99: The Top 10 Music in Our Homeschool Podcast Episodes of 2025

What music topics did homeschool families love most this past year—and why?

As we step into a brand-new year, host Gena Mayo looks back at the Top 10 most-listened-to Music in Our Homeschool podcast episodes of 2025 and shares what made each one resonate so deeply with homeschool parents just like you.

From inspiring composer spotlights like Hans Zimmer, to practical episodes on ear training, bucket drumming, singing, classical music listening, and fine arts for teens, this celebratory episode reveals exactly what homeschool families needed most this year: clarity, confidence, simplicity, and joy.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Which episode ranked #1—and why families loved it
• The surprising power of ear training for kids of all ages
• How rhythm supports reading, language, and brain development
• Easy ways to add classical music listening without overwhelm
• Singing tips that work even if you don’t feel “musical”
• How teens can earn a Fine Arts credit with confidence
• Why Fine Art Pages and living books are homeschool favorites

If you’re new to the podcast, this episode is the perfect place to start. And if you’ve been listening all along, it’s a wonderful reminder that small, consistent moments of music truly matter.

Whether your homeschool includes preschoolers, teens, or a mix of ages, these top episodes will help you confidently include music education, music appreciation, and fine arts—without stress.

Tune in, revisit your favorites, and get inspired for a joyful year of music ahead!

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/top-10-music-in-our-homeschool-podcast-episodes-2025/

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

E99 The Top 10 Music in Our Homeschool Podcast Episodes of 2025

Gena: [00:00:00] Hello, Harmony Heroes. Welcome back to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. This is your host, Gena Mayo, and I want to wish you a very Happy New Year. As we step into 2026 together, I thought it would be fun, the perfect moment to look back at the past year and celebrate the top Music in Our Homeschool episodes of 2025.

Each year, I love pulling these numbers because they show me not only what you enjoyed the most, but what you needed to hear in your homeschool, whether it be encouragement, confidence, practical steps, joyful music making, and simple ways to make fine arts a natural part of your family life.

Today, I'll take you through each of the top episodes, why I think it resonated with you, what you all loved about it, and a quick summary so you can revisit your favorites or hear some that you missed last year.

Thank you to everyone who listened, who shared, sent messages to me. This podcast [00:01:00] episode is for you and I'm thrilled to celebrate this list together. So let's dive into the top Music in Our Homeschool podcast episodes of 2025.

If you are a homeschooler looking for ways to easily and affordably include a quality music education in your homeschool, you've come to the right place. This is the music in our homeschool podcast. I'm Gina Mayo, homeschooling mom of eight, a music teacher for over 30 years.

Okay, Coming in at number one, the most listened episode of the year, was our composer Spotlight on Hans Zimmer. In this episode, we looked at Zimmer's early life from bands in London to Hollywood and how he revolutionized film scoring with electronic orchestral blends, Families, especially loved learning about the unusual sounds he used, like razor blades on string instruments for the movie, The Dark Night, and the massive church organ for the movie Interstellar.

This music feels like [00:02:00] a gateway to classical techniques, and it may be just the thing you need to get your kids interested in music studies this year. So if you missed that one, this would be a great family listening opportunity. By the way, all links to these episodes are found in the show notes or descriptions, and the accompanying blog post.

The second most popular episode took something mysterious: ear training and made it approachable. In this episode, which was number 73: What is Ear Training? I explained what ear training is. And it's the ability to recognize intervals, rhythms, chords, melodies, and pitch patterns just by hearing them. The most loved part was how we walked through early ear training, using listening to animal sounds, bird calls, high-low games, loud/soft examples, call and response rhythms. Parents loved [00:03:00] hearing that they don't need to be musically trained before including ear training in their own homeschools. Your children can learn it step by step through echoing patterns, trying out solfege hand signs, rhythm dictation, and simple listening activities.

And all three of my music theory courses: Beginning Music Theory for Elementary, Beginning Music Theory for Teens, and Advanced Music Theory for Teens, have ear training built in at age-appropriate levels.

Number three on the list was episode number 53: Bucket Drumming for Beginners, and it was a hit because this requires zero fancy equipment.

