Homeschool World Forum

[suzie]

Since my passions are for music and teaching, especially working with children, I'm thinking of starting my own teaching studio and serving the local homeschooling community in particular with violin, viola, and piano lessons, as well as options for studying music theory, music history, composition, ear training, etc for families who may be interested.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to whether this would be of interest to parents, or any additional things that might be the most helpful for homeschoolers? I don't want this to be just a business, but also a real asset to homeschooling families.

What would you find most helpful from a music teacher?

[mdsmomct]

Could you please move to Connecticut!??

I would LOVE something like that as my son wants to play the violin and the guitar and we can't find anything that is affordable or available during the day.

Well, for starters just offering these services is helpful- make it affordable as us hs'ers are usually one income families, and have classes during the day. Is sounds like you are offering a wide variety of services and as your clientel grows I am sure they would give you suggestions as to what else they wold like you to offer.

Best of luck to you!

[suzie]

Thanks for the reply. My thought was that during-the-day lessons would be ideal for HSers because afternoon and evening are either family time or sports, dance, etc. Also, I'm thinking of having a sitting area where siblings can do schoolwork, read, color, etc during lessons, and also I want to have discounts for families who enroll more than two children with me. Other than that, I'm not sure what else would be most helpful.

[Mark]

[angw8]

When I read this my immediate thoughts were -Can you move to Australia ?(My town too.)
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[milehimom]

I was thinking the same thing, but I'd like you to move to Colorado and teach music to my children! I've actually been thinking that I'll bet there is someone just like you somewhere in my neighborhood, she just doesn't know who she is yet??

I'm thinking about sending out a flyer or putting a notice in our HOA newsletter asking if there is anyone passionate about music that would like to start three beginners whose hours are totally flexible since we homeschool! It seems like it would be ther perfect job for a college student, stay at home mom or retiree with musical talent! I'm gonna try and I'll let you all know if I find someone!
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milehimom
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

[Mark]

good idea.
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[Gumby]

Sorry about my reply being a little late but I just found this site.
That is a great idea! I am in a HS band and I love it! I also hope to start a Music program someday.
Here's my advice:
1. Stick with it. When I started playing in the band there was only one class in one location and there were maybe 6 familys and we just performed at retierment homes. Now, 6 years later there are 8 classes in 3 locations and over 100 familys. We have been on TV, marched in parades, and are the official band of the city of Orange . You may feel like you aren't making any progress but wait a few years and it will grow.
2. Teach groups, i.e. not just private string lessons but a whole string ensamble. See if you can find someone to teach brass and maybe try to teach orchestra. Many HS kids play instruments but very few have the opportunity to play in a group.
3. Keep it cheep! The few other people that I know of that tried to start a HS bands programm tried to make to much of a profit to fast and nobody could afford the program so therfore nobody was in it.
4. Enlist help. Ask other parents to help with things i.e. finding perfomance oppertunitys (even if it's at a retirment home) or fund raising
youd be surprised at some peopls hidden talents!
I hope that helped some.

[frogguruami]

This would be something that a number of my friends and I would be interested in. Most of the music instructors around here are not HSing friendly. I have even been told by one school that they don't teach homeschool kids because their teaching style is incompatible with what the kids are used to.

So, we are muddling along with my sub-standard violin knowledge, LOL.
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www.seilerclan.info

[Theodore]

By "incompatible" they mean that the kids expect more than one or two minutes of personal attention in every two-hour period. Sadly, with class sizes what they are these days, that's about as much time as you can expect.

I took a logic course some time back, and I asked so many questions that the professor half-jokingly said he'd have to hand me a certain number of question cards per session, and when I used them all up that was it But I had so many fascinating things to ask, it was hard to control myself. It was pretty much the same thing in my other courses as well, except in most of them the professors didn't mind, since only a few people were following the discussion closely enough to ask intelligent questions.
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[Ramona]

[Theodore]

I was thinking band. Brain freeze!

My youngest two sisters both take piano lessons, their music teacher isn't having any problems with them
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The Farming Game - Software Edition for Mac and PC
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

[LearningEveryDay]

I love having 2 or more students in the same family come for lessons at the same time, because some can work on theory or history or composition etc while I teach one at the piano. Also, this set-up provides perfect opportunities for piano duets (4-hands/one piano), piano trios (6-hands/one piano), and two-piano repertoire. I also love to get home-schoolers because I can start teaching them (and adults) earlier in the day, then get other kids when they get out of school.

As a secondary-ed home-school-tutor and higher-ed professor, home school students have Always been my best students in every way.
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[tanyaviola]

This is wonderful! There ARE homeschooling parents that are interested in private music lessons. We were wondering about that. We're not too familiar with homeschooling, but I think it would be a perfect match, since we teach online. We offer private music lessons via Skype, even during daytime hours.

Even to Australia and Colorado! In fact, we currently have a student in Australia. What a concept!

If anyone is interested, please feel free to visit our website and contact us about online lessons for your children (ages 8 & up).

Look forward to hearing from you,
Tanya
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Please visit our website for online music lessons via Skype: http://www.violaduo.com/Slapin-SolomonStudio.html

[toddler20]

Suzie it's great that you are starting music art classes. Kids love entertainment more than anything so I suggest that you should mix some fun activities with your lessons so that kids can easily learn what ever you explain to them.