Music Class for Kids: 7 Ways to Make Music Class Interesting
Music is one of the most rewarding things you can teach anyone, no matter how old they are. However, teaching kids can be daunting since they need more time and effort to grasp new concepts. But there are unique things you can do to increase the productivity of music classes for kids.
The main thing is make the music classes as enjoyable as possible. This is especially when teaching kids music online where there are lots of potential distractors.
In this article, you’ll learn some of the best ways to make music classes enjoyable for learners so that every child can achieve their greatest potential.
1. Keep the Lessons Short
A kid’s attention span is shorter than that of an adult. This makes it vital to keep your lessons as short as possible. Otherwise, your students are likely to get distracted, especially if it is an online class. Thus, the best thing to do is design the length of the classes with the kid’s age in mind.
An average length of time when teaching kids should be between 30-45 minutes. Please make the most of this time with exciting activities that will keep them glued to the lesson. It will also help develop new experiences that would grab the learners’ attention for every lesson.
2. Use Technology
Almost everything that kids know today relates to technology in some way. So, it will be best to bring about things that they can relate to in the classroom. The reality is that music is one of the best subjects where you can run out of options on how to use different technologies.
You can use video sites and applications to make learning more practical. The best thing about using such platforms is that they are filled with a wide range of content. Thus, you can even recommend them for practice at home, especially for kids learning to play musical instruments.
3. Be Aware of Differing Skill Levels
Music is an art, and the skill levels differ from an individual to another. Kids, too, have different skill levels be it in singing or playing musical instruments. That explains why schools that provide online music classes have different learning levels. These levels range from beginner to intermediate and advanced.
Music schools that music classes for kids recognize that some kids need more time to grasp ideas. You, too, need to recognize this fact if you want to become a music teacher. It will help you meet every kid’s learning needs and enhance your music classes’ productivity.
4. Encourage Interaction
Another way to make teaching music enjoyable is to encourage kids to learn from each other. A kid’s best teacher is their peer, and kids enjoy sharing knowledge with others. It would be best to put them in groups to encourage peer collaboration.
This will break the monotony of kids listening to you all the time. Besides, a problematic concept sounds easier when explained to by a fellow kid. Interactive learning will also allow the kids to work in groups and eventually improve their teamwork skills. This is how they also learn to sing or play instruments harmoniously.
5. Have a Positive Attitude
Preparing for a lesson is one of the most tedious tasks teachers have to do. It is even more daunting and requires more time than teaching the lesson in class. Sometimes, this can take a toll on you as a music teacher. However, you need to avoid showing your learners this feeling once you’re in class.
Kids can scan moods, and they will pick on your mood as soon as they read it. This makes it vital to stay positive and show excitement even if the overwhelming preparation had dampened your spirit before the lesson. Staying positive throughout can help make the learning process more effective.
6. Teach Things Kids Relate to Easily
Kids aren’t good at grabbing new concepts that they don’t have any interest in, especially music. It is vital to avoid this type of music content, genres and songs to make your music classes enjoyable. The first thing to do is identify the songs and music genres that the kids in your class loveto relate with best.
It would be best if you then used this music and genre to make learning enjoyable. This also includes musical instruments that they enjoy playing or listening to when played to them. The good thing is that you can never run short of music or instruments to fit the learners’ needs and interests.
Also considering teaching kids about the music industry in case they decide that they want to be a professional musician someday.
7. Introduce Friendly Competition
Competition makes us work harder at work, in business or anywhere else. Introducing friendly competition in your music class can encourage learners to work extra hard. For instance, you can introduce games that kids will enjoy and give prices to those that come out top.
The best way to do this is to avoid making it an individual-to-individual competition. You can divide the class into two teams. Then, make the teams compete against each other. This will ensure that the kids don’t feel embarrassed as individuals if they lose. This will encourage them to work harder as a team.
Conclusion
Learning music is a beautiful way through which kids can mature up quickly. Besides being a talent, it is an art and skill that they can keep growing from a young age into teenage and adulthood. But then, it all starts with attending music school and developing their talents into invaluable skills for the future.
However, teaching music lessons can be a daunting task for music teachers. Even with proper planning, presenting the lesson interestingly isn’t as easy as it may seem. The good news is that there are several ways that teachers can grab the learners’ attention and deliver their lessons more effectively.
This article has explored some of the things you can do to achieve this as a music teacher. These tips can help you relate better with kids and also increase their ability to grab musical concepts. Take your time to implement these tips to increase your productivity in the classroom or online.
