Meet Patricia: A Homeschool Mom of Four on Making Time for Online Music Lessons

Homeschooling four kids under 12 is a lot. If you have a toddler who throws the whole schedule for a loop, and afternoons packed with extracurriculars, you’ll understand why Patricia, a homeschool mom based in California, has learned to lean on other teachers when she can.

Here's an honest look at what homeschooling four kids actually looks like for her family, including the day-to-day schedule, challenges, and how they make online music lessons fit into the mix.

Why Did You Start Homeschooling?

“We were a little bit forced into it,” Patricia says. “My oldest was going into kindergarten in 2020, and I could not stomach the idea of sending him to kindergarten on a screen.”

Like many families who started homeschooling during the pandemic, Patricia’s family found themselves figuring it out through trial and error during that first year. “I kind of flubbed my way through. But it worked out, and I found I really enjoyed it and [my son] really enjoyed it.”

Six years later, Patricia’s family has stuck with homeschooling. “We are really busy,” she says, “but I still love it. It's a lot, but I love it.”

What Do Your Homeschool Days Look Like?

“We start around 9 or 9:30, ideally,” Patricia says.

As a group, the three older kids do history, science, and novel studies together. Then Patricia splits off for individual work, including age-appropriate language arts, and one-on-one math with each kid. Online piano lessons get scheduled into the gaps. “I work it out so that I have one kid doing piano while I work with the other two,” she says.

“By the time that's done, it's time for the baby to go down for a nap. I aim to be done by 1 pm; otherwise, I can't function. The kids are done, and I'm also done.”

After nap time, the family shifts focus to extracurricular activities: ballet for her oldest daughter, martial arts two days a week for the three eldest kids. Mondays are reserved entirely for their outdoor homeschool co-op. “That's kind of where they get a lot of their social interaction, learning how to listen to other teachers and other adults.”

“That's our rhythm-ish,” she says, “depending on how the baby's cooperating.”

Patricia scheduled our interview for a day when her husband was off work, but with four kids at home, some interruptions were inevitable.

Do You Teach Everything Yourself?

“Even though I have a college education, I'm not an educated teacher,” Patricia shares, “and there are some things that aren't as easy to teach, like reading, for example. I didn't know that there was a science of reading, and it took me some years to figure it out.” 

Beyond curriculum, she adds, “It's hard being your kid's person. They're with you all the time, so they start to just tune you out a little bit and not listen, or they act out for you in a way that they wouldn't for a teacher in a school setting or another adult that's not related to them.”

“You can't come at it like a teacher, because your kids don't treat you like a teacher. You're their parent. I know how to play piano well enough to teach them the basics, but I cannot teach them one more thing. Some things need to be outsourced. I can't do it all."

In addition to working with their Maestro Music piano teacher, Camille, Patricia’s family leans on a broader network of outside instruction, including their homeschool co-op, weekly science classes, and other extracurricular instructors. 

What Are the Biggest Challenges of Homeschooling?

“If I'm sick, there's no substitute. If one kid's sick and I have to take care of that kid, everyone kind of stops. There are a lot of breaks because life happens, unexpected things come up, the baby's not cooperating, so we have to switch gears and be flexible.”

“The hard thing is always questioning, am I doing enough? Is it good enough?”

“But I know in my mind that they're learning a lot of other things that they don't get experience with in regular school—how to be flexible, how to do work in different environments that may not be ideal, like with a crying baby or cranky toddler. They're getting a lot of really good creativity time and outside play. All of that is really valuable.”

Homeschooling opens the door to hands-on learning kids might not find in a traditional classroom.

How Did You Find Music Lessons That Worked For Your Family?

“I was looking for someone to come to my house because at the time I had an infant and I couldn't leave the house any more than I already was. If we're going to fit one more thing in, the person has to come here.”

In-person music lessons at home, though, are difficult to find and often unaffordable, so Patricia turned to Ocean Grove Charter School’s vendor list. “I'm so grateful for our charter school,” she says, “because otherwise we wouldn't be able to fund piano lessons.”

“I looked at the reviews [for Maestro Music] and just decided to do the trial, and we really stuck with it.”

What Was Your First Online Music Lesson Like?

Patricia says she had reservations going in. “I was concerned about it being online. I really didn't know how it was going to work, how a teacher would be able to keep kids engaged online. That’s why when I reached out, we just did the trial lesson.”

During that free trial lesson, her three eldest took back-to-back lessons with Camille, a long-time piano teacher at Maestro Music. “I expected to kind of hear the same spiel for each kid. But [Camille] was really good at sensing somehow—I don't know how she does this—she senses where the child is and then tweaks her approach for each kid. She really individualized it for each kid, having never met them before. That really impressed me.”

What Lesson Moments Have Stuck With You? 

At one point, Patricia's middle child was “being really, really resistant, just refusing and having kind of emotional meltdowns. I really wasn't sure what to do.”

“[Camille] was so insightful. She said, ‘Maybe it would help if she had a different book. Maybe she feels bad because her brother and sister are moving along ahead of her, and she's struggling with what they've already done.’” 

“We got her a different book, and it changed everything. That was really memorable, to see my daughter all of a sudden pick it up and be interested, and willing to practice, or practicing on her own without me asking. That was really incredible.”

Patricia recounts how changing books made all the difference for her daughter.

How Do You Find Time for Practice Between Lessons?

“They have to practice before they get screen time, so that’s the motivator.”

Even so, some weeks it's a struggle. “Fridays, we have science class, and we're driving from one place to another, and we're just not home to practice.”

"Sometimes I'm like, ‘What must Camille think of me?’ It's like another week where they didn't practice very well,” she says, laughing.

How Was Your First Virtual Music Recital?

“It was really sweet! I wasn't sure how this was going to go, because it's on Zoom,” she shares, “but I loved seeing the other students, and it was good for the kids. They enjoyed it, and they really liked putting the heart floaty buttons to cheer everyone on. They were really supportive of the other kids.”

Beyond the Zoom recital, Patricia says, “I also made them perform for our family at Christmas. We have a large family, so there's like 30 people.” Her middle daughter—the one who had struggled before switching books—really enjoyed it. “She was very happy to perform.”

Are Music Lessons Worth It for Homeschool Families?

In Patricia’s own childhood, her parents made her take piano lessons, and she hated it. “My parents were like, ‘You can do this many years, and then you can either decide to stop or choose a different instrument.' As soon as I could, I was like, ‘I'm stopping.’ I didn't like it at all. I thought it was boring. I just wasn't interested.”

But once in college, she says, “I just sat down and started fiddling with the piano again and fell in love with it. I was so thankful that I already had the foundations of knowing how to read music, so I could teach myself and go from there.” Now it's a creative outlet she uses at church.

Her own kids are currently “doing it because I am making them.” But Patricia explains, “Music is so important. It's so important for a kid's brain development. It works a different part of your brain. I try to tell my kids the ‘why,’ that I understand where they are, that I also was in that place. When I got older, I realized how important it was and how valuable those lessons were.”

Want to Try Online Music Lessons for Your Kids? 

If Patricia's homeschool life sounds familiar, music lessons might be worth a try. 

Maestro offers online piano and other instrument lessons for kids of all levels. You can get started with a free trial lesson to see how online music lessons might work for your family.