Today I would like to introduce you to Matthew from Calming Music Weekly. Matthew has a great love and appreciation for music. He’ll be giving you a glimpse of that with today’s guest post, Home School Musical. So without further ado, here’s Matthew.
Zac Efron knew it. Vanessa Hudgens knew it. The other High School Musical cast members knew it.
Music makes everything better. It solves all of your problems. It heals, it inspires, it expresses emotions. And it makes your lunch taste better.
Now you know it.
In much the same way as a kiss from Mum can immediately heal a scraped knee, so too can music.
In a perfect Hollywood world, everyone would burst into song and dance whenever the opportunity presented itself.
However, in our real world, sometimes it’s not quite that easy…..especially when you or your children may or may not have the experience or the expertise to write and perform that song or choreograph that dance.
Not all of us play a musical instrument – even though all of us should. Not all of us can sing in tune – even though everyone can sing. Not all of us can clap our hands in time, but everyone can clap. Not all of us can dance with enough co-ordination to not actually fall over…. my dance skills in particular can easily be likened to that of the Banana Splits from the old TV show in the late 60’s.
However….
Everyone can enjoy music in some form or another.
What if I told you that actually it is easy to write a song, it is easy to stage a show, it is easy to dance with the passion of a professional ?
And what if I suggested that you could teach your children how to do it… and that you could also join in and sing and dance and laugh and have a wonderfully fun and educational time doing it ?
What if I also suggested that music can feature in a daily or weekly program to enhance learning, feelings, ideas and awareness in other areas as well ?
Home schooled children are so lucky. They get to spend quality time with their parents and experience things that “regular” school kids don’t get.
Home school parents get to choose the lessons that they teach their children – within reason and within the rules and regulations of the local Education Department in their city, state or country of course. Usually there are guidelines and recommendations.
Often the parent / teacher concentrates on the three R’s – reading, writing and arithmetic.
But does music make a strong appearance in a home school curriculum ? Not as often as perhaps it should.
Jennifer has written a post recently here on her blog called:
30 Delightful Ways to Connect With Your Child.
Item number 28 on her list includes listening to and playing some music. Great idea Jennifer!!
We’ve all heard of the Mozart Effect. Basically, the premise behind this is that listening to music enhances the brains cognitive functions, especially in young children. The theory is that the music – often classical or calming music – stimulates the brain, which in turn allows the brains owner to think, reason, deduce and theorise more effectively and efficiently.
Exposing a small child from a young age regularly to music increases his or her cognitive ability.
Young children love music.
Young children love music.
So – if you have young children, say 2 to 4 year olds, perhaps one idea might be to simply tune in to your local classical radio station.
Or, in this online day and age, find an online radio station that specialised in classical or relaxing or calming music – especially during “nap” or “quiet time”. Have it on in the background while doing something else. Don’t make it a feature – “we are now going to sit and listen to Mozart’s’ Greatest Hits, followed by Vivaldi’s Top 10” is not the way to go. Just turn it on, and carry on as normal.
The Wiggles are well known throughout the western world. They are a band who have sold approximately 43.5 gazillion CDs and DVDs, give or take a few. They cater especially for young children aged approximately 3 to 6 year old. Their music is infectious, their lessons are inspiring. Grab a CD or a DVD, or search for them on YouTube or their website. Sing along with your child. Join in with their simple and fun dances. Write their best friend, Dorothy The Dinosaur, a letter.
If you watch an episode or two of The Wiggles, you are sure to pick up some useful ideas for teaching music to your own children – dance ideas and song ideas especially.
Obviously there are pros and cons to parking your young child in front of the TV, especially from a Home Schooling point of view. However, it will certainly not hurt to let your child become absorbed in the educational, wholesome lessons and general fun provided by The Wiggles for 30 minutes.
Older children – become a bit more of a challenge with incorporating music into their education: especially if you are not musically inclined yourself. But it is not impossible.
