Elementary A Sample Homeschool Music Curriculum is here!

A sample version of our Elementary A homeschool music curriculum is now available in the Music Comes Alive store! For those of you who have been wanting to see how the Elementary and Primary levels compare, you can now download the free Elementary A sample, which contains Month 2 (four weeks) of our Elementary A Curriculum Guide and Activity Pack. See how Music Comes Alive makes it easy to bring the joy of music to your homeschool today!

SAMPLE: Elementary A (Digital)

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Learn more about Elementary A (Grades 3-5)

Our first course for grades 3-5, Elementary A: "Medieval to Modern," begins with nine engaging picture books (available for purchase through our website) and a curated playlist. This course moves chronologically through music history, beginning with medieval musician Guido D'Arezzo and ending with Leonard Bernstein. Each month, learn about one musician, one fundamentals concept, and one instrument. In December, spend two weeks learning about the Christmas carol "In the Bleak Midwinter." Wrap up each month with an engaging activity (crafts, games, etc.). This curriculum provides an enriching musical experience for you and your students.

Learn more about Elementary A on the Elementary A Course description page.

An engaging and easy approach to homeschool music

At Music Comes Alive, we seek to provide a kid- and parent-friendly curriculum that is robust, engaging, and easy to use. Our curriculum is open-and-go (scheduled and fully written-out), requiring no musical expertise to teach.

We use great books as a launch pad to musical learning, with lessons that feature music history, fundamentals/theory, and instruments. Lessons include listening assignments with guided questions and are accompanied by activity sheets and hands-on projects. We also include bonus internet links for deeper engagement with the lesson topics.

Primary A and Elementary A both follow a four-week lesson cycle (Read, Fundamentals, Instrument, Activity), and each month is typically structured around the music of one musician. Featuring once-per-week lessons for a full academic year, each course in our curriculum has exactly what homeschooling families need to add music to their homeschool.

We approach everything we do with a Christ-centered worldview, believing that truth, goodness, and beauty come from God and are worthy of study wherever they are found. With that in mind, our curriculum explores a range of time periods and genres, including sacred music, classical music, jazz, and more. Our vision is to create a comprehensive K-12 music curriculum that is easy for parents to incorporate into their existing homeschool schedule. 

Learn more about Music Comes Alive here or visit our Get Started or FAQ pages.

Other Elementary A Products

Elementary A: Curriculum Guide (Print)

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Elementary A: Activity Pack (Print)

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Elementary A: Bundle (Digital)

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Elementary A: Book Bundle

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Primary A (Grades K-2) Sample

Primary A "Medieval Melodies to Musical Theater" is our first course for grades K-2. It covers many of the same composers and time periods as Elementary A at a younger level, but it contains its own distinct lessons, including different books, fundamentals & instrument lessons, and activities. Primary A and Elementary A can be taught as companion courses or as completely separate courses.

SAMPLE: Primary A (Digital)

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For more about Primary A, visit the Primary A Course description page.

Looking for an easy homeschool music curriculum?

Look no further! Consider our beautiful curriculum offerings. With engaging books, a curated listening list, fully written-out lesson plans, and bonus internet links for more learning, Music Comes Alive makes it easy to add music to your homeschool!

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Bring the joy of music to your homeschool!

Meet Emma, Founder of Music Comes Alive Homeschool Curriculum

Welcome to Music Comes Alive, the new literature-based, open-and-go music appreciation curriculum! In this post, meet the founder of Music Comes Alive, Dr. Emma James.

Music has been a source of joy and inspiration for me since I was a child. I remember listening to many styles of music--jazz, bluegrass, classical, and Christian contemporary music (CCM), to name a few--in my house growing up. I also have great memories of going to classical concerts with my dad. My mom loves music and taught herself to play the guitar and, more recently, the piano. My dad played the violin through high school, and during my childhood he would occasionally pull it out and play a flashy fiddle tune while I danced in my Laura Ingalls Wilder costume. When I was about eight years old, my parents decided I should take piano lessons after they found me picking out tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on a toy keyboard. Those lessons opened up the world of music to me, sparking a love for music that has been part of my life ever since. In middle school, I joined the school band on French horn and the jazz band on keyboard. As early as ninth grade, I knew that I wanted to pursue music as a career. My family, all of whom were athletic, joked that piano was my "sport."

As much as I love music, I also have a wide range of other interests. So I decided to pursue a liberal arts degree with a focus in performance, hoping to become a collaborative pianist (i.e. an accompanist). I went to Houghton University (then Houghton College) for a Bachelor of Music in Applied Piano with Elective Studies in Mathematics and Philosophy. (If that mouthful of a degree doesn't reflect my interest in a wide range of subjects, I don't know what does!)

