Adding Another Dimension to your Studio

I've mentioned in previous posts that I teach music classes to homeschool groups.  It's a great way to fill in some of those free mornings or early afternoons.  It's also a great way to build your reputation.  I have one particular homeschool group that has loved the classes we have done and requested a way to incorporate some sort of collaborative playing.  Since most of them do not take any music lessons (I'm working on that!) recorders seemed the easiest, least expensive way to get them excited to learn an instrument.  So I developed my next homeschool class...Recorder Karate 101! 

I purchased the curriculum for Recorder Karate and immediately realized what a great program this was!  It's beautifully laid out and easy to incorporate!  The book is full of lots of instruction for the teacher (including how to avoid all that squeeking!) and contains all the reproducible sheets for students.  As an added incentive to the kids, you can also purchase tassels they can hang from their recorders as they successfully reach each level in the program.  I'm using the karate belt colors, but tassels of all colors are available.  I've been doing lots of practicing to make sure I have all the tassels on my own recorder to help motivate!

In addition to working on learning to play the recorder, my class will focus on rhythm and note ID - all through fun games and activities!  I'm pretty excited to add another dimension of teaching to my studio!  Are there other creative ways you teach music to students?