79: How to Start the Homeschool Year with Consistent Music and Fine Arts

How to Start the Homeschool Year with Consistent Music and Fine Arts

Do you start every homeschool year with big dreams for music and fine arts — only to watch them fade by October? You’re not alone. In this episode of the Music in Our Homeschool podcast, veteran homeschool mom of eight and music teacher of 30+ years Gena Mayo shares her simple, doable framework for keeping music and fine arts a joyful, consistent part of your homeschool from day one.

You’ll learn:

• Why short, consistent lessons are more effective than occasional long ones
• How to use “habit stacking” to make arts lessons a natural part of your day
• A simple weekly rotation that prevents overwhelm and keeps lessons fresh
• The power of ready-to-go resources, including the Music Lesson Calendar of the Month (a pre-planned 15-minute lesson for each weekday)
• How the Fine Art Pages can build art appreciation effortlessly in your home
• Tips for choosing “quick win” lessons in the first month to spark momentum

Whether you have little ones or teens, this episode will help you start strong and keep music and fine arts going all year long — without extra stress or guilt.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• 🎵 2 Weeks of Free Music Appreciation Lessons: MusicinOurHomeschool.com/FreeMusicLessons
• 🎨 Music in Our Homeschool Plus Membership: MusicinOurHomeschool.com/membership
• Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here:
  https://musicinourhomeschool.com/start-the-homeschool-year-with-consistent-music/ 

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

How to Start the Homeschool Year with Consistent Music and Fine Arts (E79)

 [00:00:00] If you're anything like most homeschool moms I talk to, you start every school year with big plans for music and fine arts, but somewhere between the math, laundry, and life, it just falls through the cracks. It. By October, you realize the art supplies haven't moved from the shelf, and your kids can't remember the last time they sang a hymn or listened to a composer's music.

Today, I want to help you flip that script. I'm going to share my simple, doable framework for making music and fine arts, a regular joy-filled part of your homeschool from day one, without adding more stress to your plate.

I know how hard it can be to fit the fine arts into your homeschool. That's why today I am starting.

That's why today I'm sharing how to start strong this year with a plan you'll actually stick to.

Years ago when all eight of my kids were still at home, I would sit down in July with the best of intentions. I'd have a beautiful homeschool plan that included [00:01:00] music history, composer studies, art appreciation, and maybe even an art project or two, but by the time we got through phonics, math and science experiments, I'd look at the clock and think, we'll have to get to it tomorrow. And you know what? Tomorrow became next month or next year.

That all changed the year. I taught a homeschool co-op class on 20th century music history. I realized that as we were studying 20th century history, that year, the kids weren't having time to learn anything about music history, so I volunteered to teach it. I only had 15 minutes with each group, and that time constraint became my biggest gift. I learned how to create short, powerful lessons that kept kids engaged, fit into any schedule, and actually got done.

That's the foundation of the 15-Minute Music Method, and it's why I can confidently tell you, even in your [00:02:00] busiest seasons, you can make music and fine arts consistent.

Start small and keep it short. One of the biggest mistakes I see homeschool moms make and, I've been guilty of this too, is overplanning. We schedule an hour of music twice a week or a full afternoon of art every other Friday, and it sounds wonderful in July when we're mapping out the year. But by the third week of school, life has already thrown us a few curveballs: a sick child, a last-minute field trip, a math lesson that took twice as long, and that's why I recommend aiming for 10 to 15 minutes a day instead, or even just 15 minutes a week. When you plan short lessons, you lower the barrier to getting started. Fifteen minutes feels doable, and it is doable even on your craziest days.

And here's the secret, over time, those small lessons will add [00:03:00] up to more total exposure and learning than the occasional really long sessions, that seem to always get bumped. Think about it, if you spend 15 minutes a day on music or art, five days a week, that's over 60 hours a year of fine arts education. Or if it's only twice a week, you're still getting 20 hours a year of fine arts education. And you won't feel like you're falling behind because the lessons are designed to be bite-sized and consistent.

Here's something I learned from Atomic Habits. If you haven't read that book by James Clear, I highly recommend it. Anchor this new habit to something you're already doing. Habits are easier to stick with when you attach them to something that's already happening. This is called habit stacking, and it works beautifully for music and fine arts in your homeschool.

