Day 23 / 101 - Piano Lessons

It should probably come as no surprise that my children take piano lessons.  Most homeschooled children spend part of their week practicing some type of instrument and attending lessons.  Shortly after we began homeschooling, my children began taking piano lessons.  We wanted our children to learn the basic language of music and also develop a love of and appreciation for music.

One of the reasons I love homeschooling is that piano can be integrated into our school day.  It is not something that needs to be done in addition to an already full day.  In fact, I have discovered while schooling my son, that his concentration vastly improves if he begins each and every day with piano practice.  There are countless studies that show us one solid way to increase the speed at which people learn is with music. People learn through music and their minds develop because of it. Some music, when implemented properly, can have positive effects on learning and attitude. I see a drastic change not only in my son's ability to learn, but also in the way he processes information, when we start each day with piano and then move to mathematics, rather than reversing the two.

Our original plan was for our children to take two years of piano.  Because the piano is so child friendly, it was the instrument we wanted our children to begin with.  We said after two years, we could reevaluate, and they could either continue on with piano or switch to another instrument, since they would now understand the language of music.  We are approaching that two year mark.  I will keep you posted on their decisions......