In this episode, we talked about how rhythm is foundational for music, but also for language and reading and brain development. And I shared the science behind "beat-keeping," and the Northwestern University research connecting rhythm accuracy [00:04:00] with stronger speech processing. Listeners love the savings. You can buy a $2 bucket or get one for free someplace and some inexpensive drumsticks that you either make or use pencils or wooden spoons from the kitchen. I told a story about how my own homeschool co-op had a bucket drumming class, about the joy of improvising and composing with your bucket, and simple ways to start without reading music. This episode makes rhythm education accessible to everyone.

Number four was episode 57, and this was my one-year podcast anniversary and also happened to be St. Patrick's Day, so we talked about St. Patrick's Day's songs. We reminisced about some of my favorite episodes from year one, and I shared three Irish songs to enjoy with your kids.

Episode number five was episode [00:05:00] 58: Singing 101 for Homeschoolers.

Many homeschoolers want to include singing in their homeschools, but they don't know where to start. So we talked about how to match pitch by listening deeply, how steady beat supports good singing, why posture and breathing and relaxation matter, understanding some things about boys' changing voices, the importance of starting in a healthy range, and when to begin formal voice lessons. Families appreciated how I broke singing down into simple daily habits and reassured them that they can start right where they are.

Number six was episode 62: What Online Courses are Available from Music in Our Homeschool for Teens? This brought so much clarity for families navigating high school, especially the Fine Arts credit. In this episode, I opened the digital [00:06:00] doors to the course site and showed you exactly what I have available for your teens.

Listeners especially enjoyed the full walkthrough of my music history courses. The first one is Middle Ages Through the Classical Era. The second is the Romantic Era, and the third is the 20th-Century Era. We talked about weekly pacing and using notebooking pages, how to pair music appreciation with history. Options like learning how to play the guitar or singing or adding in Shakespeare or Charlotte Mason Fine Arts, and how flexible and self-paced everything is. This episode answered so many of the "Where do I start?" questions.

Number seven was episode 56: How to Start Listening to Classical Music in Your Homeschool. This practical episode continues to be shared in homeschool groups because it finally made classical music listening feel doable. [00:07:00] We talked about seven simple ways to begin adding it to a morning music habit, background listening during schoolwork, having a weekly composer spotlight, using games like musical charades, watching kid-friendly classical performances, using cartoons that feature classical music, and connecting music to picture books. Moms love this episode that it removed guilt and replaced it with simplicity and joy.

Now, believe it or not, episodes 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 all tied. So I'll quickly go through these last five t hat tied for the number eight spot. We have episode 51: Enrichment Studies Fine Art Pages. This one talked about what are Fine Art Pages and how they make art appreciation so super easy.

Episode 50 was [00:08:00] Transform Your Homeschool With Sound Bites. Sound Bites is another resource created by Erica of Enrichment Studies, and there are seven different Sound Bites courses now for sale at Music in Our Homeschool.

Episode 59 was How to Use Living Books to Teach Music, and this is a super fun one for all you Charlotte Mason homeschoolers out there. We talked about how to use living books to teach about composers, musical styles, instruments, individual songs, and specific classical pieces like Peter and the Wolf or the Nutcracker.

Episode 81 was The Top 10 Classical Music Pieces Every Homeschooler Should Listen To. So you'll want to definitely check this one out and make sure that you are listening to these in 2026.

And then episode 55 was How the Music and Art Homeschool Summit Can Help You. And this was a really fun summit that I spoke at this past [00:09:00] year.

Well, as we're looking back at this list, I think a few things clearly stood out. You love practical, step-by-step guidance, simple ideas that you can use the very next day in your homeschool, stories from real homeschooling life, encouragement that removes guilt and overwhelm, composer spotlights and seasonal lessons, and ways to blend music and fine arts into your family culture.

And most importantly, you are hungry for confidence. Confidence that you can truly do this, that music and fine arts can fit into your real life, that small, consistent moments truly matter.

Thank you for listening to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast in 2025, and I ask that you share episodes with your friends, leave reviews, encourage other moms, and I would love to know that you are there and [00:10:00] that I am helping you walk your homeschooling journey.

As we head into this new year together. I can't wait for what's coming on the podcast. I have some great ideas, but I would also love to hear from you. What are you looking for? Please send me a message, leave a comment, and I would love to hear from you.

 Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss a single episode. And until next time, keep the music alive in your homeschool.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/top-10-music-in-our-homeschool-podcast-episodes-2025/