For example, maybe you always start your homeschool morning with Bible [00:04:00] reading. Right after that, you can add some hymn study. Or maybe your kids always have a mid-morning snack. While they're eating, play the 15-minute music lesson from the Music Lesson Calendar of the Month. If you're studying art, display the week's painting on your table, so it sparks conversation during lunchtime.

When you pair music in art with something you already do every day, you don't have to remember to add it in. It simply becomes a part of your family's daily rhythm, and your kids will start to expect and even look forward to it.

Another tip is to rotate topics for variety. One reason arts lessons tend to get skipped is because moms feel like they have to do everything every week. Music theory, composer study, hymn singing, art projects, and more. It's too much. Instead, rotate your focus.

Here's an example rotation you [00:05:00] could try. Week one will be your composer study. Listen to a piece each day and learn about the composer's life. Week two could be art appreciation. Study a new artist or style, and do a simple related project. Week three could be hymn study. Learn the history, sing together daily, maybe memorize a verse. And then week four could be music theory. Practice some basic rhythms, do some flashcards on note names, or a fun ear training game. This keeps things fresh for your kids and for you, and it prevents the feeling of being spread too thin. Plus, with a rotation, you can go deeper into each area during its spotlight week without cramming everything into one day.

My fourth tip is to use ready-to-go resources. I can't emphasize this enough. The number one reason families stay consistent with music and fine arts is because the [00:06:00] prep work is already done for them. When you have to hunt down your YouTube video clips or create work sheets or go to the library to find a book, t he mental energy required becomes another barrier to getting started. That's exactly why I built my Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership, to give you done-for-you lessons where all you have to do is log in, click, and learn.

You don't have to,

the basic, The basis of the membership is the Music Lesson Calendar of the Month. It gives you a 15-minute music lesson every day of the week. So all you have to do is press, play, read the lesson, and listen to the music. And you don't have to do a lesson every single day. My goal is for you to do one once a week. Because it's so easy to start, you'll find yourself doing it more often until it absolutely becomes a habit.

And the fifth tip I have for you is to plan for quick [00:07:00] wins the very first month. The first weeks of your homeschool year are critical for building momentum. If music and art feel too hard or boring right from the start, it's easy to let them slip off the schedule early in the year and then entirely.

So pick topics and activities that you know your kids will enjoy. Some of the lessons I already have in the Premium Tier in the Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership are lessons about Disney songs or about movie composers like John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Each of these replays of formally live lessons include i nteractive activities. I'm teaching the whole lesson so you can learn right alongside your kids. If you're not sure what will grab their attention, try tying the lessons to upcoming holidays or family traditions.

These are also already mapped out for you on the Music Lesson Calendar the Month so you don't have to think about it. In September, you've got [00:08:00] Grandparents Day and Constitution Day In October, you've got Reformation Day and Halloween. The more fun and relatable it feels early on, the more buy-in you'll get from your kids and the more easy it will be to continue all year.

If you are ready to make music and fine arts consistent this year without reinventing the wheel, I'd love to invite you to join the Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership. You get access to hundreds of ready-to-use 15-minute music lessons from composer studies to lessons related to holidays and special days to world music and even music theory.

The Music Lesson Calendar of the Month makes it super easy. There's no stress, no guilt, and no extra prep. And if you join the Premium membership, you also get a live brand new lesson taught by me every single month as well as a painting lesson. And with the membership, you [00:09:00] get a set of Fine Art Pages every month, a different set, so that all you have to do is hang these pages around your home, and your kids will organically start learning to appreciate the art.

If you just want to dip your toes in though, go ahead and grab my Two Weeks of Free Music Appreciation Lessons at MusicinOurHomeschool.com/FreeMusicLessons It's the perfect way to see how fun and simple music in your homeschool can be.

Let's recap. Remember to start small and keep it short. Anchor the lessons to something you're already doing. Rotate your topics. Use ready-to-go resources. And give yourself some quick wins early in the year. Even 15 minutes a day can bring beauty, joy, and connection in your homeschool, and those little moments will add up to a rich education your kids will remember for life.

Thanks for joining me today, Harmony [00:10:00] Heroes. If this episode encouraged you, would you please share it with another homeschool mom, and be sure to join me next week. Visit the link in the show notes or description to get links to everything I mentioned in this episode. And if you haven't already, go ahead and download the Two Weeks of free Music Appreciation Lessons at MusicinOurHomeschool.com/FreeMusicLessons.

I will see you next week, and until then, have a joyful start to your homeschool year.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/start-the-homeschool-year-with-consistent-music/