After Houghton, I went to the Eastman School of Music (part of the University of Rochester and a top-ranked music school) for a MA and PhD in Music Theory. This degree program brought together my love for music and my love for math and philosophy, as well as a new-found love of teaching. I had never wanted to go into music education, but teaching at the college level changed my mind about that. Helping students understand music has become one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Now, I am a wife and a homeschooling mother of two girls. I no longer teach at the college level, but I do teach piano and music theory lessons, and I help lead a homeschool co-op and teach music classes for elementary ages there. As a homeschool parent, bringing music into my children's lives has been an essential part of our homeschool. My children take instrument lessons, of course. But music appreciation is more than playing an instrument. Reading books and listening to great music has been an effective and exciting way for me to bring music history and musical concepts to life for my own children.

I founded Music Comes Alive because I am passionate about bringing music to life for children and adults alike. While teaching at our co-op for the last few years, I have found that parents feel inadequate to teach music appreciation to their children. But just as we can teach English, Language Arts, History, Math, and Science with a good guide, we can also teach music appreciation with a good guide! This belief led me to create Music Comes Alive. Each course is designed to be an opportunity to learn alongside your child. Each curriculum guide is open-and-go, with a schedule and fully written-out lesson plans, and requiring no prior expertise. We use great books, curated listening lists, and engaging activity sheets alongside these lessons to bring music to life for you and your child.

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I am so grateful for the gift of music in my life, a gift that points to the goodness, beauty, and truth of our Creator. Let us help you give the gift of music to your family with Music Comes Alive!

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Bring the joy of music to your homeschool!

Much Ado about Books

We know that affordability and convenience are priorities for homeschool families, and each family may prioritize these differently. Even though the benefits of literature-based study--such as improving focus and cultivating a vibrant imagination--are well-known, buying so many books for music can feel like a hefty purchase for many homeschool families. On the other hand, even though music is an elective subject, music appreciation is essential to a well-rounded education. Having convenient access to a solid music curriculum makes it easy to incorporate music into your homeschool. Fortunately, there are many ways to get the most out of our Music Comes Alive curriculum, making it possible to choose the right balance of affordability and convenience for your family.

(1) Local Library

The majority of the books used in our curriculum can be found for free through your local library system. Even if your library system does not carry these books, they can most likely get them for you through interlibrary loans. It doesn't get much better than free!

Using the library is the least expensive way to acquire the books you need, but it may not always be the most convenient way. Using the library is most effective if you plan in advance, as you may need to use your library's holds system or interlibrary loan system. Make sure you request a hold or an interlibrary loan at least a month before you need the book (sometimes longer for interlibrary loans).*

(2) Let's Get Thrifty!

If the idea of remembering to request library holds on time sounds daunting, there is another great option: buying second-hand! There are several excellent places to buy used books online: Amazon, ThriftBooks, Abebooks, Ebay, etc. If you are especially lucky, you may even be able to find some of these books at local second-hand bookstores, your local library book sale, or through your homeschool buy/sell communities.

Buying second-hand is an affordable way to make sure you have what you need when you need it, without worrying about library holds or loans. However, it may take time to find the books you need, and how much you save depends on which books you need to buy. Some of the books in our curricula are relatively new, which means used copies are harder to find. But for those books that have been around for a while, buying second-hand is a great way to go.

(3) All-in-One

Primary A Books Bundle

There is something to be said for opening a curriculum box and having everything you need. No need to stay on schedule with library holds. No need to spend the summer looking for second-hand copies of books. Just open and go.

That's why we sell book bundles for each course at the Music Comes Alive store. Buying the book bundles is by far the most convenient way to make sure you get the most out of the Music Comes Alive learning experience. In addition, these books represent a long-term investment: many of them will likely become treasured additions to your home library, and, even more importantly, your children (and you!) will develop a strong appreciation of music while forging deep connections as you learn together through reading together.

Elementary A Books Bundle

(4) Mix-and-Match Books

For many families, the best solution may be a combination of all of the above:

1. Maybe interlibrary loans are not your thing, but find what you can in your local library system.

2. Buy second-hand where you can find a good deal.

3. Buy any remaining books new. You can find all the required books in our curricula listed individually at the Music Comes Alive store.

However you choose to acquire books, give the gift of music appreciation to your children with our easy, fun, and comprehensive homeschool music curriculum. At Music Comes Alive, we are here to help you bring music to life for your family.

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*Another way to use the library: Our Primary and Elementary curricula might be better described as "literature-supported" than "literature-based" (although as far as I can tell, that's not a phrase in the homeschool canon as yet). We recommend using the books we have scheduled to get the most out of the curriculum. However, if necessary, you may be able to find substitutes. For many of the musicians we cover, there are delightful--often out-of-print--books that are still carried by most library systems. You may have to modify the reading questions to fit the book you've chosen, but the remainder of the lesson plans for each month should still be useable. Please note: Our planned Intermediate (middle school) and High School courses will be truly literature-based, so substituting books will not work well for those curricula.