.

We already have our kids doing private lessons. Why would we need Music in Our Homeschool? This is a great question. Since Music in Our Homeschool doesn't provide private music lessons, we provide other things such as music theory.

A lot of private music teachers delve a little bit into music theory, but they're mostly working on technique and helping a student get ready to perform a song, so they're not spending that much time in music theory. It really is a topic that takes a lot of time and a lot of work if you're interested in becoming a better musician. So I think my Beginning Music Theory for Elementary, Beginning Music Theory for Teens, and Advanced Music Theory for Teens are really essential for all students who are taking private lessons and want to [00:04:00] get better.

How do I get started with Music in Our Homeschool? Well, that's an easy one. Just head on over to Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com. And then there's an easy search bar where you could search by age, by topic, by method like Charlotte Mason. If you want a specific instrument like guitar or anything like that, you can find it there.

Do I need any musical background to teach my kids with your courses? No, you don't. I have created all the courses at Music in Our Homeschool to be easily used by all homeschool parents, no matter what your musical background is, even if you have no musical background, because you can learn alongside your kids if you're interested.

A lot of the courses can be used independently by the students if they're old enough, or the parent can do it with the child and learn alongside them.

How long does each lesson take? This is another thing [00:05:00] that I have done to try to make it really, really easy for all homeschool parents to include these music lessons in your homeschool. Many of the music lessons are only 15 minutes long. Some of them may go a little longer, but you can always just stop when you need to and pick up the next day.

Do I need special equipment or instruments? Usually not. Many of my courses are music appreciation,so all you need is a device and you can even just use your phone. You don't have to have a fancy smart TV or a big monitor or anything. You could just use your phone or a tablet or a laptop.

But if you are doing a course such as Guitar Time with Ben or Bass Guitar Time with Caleb, or Recorder Time with Mr. Jerry, then you would need that instrument.

And if you are using one of the music theory courses, I do recommend that you get a keyboard. It [00:06:00] doesn't have to be a full-size keyboard like you see behind me. It could be even a smaller one because this isn't piano lessons, but using the keyboard to help you understand music theory.

Do I have to follow a schedule or can we go at our own pace? Absolutely, you can go at your own pace. All of my courses are lifetime access and self-paced. That means you pick how to use them in your homeschool.

Can my kids do these lessons independently or do I need to help? It really depends on how old your children are. I would say by the time they're upper elementary, a lot of the times they can do them independently. Younger kids probably need your guidance a bit.

Now, what all do we offer? All right, so as I mentioned already today, I do have the three music theory courses. I have three beginning instrument courses, guitar, bass guitar and recorder. I have [00:07:00] beginning singing courses and I have all kinds of music appreciation and music history with different themes like Music Lessons for Holidays and Special Days, or Songs from Pa and Laura, which are related to the songs from The Little House in the Prairie Books. You'll just have to look at all the different options. We have Music Lessons for Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves, which go along with the Lord of the Ring series. Very fun.

What ages do you have resources and courses for? So, preschool all the way to high school. For preschool ages, we have 10 Songs all Preschoolers Should Know, and KinderBach. Now, KinderBach is a beginning music theory and keyboard course for preschoolers, for ages two to seven. It was created by Karri Gregor, and I've already written a lot about this on my website [00:08:00] MusicinOurHomeschool.com, and you can see a free lesson if you wanna try that out and see how it w orks. 

But we have courses all the way up through high school. And for the high schoolers, they can use them for high school fine arts credit. We have three music history courses. The first one is Middle Ages through the Classical Era. The second one is the Romantic Era, which is the 1800s. And the third one is the Modern 20th Century Era through Now, and then we have Charlotte Mason Inspired High School Fine Arts, which includes some art and poetry study along with the music. Then the music theory courses or the beginning instrument courses can be used for that as well.

Is this a full curriculum or a supplement? Well, that's a little hard to answer. It's a full music curriculum. It's a full fine arts curriculum. I wouldn't really call it a [00:09:00] supplement because I think music is essential for every homeschool education.

How do your courses align with homeschool requirements or state standards? Really good question. As each state and country is different, you will have to do some research to see what your state requires. Some states do require fine arts for various ages, maybe even for the high school diploma, so check that out. However, if they don't, I still encourage you to use a course or more of mine for your fine arts credit, because all students really should have fine arts.

Can I use this with multiple children at once? Absolutely. Many of my courses were written for families to use together. I love the idea of using it during Morning Time, so you could pull out the Great Hymns of the Faith or Recorder Time with Mr. Jerry or 20th Century Music Appreciation [00:10:00] and do it with all of your kids together.

Is this secular or faith-based? I would say it's more neutral. It isn't secular if you define that as absolutely no religious music at all, because so much of the great music of the past, the composers were working for churches. So they wrote religious music like Bach or Handel or Mozart or Beethoven or Brahms, and you can't not study those famous composers. So I wouldn't say it's secular.

As far as faith-based goes, I only have a couple of courses that are absolutely faith-based, Great Hymns of the Faith as one of those. But most of the other courses I would call neutral. They do have some church music in them, but you have to study that to understand music history.

Is there recommended order to take the courses? Not really. There's only a [00:11:00] few that have a prerequisite, like if you wanted to take the Advanced Music Theory course, you really need to take the Beginning Music Theory course first.