Caveat – Music is Fun.
If it is not fun for your child, then perhaps either try to make it fun (with age appropriate games or dancing for example), or change instruments, or musical styles, or even consider actually giving up.
Music should always be fun and an enjoyable experience for your child. Forcing a small child to become a concert pianist if they obviously hate it is a complete and utter waste of everybody’s time.
Writing Songs is Easy.
Depending on their age, children are surprisingly creative.
Step one in having a song writing lesson for your home schooled child is to get them to nominate their favourite song. Pick a song – any song.
Then get them to re-write the lyrics.
Get them to write lyrics suitable for their age level, using a topic that you know as both their parent and their teacher that they really enjoy.
Start with food.
Food is probably a good place to start. Every child has a favourite food, even fussy eaters !!
For example (Sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells”):
Breakfast time, Breakfast time,
I like ham and eggs.
But the broccoli makes me want to
Throw it all away. Yuck !
Or perhaps get your child to think about the seasons, the weather today, their Grandmother, their pet hamster.
For early Primary / Elementary aged children, perhaps consider making it a little irreverent while keeping within your personal values, boundaries and tolerance levels. But, make it fun !
And, in no way do I condone hurling any green vegetable out the window during meal times (however, “brussels sprouts” didn’t fit into my Jingle Bells example above and may be the only and perhaps obvious exception).
For slightly older children you could perhaps incorporate other current lesson topics into the lyrics of the re-written song – such as history, math, geography, or art.
Make your next hit single.
Once your lyrics have been suitably changed, the next step is to record it.
Garage Band on the iPad or iPhone, or an equivalent recording app on an Android phone or tablet, will do the job very nicely indeed.
Garage Band is simple to use and is very inexpensive. The built in microphone on your ipad or tablet is more than adequate.
Audacity is a simple PC based recording application. It is free and easy to use, however its features are very basic. It will be more than enough to record simple one track / one take songs.
If the budget allows it, for less than $100 you could buy a USB microphone which will make a huge difference to the overall sound quality.
Simply press the “record” button and get your budding composer to sing like their favourite singer – be that Pavarotti or Beyonce, Taylor Swift or Michael Buble.
Hint: record the vocals in the bathroom. The tiles and glass provide a natural reverb which can make it all sound and feel so much better.
If you want to get really technical, most of the music recording apps available on the ipad or android tablet system are known as Multitrack Recording Apps. This means you can record one “track” at a time. Essentially, you can build a song and put all the “tracks” together – in this example you can record the singing on one track, then, on another track you could record some hands clapping, or some boots stomping, or shakers that you have made. Then, perhaps on a third track you could record the rain on the roof, or the birds in the trees, or clocks ticking, or cars driving past. Make a drum kit out of pots and pans from the kitchen. Or, record a musical instrument too.
The possibilities are endless. And recording always takes longer than you think it will – especially after you keep adding new tracks to your song – so this process can very realistically take several enjoyable lessons.
Just add video.
Continuing on from the audio recording process, why not make a film clip ?
Again, on the Apple hardware such as the iPad or iPhone, iMovie is by far the easiest movie making software on the planet.
You can import the audio you have made and drop it into your film clip movie.
Once again, the possibilities are endless.
Using the Jingle Bells example above, you could video some simple breakfast table scenes – food on the table with the stars of the film clip sitting up eating and laughing. You could record some simple scenes from inside the refrigerator or the oven or the stove. You could video some ham and eggs on a plate in the shape of a smiley face. You could put some dolls sunglasses on a piece of broccoli and turn it into the “bad guy” of your film clip, while some hardboiled eggs with faces drawn on their shells could be the “good guys”.
You could plan and choreograph a simple dance – clap, clap, stamp, stamp, arms up, arms down, jump left, jump right, turn around, fall down.
Let your budding director decide!
Plan it out first. Make a few simple sketches on pieces of paper of each idea or scene. Rearrange the pieces of paper until everyone is happy with the ideas.
