A full homeschool music curriculum has six strands: listening, singing, rhythm and movement, instruments, reading and theory, and composers and history. Young children spend most of their time on the first three. Reading and theory grow from about age seven, and history deepens in the middle years. Thirty to sixty minutes a week covers the core, apart from practice on an instrument.
The six strands
| Strand | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Listening | Hearing pieces with attention and describing them |
| Singing | Folk songs, rounds, hymns, and part songs |
| Rhythm and movement | Steady beat, clapping patterns, and moving to music |
| Instruments | The orchestra families, and learning to play one instrument |
| Reading and theory | Notes, rhythms, scales, keys, and terms |
| Composers and history | Lives, eras, and how music changed over time |
A boxed program is not required. A plan that touches each strand through the year covers the subject.
What to cover at each stage
Ages 3 to 5
- Listening: short pieces, two to three minutes each
- Singing: nursery songs and finger plays, every day
- Rhythm and movement: march, sway, freeze, and tap a steady beat
- Instruments: shakers, drums, and bells, and the sounds of a few orchestra instruments
- Reading and theory: high and low, fast and slow, loud and soft
- Composers: names only, tied to a favorite piece
See composer study for preschool and kindergarten.
Ages 6 to 8
- Listening: one piece a week, with a drawing or a sentence about it
- Singing: one folk song a month, and simple rounds
- Rhythm and movement: clap and say rhythms with rhythm names
- Instruments: the four families and eight to twelve instruments by sight and sound. Many children begin lessons at this stage.
- Reading and theory: the staff, the clefs, and note values
- Composers: three to six composers a year, with a notebook page for each
Ages 9 to 11
- Listening: longer pieces, with attention to form, such as theme and variations
- Singing: rounds, two-part songs, and songs in other languages
- Rhythm and movement: time signatures and conducting patterns
- Instruments: every instrument of the orchestra and where each one sits
- Reading and theory: key signatures, major and minor scales, and intervals
- Composers: the four main eras and a timeline
Ages 12 to 14
- Listening: whole symphonies and concertos, one movement at a time. See symphony, concerto, and sonata explained.
- Singing: choir or part singing
- Instruments: band, orchestra, or chamber music, where one is available
- Reading and theory: chords, cadences, and simple analysis of a piece
- Composers: eras in depth, tied to history studies, with short written reports
Ages 15 to 18
- Listening: a planned course across the eras, with a listening log
- Performance: lessons, ensembles, and recitals or exams
- Reading and theory: a formal theory course, such as the theory levels of an exam system
- History: a music history course with essays
- Credit: a transcript record of hours and work
See music appreciation for homeschool: a plan by grade for a listening course at each level.
How much time to plan
| Stage | Core music time each week | Instrument practice |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 3 to 5 | 10 minutes a day of songs and listening | None needed |
| Ages 6 to 8 | 30 to 45 minutes | 10 to 30 minutes a day, if in lessons |
| Ages 9 to 11 | 45 to 60 minutes | 20 to 45 minutes a day, if in lessons |
| Ages 12 and up | 60 to 90 minutes | As the teacher sets |
These are starting points. See how long kids should practice each day.
A sample week for ages 6 to 11
Monday. Listen to the week’s piece. Fill in a listening journal page.
Wednesday. Sing the month’s folk song. Clap one line of rhythm.
Friday. Read about the term’s composer. Add a line to the composer study notebook page.
Daily. Practice the instrument, if your child takes lessons.
How to keep records
- Keep a binder with one section for each strand
- File the listening pages and composer pages by date
- List the songs learned and the pieces heard
- Log hours for high school credit
- Save recital programs and exam reports
Some regions ask homeschool families to report on the arts. Check the rules where you live.
How to check progress
A reasonable goal for the end of the elementary years is a child who can do most of these.
- Keep a steady beat and clap a written rhythm
- Sing a dozen songs from memory
- Name the instruments of the orchestra by sound
- Read notes on one clef
- Name six composers and a piece by each
- Listen to a ten-minute piece and describe it
Exams and credits
Graded music exams give an outside measure of playing and theory. See music exams for kids. In Canada, upper-level exams can count toward high school credit in many provinces. See RCM high school credits by province.
Next steps
If you have no music training, start with how to teach music at home when you are not musical. Plan the composer strand with composer study for homeschool and the composer study planner. For theory, see music theory for parents.
More from this guide
This article is part of Composer study for homeschool: how to plan a year in ten minutes a week.
Charlotte Mason composer study: how it works and how to start
How composer study works in a Charlotte Mason homeschool: one composer a term, about six pieces, short and regular listening, and children telling back what they heard.
Composer study for preschool and kindergarten: a simple routine
A gentle composer study routine for children aged three to six: one composer a month, one short piece a week, with movement, drawing, and a page to print.
Composer study schedule: 36 weeks of listening, one piece a week
A free 36-week composer study schedule for homeschool: six composers, six weeks each, with one piece to hear each week and one small thing to do.
Folk song study for homeschool: how to start with one song a month
How to start folk song study in a homeschool: what a folk song is, a one-song-a-month plan, songs to begin with by country, and ways to link them to composers.
How to teach music at home when you are not musical
How a parent with no music training can teach music at home: what to cover, a 15-minute plan, what to learn beside your child, and what to hand to a teacher.
Music appreciation for homeschool: a plan by grade
A simple music appreciation plan for homeschool, from kindergarten to high school: what to cover at each stage, how much time it takes, and what to print.
Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.