by Michelle Noonan, SPED Homeschool Partner Blooming Sounds

 

The benefits of music based learning are many and clear. Music helps development, cooperation, self-regulation and expression, and activates both sides of the brain, resulting in significant benefits to learning retention, motivation, and more! Luckily for homeschoolers on the go, music is all around us and lessons are readily available anywhere your classroom might be.  

 

Music in Nature

Are you homeschooling on the trail? There are so many opportunities to study music in nature. 

Listen to nature’s songs: Nature is full of little critters that make music–birds, bugs, and frogs, to name a few. Have your child note the different pitches and patterns of “song” they hear while out on a hike or around the campfire. Have your child mimic the bird’s call and response. Add a writing component by having them recount what they imagine the animal is communicating based on the tone and tempo of its call. 

Make music with nature: Kinesthetic learners will appreciate the feel of the crunch of the leaves under their feet and the clicks of pebbles in their hands. Tap rhythm patterns for them to copy with pebbles or stomp them on leaf piles.  Once they get the hang of it, let them lead you into rhythm patterns. They will receive reinforcement of the beat through the tactile patterns and a boost of self-confidence by having you follow their lead! Find different natural music makers, twigs vs stone, for example, and compare the timbre of the different materials.

Describe what you hear in musical terms: Teach musical dynamics by putting the proper vocabulary to the sounds you hear in your nature walks. Is the bird singing legato: smooth and connected between notes or staccato: distinct and separated between notes? Is the babbling of the stream piano: quiet or forte: loud? As you approach a body of water, do you notice the crescendo of sound, the gradual increase of volume? What about the decrescendo as you leave? 

 

Local Learning

Be sure to check out the live local music options wherever you take your homeschooler. Early exposure to diverse music, genre, meter, tonality, etc. benefits your young one for a lifetime. It makes it easier for them to identify, enjoy, express, and play music in the future. Besides the children’s music scene, take your kids to the local symphony, opera, music festivals, and other live events. Bring a sketch pad and crayons and have them draw how the music makes them feel. This can help solidify social-emotional connections and keep them quietly occupied. Add music history to the lesson by having older students research the composer and write a report on their life and legacy. 

 

Online Options

For those looking for more formal classes on the go, the internet offers many options! Families with consistent internet access can sign up for private, group, or family lessons for all ages. When choosing your class, be mindful of your internet availability, choose an instrument that is easy to travel with (for class and practicing in between), and your schedule availability. Many online options will be flexible, but you and your young one will benefit from being as consistent with class time, practice time and frequency as possible. 

 

Make Your Traveling Homeschool Soundtrack

Make up your own songs together, documenting your travels and experiences. You can simply change the lyrics to your favorite songs to suit your story, or you can compose your own tunes to go with it. Collective music making is such a great bonding experience and putting your adventures in song will ensure you will remember them for a lifetime!

Michelle Noonan is the owner and lead instructor of Blooming Sounds LLC, an online music center licensed by Music Together LLC and Canta y Baila Conmigo LLC to provide these amazing early music programs to 0-8 year olds and their grown-ups, including homeschoolers on the go! 

 

 

 

 

 


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By Amy Vickrey, MSE

As summer is in full swing, we start thinking about water fun and water activities. But what if we are in an area with limited water resources or, like my family, limited financial resources? There are many options to incorporate water play both indoors and out no matter what resources, or lack thereof, you have to pull from. 

 

Ideas for Incorporating Water Play into Your Summer:

  • Use a bucket or Rubbermaid tub to create your own “water table”
  • Use plastic cups, funnels, bath squirter toys, etc. to work on pouring from one container to another (great for building writing muscles)
  • Add hand soap, gentle dish soap, or food coloring for additional fun
  • Add letters or numbers to your “water table” for letter identification or spelling activities
  • Write words, letters, numbers (or anything else!) on the bottom of rubber duckies or other floating toys for water learning
  • Do a “car wash” and wash bikes and other ride-on toys
  • Use spray bottles or squirters with colored water to “draw” or “write” spelling words, letters, or numbers
  • Add food coloring to a bottle of bubbles and blow bubbles on paper for beautiful, creative art work
  • Cut sponges into strips and tie them together with string to create “balls” that can be used for fun water play games. Use a bucket to hold the water for your game
  • If outdoor is not an option, you can add letters and numbers to bath time and allow for additional time to play games with them in the bathtub
  • Water bag pinata – fill the bag (a grocery bag if you want to reuse/recycle) with water and enjoy the shower it gives when it breaks!
  • Water balloon ___________ (fill in the blank with your favorite sport). I’ve seen baseball, volleyball (with hands or with sheets), and tennis, but you could do any sport you wanted.
  • Play in the rain (make sure there is no lightning or thunder in the area to stay safe)
  • Go kayaking or canoeing
  • Visit the local swimming pool or splash pad
  • Make your own rain with the hose or sprinkler (follow any water restrictions for your area)

 


I hope you enjoy some fun in the sun this summer (or just some water play indoors) and remember play is an essential part of learning!! Have a great summer and pass the sunscreen!

 Check out our Summer Pinterest board or these other resource links for more ideas:

 

 


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By Peggy Ployhar

Because I have lived most of my life in cold northern states, spring’s allure for me is the ability to get outside and enjoy outdoor hobbies I could only dream about until the eventual spring thaw.

So, for this springtime learning activity blog, I wanted to give you some ideas on how to get outside and enjoy the warmer weather coming your way while not sacrificing the incredible learning potential the outdoors can provide your children.

Whether you lean more towards gardening, science, exploring, or art these top free activities I have chosen from the SPED Homeschool Spring Pinterest board will give you LOTS of fun outside learning activities.

Gardening
An Introduction to Plants for Kids – So many multi-sensory activities, field trip ideas, and video suggestions, you could be studying plants for weeks!

Getting Your Hands Dirty Gardening Unit – This study contains everything from the seeds to literature about gardening, and even delves into learning about the critters that make gardens grow better

Plant Studies
Spring Dandelion Unit  – Use these notebooking, experiments, art projects, and recipes to learn about dandelions

Easy Seed Science Activities – 10 very creative ways to study how seeds grow with hands-on experiment links for each

Insect Studies
Ant Unit Study – Books, videos, art, and projects all centered around ants

Grasshoppers and Cricket Study – Bring literature and science together as you learn about these amazing creatures

Animal Studies
Montessori-Inspired Bird Unit – Hands-on bird themed learning activities for many levels of learners

A Frog Unit Study – Learn about frogs as you teach your children language arts, math, science, and even godly character

Exploring
Survival Themed Books Unit Studies for Teens and Tweens – Here is a great list of books and accompanying unit studies to inspire your older student to take their learning to the great outdoors.

Nature Walks & Scavenger Hunts  – Over 30 ways you can explore, hike, and hunt in the great outdoors

Nature & the Arts
 Art & Nature Study with Beatrix Potter – Look at nature through the eyes of Beatrix Potter while combining your study with her work

Claude Monet Unit Study – Use this large list of resources to study Claude Monet and how to create art using nature as an influence for impressionism

Check out all the SPED Homeschool Pinterest boards for many more creative and inspiring ways to homeschool your student with special educational needs.

 

 

 


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