Then get filming.
Red carpet launch.
Once you’ve finished, you can plan a big Movie Premier Event.
Create and send some invitations, make some popcorn, invite some friends or relatives over. Dress up in your finest party or formal clothes. Get everyone to crowd into your lounge or TV or computer room. Make a speech. Press play, watch your film clip and celebrate the achievement, loudly and enthusiastically.
There is a song or a style of music for every occasion.
Play it loud, play it soft – but most of all, just play music.
Music is fun. Music is enjoyable. Giving the gift of music to a child – after love, of course – is the greatest gift you can possible give.
Matthew Harding is a husband, father, musician and ice cream addict. He loves computers and helping others with their websites. He also enjoys playing and recording relaxing and calming music – not only for his benefit but to help soothe and relax others as well. Visit his website at http://www.CalmingMusicWeekly.com/blog for more relaxation and stress relieving suggestions.
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Wow, these are some great tips and my girls would love to try this. So, thank you seriously for sharing and going to pin to try when I have some time with them. :)
Hi Janine,
Thanks :-)
My girls have enjoyed variations of these ideas over the years too.
The themes change as they do – from “fairy princesses” when they were younger, to “pop stars” now that they’re older – but the concept remains the same.
Have a great day !
Matthew
Hi Jennifer and Matthew! My sisters and I always put on plays as kids. We also had a singing group with our next door neighbor. We put on shows for the neighborhood moms and even had the gall to charge a fee!
Now there are so many ways to make it professional and memorable. Our cellphones can record the whole thing. Amazing. I love music, and I’m all for having our children get involved in it too.
Love that breakfast tune :)
Ceil
Hi Ceil,
Excellent – I’m sure you and your sisters put on wonderful performances. Do you still do it now ? I hope you used your gig money for something exciting…. like far too much candy.
My daughters have put on “shows” together since they could walk. Their rendition of Cinderella, where my (serious) older daughter played the lead role and my youngest (cheeky) daughter played everything else from the handsome prince to the ugly step sisters to the fairy God Mother was hilarious.
Every day I am astounded at the technology available to our children – not just mine specifically, but kids all over the world. And, more to the point, what they do with that technology. The musical and visual creativity that tools like an ipad or a smart phone can inspire is, as you have suggested, amazing.
Thanks for your comment :-)
Matthew
This is a great post and I LOVE the High School Musical theme.. it is a well known fact around here that I am desperately and hopelessly in love with those movies, haha! In fact, this post has inspired me to pop the DVD in.. 18 months isn’t too young to be introduced to HSM, is it?! Hehe.. but anyway, GREAT info the article. I’m not musically inclined, but I DO intent to make music a big part of my little ones life! – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
Hi Gingi,
Actually, please don’t tell anyone, I’m a High School Musical tragic too ;-)
At the risk of sharing too much, the other day my daughter and I sat down together and watched HSM3, although admittedly we haven’t watched any of the HSM movies for at least 6 months.
Even if you don’t have too many musical bones in your body, listening to music can inspire a child (and an adult) to great things. I remember as a very young child listening to the story of Peter and The Wolf on our record player. The orchestrations and the story are beautiful. Here is a link to a version by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfM7Y9Pcdzw&feature=youtu.be – 18 months might be a bit young to watch it all, but perhaps in stages of a few minutes here and there you might get away with it.
Thanks for stopping by !
Matthew.
This is a fun idea :) We use music for most of our memory work so I think my kids would have a great time with this!
Hi Adoring Family,
Thanks for your comment – and yes, I agree completely !
Music should be (and is) fun. It can make the mind race and be completely still, all at the same time.
Making music fun is, in my opinion, vitally important. If it becomes a chore, or if all you are doing is creating a little robot that can mechanically bash out some tunes but has no love or passion for it, then arguably you are wasting your time.
And therein lies the challenge for us adults and teachers.
