Free Piano Lessons, Review of Hoffman Academy

Music can be neglected very quickly in homeschooling. Our curriclum has some great learning materials for Music history, but the practical playing is not covered. Unfortunately I am not a musically talented person, so I am not capable of teaching themselves, and for awhile lessons were just not an option financially. Thankfully, we found a solutions three years ago with free music lessons through using Hoffman Academy. 


SOLID MUSICAL FOUNDATION
Hoffman Academy is the solid musical foundation along with piano basic;  learning scales, note reading, and even musical composition.  We started when the boys were in second grade and could read fluently. 

Mr. Hoffman is also a fun teacher, and understands how kids learn.  My kids look forward to the videos, he is educational and entertaining with fun puppet shows and jokes.

 In the beginning units, the parent might want to  to sit with them during each video lesson and practice, but they are only ten to twelve minutes. I am amazed at how much the boys have learned through these lessons in just a short time. We are currently in Unit 3, and they are able to practice pretty independently. I have printed all the songs and a practice schedule, and put in a binder for easy access during practice. 

BUDGET FRIENDLY
The free lessons from Hoffman Academy have been a huge blessing to our family. There are now two levels of membership, Basic for free and Premium for $15 a month.  We use the basic free membership, and then spend the very small amount they ask for PDF of the printable materials &  practice MP3s ($20 for 20 lessons), and it is so worth it! So far, we have not felt the need to buy membership, and are still just enjoying the free videos and buys the printed materials each unit.  In the future, I may upgrade because $15 a month for two kids is still a great price.

MATERIALS NEEDED
You will need to an internet-able device to show the videos, preferably much bigger than your phone.  We tried the laptop, but a tablet that can put on top of the keyboard works much better. You don't need a huge scene, we just use our little Kindle  Fire HD 8 Tablet and it works great.

We use our  Kindle Fire   and a  Keyboard  for lessons.

We have a small home, so we don't have room for a real piano.  Thankfully Mr. Hoffman says a keyboard works just as well.  For Christmas two years ago, we bought the boys a very budget friendly Keyboard Package , that even came with stand. Mr. Hoffman stresses good piano posture, so we also bought a small padded bench  Padded Keyboard Bench that went perfectly with our keyboard!  The boys love exploring on the sounds on their keyboard!

Three years later and we still love this keyboard !

I hope this helps someone looking for a music education option for your homeschool. 

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