Homeschool Piano Lessons Perfect For Struggling Learners
These homeschool piano lessons are working really well for my son’s learning differences and needs. This is why they are such a good fit for struggling learners.
My youngest son is naturally musically inclined.
He loves to sing, and listens to music on his phone every morning before getting out of bed.
In the past, he’s tried in-person guitar and piano lessons with varying degrees of success. The lessons always work until it gets to the reading music part.
Because of his dyslexia, he struggles with letters and words all the time. Add them to a sheet of music, and things get complicated pretty quickly.
He can play a few songs on the piano now, based solely on memorizing the keys.
He told me about a month ago, he has them memorized by their shapes – one has a ledge to the left, one to the right, etc. – but that he can’t keep track of all the shapes when he is trying to learn a new song.
Because he brought it up, I explained how sheet music works and that the shapes and letters on a page of music correspond to those shapes he is feeling and seeing on the piano keys. Based on this new insight into how his brain is accessing this information, I decided to try and find a piano program that would give a more visual representation of both the notes on the staff and the keyboard in front of him.
Please know, although I was compensated for my time in writing this post, I only share products that I find to be genuinely helpful for unique families like mine.
Revolutionary Piano Method has exactly what I am looking for to help my son.
This is what the program creator shares about her unique approach –
Though singing and the playing of rhythm instruments are a wonderful introduction to music and some of its elements, the student’s cognitive abilities supremely develop through the reading and performance of written music, quite similarly to learning a foreign language. The reading and performance of written music is a great enhancement to a student’s development as a lifelong learner.
During my 40 years of piano teaching experience with individuals and school classes, I have developed a unique method of teaching piano keyboard and notation reading. I have seen the progress the very young achieve in attention span, following directions, visual tracking, finger dexterity, and alphabet letter recognition and writing – all due to brief, individualized keyboard lessons which gradually increase in length.
I love the focus on how music and playing an instrument help children in other cognitive functions as well. In fact, the Revolutionary Piano Method’s site includes a page dedicated to sharing research studies on the benefits of music instruction on overall brain function and development.
Homeschool Piano Lessons Perfect For Struggling Learners
I have found the Revolutionary Piano Method to be a wonderful fit for my son’s needs.
It is the only piano program I know of that teaches reading music in a way that visually ties the actual keys to the notes on the page.
Take a look –
Because the letters of each note are tied to the actual visual of the keys on the keyboard, it helps my son make sense of it all in a way that a more traditional approach to reading music never could.
He is able to tie his memorization of the keys themselves to the letters and notes on a sheet of music when he is able to visually see them in this way.
Revolutionary Piano Method In Our Homeschool
My son is working through the adult series. There is also a Revolutionary Piano Method Itty Bitty for the Young Student ages 4 to 5. This series covers the same material as the older student series, but at a much slower pace.
Revolutionary Piano Method is a program that I think will work well for all learners, but because of the visual component, I find it to be especially helpful for struggling learners.
If you have any questions at all, I want to encourage you to contact the creator at https://piano4me.org/ – you’ll receive a quick answer and any support you need.
For More Resources, Support and Encouragement:
The Power Of Hands-on Learning And Movement For Struggling Learners
Our Interest-Led Homeschool Curriculum: 2020-2021
What Is The Best Way To Help A Struggling Learner?