Making music enjoyable and memorable can actually be surprisingly easy, which is the whole point I was trying to make in my post here on Jennifer’s blog.
Recording a silly (or serious) song, then dressing up and making a film clip to go with it can easily become an adventure for the young and not so young – what is not fun about that ?
Have a fantastic day !
Thanks,
Matthew.
Hey Matthew! (and Jennifer =)
Great job on the post, buddy…loved it. Particularly the food idea, hehe.
You know what? I tried to encourage my kids to do a musical, but they wouldn’t have it. Which is strange, because my oldest–now married with children of her own, can sing just about any show tune you can imagine–and has a special talent at knowing all the parts of the BAD GIRLS in Disney movies!
I still laugh when she comes to visit, wandering about the house singing the Ursula parts from Little Mermaid (though I think she sounds WAAAAY better than Pat Carroll, IMO)
SO we tried a video instead. A short one.
Nope—one of my daughters stood there, frozen…with her hands over her face!
My guess is that you have to coax them into this a little at a time, huh?
Thanks for the article—going to point it out to Kathilynn. I think her and the children are going to love it!
Thanks for having Matthew over for lunch, Jennifer–good choice (grin)!
G’day Jamie,
Thank you for your kind words.
I am pleased that you like the food idea – I get the impression from reading your blog posts that meal time is a major and enjoyable and fun and noisy part of your households routine. As it should be !
I am also pleased to hear that your daughter has found her niche – you can’t go wrong with Disney movies. I am even more pleased to hear that she has kept her niche as she has grown up – she is obviously passionate about and enjoys her vocal performances. I’m guessing that her brothers and sisters secretly enjoy it when she sings too.
Yes, sometimes “stage fright” can cripple us all. Perhaps a spontaneous filming / recording can be another idea. Rather than a deliberate, scheduled and organized performance, simply grabbing the video camera or phone and pressing record can yield some excellent candid results.
I recall reading one of your recent posts – The Ultimate Family Night http://wantedhero.com/ultimate-family-night/ – where you described a wonderfully fun backyard bbq / movie event complete with cardboard cars for the young kids. Filming little moments of an event like this can make for some great film clip footage. Splicing these little snippets together is easy using software such as iMovie, and it’s really easy to edit out the audio of shorter people saying, “Daaaaaaadddd, put the camera awaaaaaaaay !”
Adding in someones favorite song underneath the footage is also very easy.
Or, what about putting a favorite song on the stereo, cranking up the volume, then filming the kids spontaneously miming and acting out the song ? Disney songs are GREAT for this.
Then, if they like the results, it makes it just that bit easier to do something deliberate next time. So, yes, coaxing and “one step at a time” may be required. As long as it’s fun !
Lunch at DeliberateMoms place is always good. May I please request another helping of the secret Buckley BBQ Marinated Monster Fingers ?
Thanks,
Matthew
Hi Jennifer,
Just a quick one to say thank you soooooooooo much for letting me talk about a few of my favorite things on your blog.
All music is wonderful – all genres, all styles, all volumes, all nationalities, historical and modern.
Obviously different people have different tastes, but as the High School Musical movies have shown us, there is a song or a style of music for every occasion and every situation.
Music makes the world go around. Teaching our kids about music and using music effectively in our learning and our lives can open the doors to amazing things.
Thanks again Jennifer :-)
Matthew
Great post! My toddler just loves music and “sings along” to almost everything she hears. Music plays such a big role in kids development and surprisingly speech. Don’t know what I’ll do without music.
Hi Amanda,
Toddlers are great when they sing along. When my oldest daughter was a toddler, she would sing to herself for hours…. and to anyone else who happened to be nearby. In fact, she sang long before she could talk, which probably explains why now at 14 years old she has the singing voice of an angel….taking into account my obvious bias here !
I agree with you about music and development and speech. It would appear that music triggers and stimulates parts of the brain that help with movement, general body co-ordination, and memory. Both my daughters still sing their maths times tables to the tune of Jingle Bells if they have a moment where they need to remember….
