I’ve never learned how to play the piano and I don’t want my kids to experience the same. Thankfully, we were given an opportunity through the Schoolhouse Review Crew to review HomeschoolPiano. We received a lifetime subscription for up to five students for HomeschoolPiano – Complete Set of Books. This would give my children an opportunity to learn playing the piano even while at home!
The program is a well rounded music curriculum as it follows a 6-steps cycle which lays a foundation based on the National Standards for Music Education.
Core Piano is a collection of 30 lessons teaching piano essentials. It is a must for those who have no previous piano experience. Book 1 is for the absolute beginner, Book 2 is for those who have some previous piano training and Book 3 is for the advanced student where he will learn to create piano rich arrangements.
To use HomeschoolPiano, you need to have reliable internet connection and a piano or a keyboard with at least 49 keys. You may use your computer or your tablets since you don’t need any special software to view the videos as you access them online.
How We Used the Program
I created 2 logins for my 2 children. My 10 year old daughter started with Core Piano for 3 times a week. She has previous piano experience so she breezed through most of the lessons in Core Piano, then she worked on Book 1.
She also took the lesson quiz to assess her knowledge.
After watching the video, she follows the instructor’s lessons on the keyboard so she remembers what she has learned. It usually takes her a total of 30 minutes per day to complete about 2 lessons.
My 7 year old son has no previous music or piano lessons so he took the lessons slower. He also started with Core Piano and is still watching Core Piano. He did the lessons twice a week.
After watching the videos, we usually do the activities. Like when the lesson was about skip or steps, I asked my son to create his own steps scale and skip scale.
What We Thought of the Program
As the homeschool parent, I liked several aspects of the program:
– It requires no assistance from me. I just made sure that they were properly logged in and doing their piano lessons.
– The continuinity of the lessons were important so that the student were learning efficiently. I am confident that they are not missing any foundational lessons.
– My children can repeat the video lessons when needed. My daughter breezed through Core Piano and was excited to work on Book 1, but there were times when I asked her to check some topics in Core Piano again to remind her of the basics.
– I liked it that my children were learning music without us having to leave the house or hiring a piano teacher, since our budget can not accomodate it at the moment.
– One program for both kids. Since this product is for all ages, we can use it for both of our kids.
– The creative side of my children is also being trained as they are continuing on with their lessons. They are encouraged to vocalize and improvise.
– There are online quizzess to check whether they are learning their lessons.
– We have unlimited lifetime access to a program that can be used for a couple of years.
The most challenging aspect of this program for us is our internet connection. There were days that we had a hard time accessing the video online because of our slow or intermittent internet connection.
Another factor is that we have to be consistent in watching and practising the new learnings. As with most programs, it is up to the diligence of the student if she wants to learn and make the most out of an amazing product.
If you are looking to learn piano at home and unleash your musical side, this is a good product to try out. For more information, you can check HomeschoolPiano Facebook or at HomeschoolPiano Twitter or at HomeschoolPiano Pinterest.