You might want to take the three music history courses in order, Middle Ages first, then moving on to Romantic Era and then 20th Century. But you don't really have to. I do have a page that gives you a suggested course for each age level. I'll link to it in the show notes or description for this episode. But that's just a suggestion if you needed some guidance. You can do this however you want.

What is music appreciation and how does it differ from music theory? All right, so music appreciation is learning about music. It's learning about composers, great pieces of music. What are the brass instruments? How does a trumpet sound? That type of thing. That's music appreciation, and so you can [00:12:00] learn about lots of different musical styles and genres, world music, music from particular countries. All of that is music appreciation.

Music theory is actually learning how to read and write music yourself. So you're learning about particular notes. What is a quarter note? What is the second space on the staff? What is a treble clef? How do you tap out a particular rhythm? That's music theory.

Do you offer singing or voice lessons? No, I don't, but I do have Singing Made Easy, which is an online course in six levels that was created by Marcia McCrary, and it is wonderful. It's exactly the type of singing course I would have created if she hadn't already done it.

Do I teach how to read music? Yes. That is taught in all three of my music theory courses.

Do you cover composers and music [00:13:00] history? Absolutely. One of the most fun courses that I have that people love is Learn Classical Music Through Cartoons, and each one of those has a focus on a single composer and then some their music that has been used in some kind of cartoon or animation.

Are there seasonal or holiday themed lessons available? Yes. I did already mention Music Lessons for Holidays and Special Days, but I also have Music for Christmas, which is three years worth of different types of music lessons. There's also Christmas Carols Made Easy where you can learn how to sing certain Christmas carols. And I have a Christmas musicals course.

What platform are your courses on? I have my courses on the platform called Teachable. I have been with them for 10 years, and even though we have [00:14:00] occasionally some tech glitches, for the most part it's been very stable and very user friendly, so I love having my courses there.

Can I access the courses on my phone or tablet? Yes. All you have to do is type in Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com, and that takes you to the Teachable site where you log in. Usually they'll ask you to go back to your email to get a code, and that makes it even more secure for you.

How long do I have access to the courses after purchasing? They are all lifetime access, and lifetime access means as long as my site is up, you will have access to them, but I don't have any plans of going anywhere anytime soon.

Do you offer closed captioning or transcripts for your videos? It depends on the course. All of my newer ones have the transcripts and the closed captioning on the videos. Especially I think a beginning music theory for teens [00:15:00] does. But I don't, for a lot of the older ones. If there is a particular video that you would like me to add that to, just let me know. You can always leave a comment right in each lesson, and I get those by email so I can reply to those.

Is there an app? Yes, if you have an iOS device, there is a Teachable app. I think they're working on Android as well, but it's not available yet.

Do you offer any free resources or sample lessons? Every single course has at least one free sample lesson, which is the actual full lesson that you could try out to see how it works and see if it would work for you.

Is it better to buy individual courses or join the membership? Well, it depends on what you're looking for. Buying individual courses is a single fee. So if that's what you want to do, just buy one course, then you can go that route. The membership [00:16:00] offers three different levels. There is the basic level which gives you access to seven of the most popular courses like World Music for Elementary, American Music for Elementary, Learn Classical Music with Cartoons, and Intro to Musicals, and three more. And the Core and Premium memberships give you access to all my courses except for KinderBach. So you'll just have to see if that's what you are looking for.

A lot of people love the membership, because, and the next question is what's included in the Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership, MIOH+, because I do include the Music Lesson Calendar of the Month, and this gives you a music lesson each day of the week that I've chosen ahead of time. Sometimes it relates to a composer's birthday or a holiday, and it comes from one of those seven courses s o you don't [00:17:00] have to think ahead, "What are we going to do for music?" All you have to do is either open up your browser to MusicinOurHomeschool.com/calendar and just click the link there for the lesson, or you can get it from the email that I send every Sunday evening, and I have the links right there as well.

So that's the basic thing that you get with the membership. But if you are in the Premium membership, you also get a live music lesson every month that is brand new. It's usually about a composer and we listen to different famous pieces from that composer and talk about musical concepts, and you get a free acrylic painting lesson every single month.

Do you offer discounts or sales throughout the year? Yes. Be sure you are subscribed to my email list and you'll learn about all the sales when they come up.

Is there a refund policy? Depending on the course or resource, there [00:18:00] is a 14-day money back guarantee.

And three more questions. Why is music education important in a homeschool? Well, music does so many things for your family, for your students, for you personally. It strengthens creativity, memory, and emotional intelligence, and even math skills. It's a powerful tool in your child's development.

What results do other families see? Many families have told me that they see more joy and confidence and interest in music. Some students have gone on to major in music in college, but even those that haven't, it's been a wonderful inclusion in their homeschool and makes their students be much more well-rounded educationally.

And the final question is, I'm not musical; can I really do this? Absolutely, yes you can. That's the heart behind Music in Our Homeschool. I've [00:19:00] designed everything so that all you have to do is press, play, follow the lessons, listen to the videos, read what's on the screen, and enjoy the learning right alongside with your kids.

So. I encourage you to start exploring the courses and all the free resources and lessons that we have over at Learn dot Music in Our Homeschool.com. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to bring the joy of music into your homeschool. Just press play and go. And until next time, keep the music alive.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/questions-about-music-in-our-homeschool/