A world without music would be very dull indeed.
Thanks,
Matthew
Love love love this post. I’m listening to classical music right now as I write this! Music is so calming and I have to listen to it at least once a day in order to regroup and de-stress myself. Very interesting post, great read!
Thank you for your kind words Jessica !
Me too. Pretty much every day I also need to deliberately stop, take a big breath and listen to some music. I find it helps me to regain focus and filter out the unwanted “noise” of events happening around me. I am very lucky because I run a website that has more than its fair share of relaxing and calming music, which comes in very handy sometimes: certainly for me anyway ! Having music on in the background helps me write, helps me cook dinner, helps me concentrate, helps me get things done.
I am also very lucky in that I have several musical instruments laying around my house. I find actually picking up and playing one of them to be a relaxing and almost meditative activity too. I don’t mean that in a “peace, love and mung beans” kind of way – merely as a way to tune out of the real world for a few moments and vanish into a musical one. I am pleased to notice that both my daughters do the same thing… when they are stressed, or worried, or simply tired, they go out of their way to play their instrument of choice (one sings, the other plays her cello).
Thanks again Jessica,
Matthew
Hi Matthew, I love this. Music makes us happy!
Thank you for sharing all your wonderful tips here. Now we can spice up our home with more singing and dancing.
Hi Ifeoma,
A wise man once said, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. And I couldn’t agree with you more when you say that “music makes us happy”.
Therefore, I put it to you that this is absolute proof that music can reduce our worries and increase our happiness. QED.
My daughter has a poster on her wall at home that says, “Sing like no-one is listening. Dance like no-one is watching. Enjoy life. Smile.”
I hope that this simple statement adds to the spice I am sure you already have in your home :-)
Thank you,
Matthew
Great ideas presented here, Matthew! I am a homeschooling mom of 11 children with no musical abilities or skills what-so-ever. However, when we began our homeschooling 16 years ago, I began to read and hear about the importance of quality music. I remember searching Walmart for Handel’s Water Music and feeling awkward looking in the classical section. The music played softly in the background throughout the school day.
When the older 3 were 11, 7, and 4 something significant happened that still amazes me to this day. The dishwasher had broken and after the novelty of washing dishes together wore off, the girls began to bicker, which was a concern for me. So one day I told the girls that as their bickering did not glorify the Lord, they would no longer be allowed to talk to one another during dish time, but they could only sing. I then placed a hymnal on the windowsill.Within a short amount of time, those girls were singing together and harmonizing!!! Eventually they began singing in nursing homes and churches, where we still tell that story. They are getting ready to make their first CD and are also talented in instruments, piano, guitar, violin, mandolin.
Music is obviously a big part of my children’s lives, though sadly it was not for me. My point is that though mom and dad may have no experience, it can be vastly different for the next generation.
Hi Cheryl,
What a fantastic story ! I suspect you get as much enjoyment out of listening to your children’s musical offerings and reflecting on their musical achievements as I do with my children.
“Music” can be overwhelming for those with little experience of it…. and even for those who do……especially for those of us who are trying our best to educate our kids. Which is exactly why I was trying to give some simple musical ideas and starting points for the parents with limited musical experience in my guest post here on TheDeliberateMom.com – to help people who might like to explore some musical options.
Music was not a big part of my wife’s upbringing, nor was it for my sister-in-law, whereas it certainly was for my brother and I. As you have suggested, the next generation are well placed to do bigger and better things – such as your children, my children and my nieces and nephews – than perhaps our generation.
I don’t get to play very much music with my brother any more as he lives about 2000 miles away from me – and has for about 10 years. We certainly did in the distant past as children and as young adults in various bands and groups. However, recently at our parents 50th Wedding Anniversary, he came for the big celebration party. It was nice to see a small tear in the eyes of both our mother and father as my brother and I played a couple of numbers for the oldies together.
