FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Music Comes Alive is a comprehensive, engaging, literature-based study of music designed to empower you to bring the joy of music into your homeschool. It is open-and-go, fully planned out and requiring no preparation. Music Comes Alive is designed to be taught by anyone, including those with and without a musical background. Each of our products is designed for a specific grade range, with parallel tracks for K-2nd and 3rd-5th grade. This approach allows students of multiple ages to learn together, while still meeting specific age groups at their level. See Get Started.

Each Music Comes Alivecurriculum is designed to be used once a week for an entire academic year (34 weeks). This approach allows music appreciation to be a regular part of your homeschool, integrating seamlessly in with your other subjects. Lessons follow a four-week pattern for eight months: (1) musician of the month, (2) fundamentals concept, (3) instrument, and (4) engaging activity. Two additional lessons about a Christmas carol are provided for use in December.

The length of each lesson depends on your student’s grade level. For Primary curricula (K-2nd grade), we estimate the lessons will take approximately 15-30 minutes. For Elementary curricula (3rd – 5th grade), we estimate the lessons will take approximately 20-40 minutes. If you choose to access the Digital Resources that support the week’s lesson, they may add up to 5-10 minutes to the lesson time.

We currently offer two categories of curricula for K-5th grades: Primary (K-2nd) and Elementary (3rd-5th). Our vision at Music Comes Alive is to eventually provide curricula for K-12.

Primary A:“Medieval Melodies to Musical Theater” is our first Primary curriculum, released in 2024. Two additional Primary tracks are planned: Primary B and Primary C. These curricula are designed to be used in any order for grades K – 2. Each Primary curriculum will introduce new composers, many new instruments, and contain a variety of activities. Fundamentals content does overlap in all three Primary curricula, covering basic rhythm, pitch notation, and other beginning music concepts. This overlap ensures your young children are exposed to these basic concepts multiple times before proceeding to more in-depth fundamentals concepts in 3rd-5th grade.

Elementary A: “Medieval to Modern” is our first Elementary curriculum, released in 2024. Two additional Elementary tracks are planned: Elementary B and Elementary C. These curricula are designed to be used in any order for grades 3-5. Each Elementary curriculum will introduce new composers, many new instruments, and contain a variety of activities. Fundamentals content in Elementary curricula are mostly distinct, with minimal overlap for introductory/review purposes. For example, the Elementary A fundamentals curriculum exclusively covers pitch notation (notes on the staff).

At Music Comes Alive, we approach our work with a Christian worldview, believing that truth, goodness, and beauty comes from God and is worthy of study wherever it is found. However, our curriculum does not require that you be a Christian to use it. Feel free to adapt the perspectives offered in the curriculum to your family's needs as you see fit.

We make every effort to ensure that the books and resources we select reflect truth, goodness, and beauty in God’s creation. That said, these books and resources are not necessarily written from a specifically Christian perspective. As you and your students engage with these books, we encourage you to guide your students in exercising critical thinking, making their own choices about what to accept and reject in any text.

We believe you know your child best. In the Music Comes Alive: Curriculum Guides, we provide notes for parents if there are any possible concerns about content. These notes enable you, the parent, to choose the most appropriate material to present to your child.

Music Comes Alive currently emphasizes the history of Western Music, including sacred, classical, and vernacular styles of music.

While we cannot provide specific advice, we encourage customers to be familiar with your local laws and regulations concerning home education. We suggest reaching out to other homeschooling families in your area to learn from those already homeschooling in your state. Consider joining or reaching out to homeschool-related associations, such as: https://hslda.org/.

Yes, Music Comes Alive is intended to integrate well with other subjects. Our curricula may touch on subjects including: history, art, math, science, and writing.

Yes, answers to the Activity Pack questions are provided as an appendix to the corresponding Curriculum Guide. Please confirm that the edition year of the Activity Pack matches the edition year of the Curriculum Guide you are using.

Yes, we can provide a sample for both Primary and Elementary levels. Please reach out to info@musiccomesalive.com to request a digital or print sample.