I hope that your children will still play for you when you are old, as I do for mine when I am old !!
Thanks,
Matthew.
I think my girl would love to be the star of her very own musical show! We are actually practicing a song at home that she and all the other kids in Sunday school are going to perform this Sunday. She loves music and I love that it gives us a chance to move around during the cold winter months too! Dance parties are great exercise.
Hello Amanda,
Make sure that someone records the big event on a video camera, smart phone, or whatever !!
Does your church use a PA system and a mixing desk of some description ? If yes, have a chat with the audio engineer person and get him/her to record the audio through the mixing desk if at all possible.
Having recordings – video or audio or both – of the various musical items kids perform is a wonderful keepsake. In much the same way as photographs, technology these days allow us to easily “capture the moment”. Over time, sorting through the collection of recordings can be a wonderful family experience.
Good luck with the big gig on Sunday :-)
Thanks,
Matthew
I absolutely use music to calm myself, so it’s no wonder it would work with my little ones!
Although they really would hurl their broccoli at the wall. They really would!
I loved Jennifer’s post about connecting with children, and I love this as a piece of that come alive for us!
Hi Tamara,
Thanks for your comment. At the risk of stating the obvious, kids learn from, and mimic, their parents. If your children see you, in this example, using music to calm yourself then that usually means that it will work for them too.
I find that some kind of cheese sauce on the broccoli sometimes helps. It either makes the taste more palatable for smaller mouths (and thus stops the throwing) or it makes a more spectacular splat when it hits the wall (which means that parents tend to get angrier and more vocal in their disapproval, which also stops the throwing). Or, perhaps just move on to carrots and beans.
Thanks Tamara :-)
Matthew.
What a fun activity to do with kids. This is absolutely right up my alley. Fun fact– my husband was actually in High School Musical!
It was filmed here in Salt Lake, and he was almost cast in one of the smaller roles but they made a last minute change and asked him to just be an extra, so he’s like like 7 different scenes. We love to play “Where’s Waldo” and find him and his mop of curly hair!
Good times.
Making music videos together is way fun. The end.
Brittany
Hi Brittany,
That’s FANTASTIC !! That is serious claim to fame.
I tell people that I’m secretly the 5th Wiggle…. but no-one believes me…..
My daughter and I recorded her singing, then went to the local park and made a music video together. I agree with your statement completely.
Mind if I quote you on that ?
“Making music videos together is way fun. The end.” Sensational !
Thanks,
Matthew
Neat! I love this. My husband is REALLY into music, as in playing. He used to be in rock bands when he was younger. Now, he just does it for fun. He is an amazing drummer and plays bass guitar and regular guitar too. We bought our son a small, yet real, drum set, a ukulele and also a real bass guitar his size. It’s still a little too big for him, but the love and fun of music is always in our home, so a musical is awesome. We watch the PETER PAN musical that was shown on tv not too long ago. We recorded it and he loves it. I hope I don’t sound like I am bragging here. That is not my intention, at all. xoxo
Hi Cindy,
I too am going to be a rock star when I grow up…. or so I keep telling myself ! I play my saxophones, my EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument – a synthesizer that you blow into like a sax), various other woodwind instruments, plus my keyboard and piano and get enormous amounts of fun and pleasure from them. Playing music (of any kind, any style, any genre) with others or by myself also provides me with a great way to relax and reduce my stresses.
My wife and I too, like you and your husband, have been fortunate enough to be able to provide our children with a love of music and many musical instruments and opportunities. My oldest daughter sings like an angel and is involved with numerous choirs and musical theater groups, and my youngest daughter is heavily into her cello and is involved with various orchestras and bands.
I think that leading and teaching by example in most aspects of parenting – including musical education – is very important. If you and your husband enjoys it, chances are high that your son will grow up to be a rock star, or a musician, or simply love music, just like his Dad.
Thanks,
Matthew