Middle School General Music Curriculum for Homeschool Co-ops
If you lead a weekly music class for a homeschool co-op or microschool, Music Complete – Middle School gives you a full year of grades 6–8 general music: listening, theory, music and culture, and composing, with slides, worksheets and answer keys. You do not need a music degree to run it. Every session has a clear plan, so the parent on duty can pick it up and teach.
See the music curriculum →Music Complete – Middle School is a no-prep general music curriculum for grades 6–8 that works for a co-op or microschool class meeting once or twice a week. It covers listening and analysis, notation and rhythm, music in film and media, and composing projects, with differentiated worksheets and answer keys. Prices start at $149.90 for the Starter version with 50+ resources. Recordings are not included, so you play your own.
The curriculum
Music Complete – Middle School, Grades 6–8
Start with the full curriculum. The other resources below are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Music Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for Middle School Music (Grades 6–8)
Music Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for High School Music (Grades 9–12)
Music History & Style Periods Bundle | Baroque, Classical, Romantic & Impressionism | 4 Complete Units | Grades 9–12
Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
Why co-op music class is hard to staff
Most co-op music classes are taught by whoever volunteers. Sometimes that is a parent with years of piano behind them. Just as often it is someone who has not read a staff since school. The room usually holds eleven-year-olds next to fourteen-year-olds, and one student may take violin lessons while the boy beside her has never clapped a rhythm from notation. With one or two meetings a week, a single missed week for a field trip can wipe out what the group learned about note values. Listening lessons are the other trap. Without a framework, playing a piece and asking what everyone thinks turns into a round of likes and dislikes. Students need words for what they hear: tempo, dynamics, motif, form. They need a question to listen for, such as whether a piece tells a story or stands entirely on its own. Then there is the handoff. If two parents share the class, or the rota changes in January, the second one has to see exactly where the group stopped and what comes next. A stack of printouts collected from different websites does not give you that.
Why it fits
How the curriculum fits a weekly group class
The materials are written for a teacher standing in front of a group, which is the role a co-op tutor actually plays.
- Carefully sequenced units mean the next session is already decided, even after a missed week.
- Differentiated worksheets let the violin student and the complete beginner work on the same theory topic.
- Listening tasks give students concrete things to name: form, motifs, expressive elements and genre.
- Lessons on program versus absolute music turn opinion-sharing into listening with a purpose.
- Composing, arranging and group performance tasks are designed for a classroom rather than a band room.
- Answer keys let a parent without music training check notation and rhythm work quickly.
Getting started
Your first month of co-op sessions
Here is one way to start, assuming the group meets once a week. If you meet twice, split each step over two sessions.
- Before the first meetingDownload the files from your order email or account, then open the listening and theory sections side by side. Choose one listening lesson and one theory lesson to begin with, and print worksheets at two levels.
- Week 1: listen with a questionOpen with a listening activity on genre or culture. Play recordings you pick yourself, from your own collection or a streaming service, and have students use the vocabulary to describe what they hear.
- Week 2: rhythm and notationMove to notation and rhythm. Hand the confident readers the harder worksheet and the beginners the easier one, then clap and count together so the whole group finishes on the same task.
- Week 3: story or no storyUse the program versus absolute music material. Play two contrasting pieces, ask which one tells a story, and have students back up their answer with tempo, dynamics or a recurring motif.
- Week 4: a first composing taskTry a short composing or arranging task in pairs. Students present to the group at the end, which gives you something to show parents and a rubric-based mark if your co-op keeps records.
Which version
Starter, Extended or Pro for a co-op
For a group that meets once a week, the Starter version with 50+ resources at $149.90 can carry a year, especially if larger composing projects run over two sessions. If you meet twice a week or want more choice for older students, Extended gives you 90+ resources for $199.90. Pro adds the Teach-Life-Balance course for $239.90. That course is a planner, guides and templates for you as the teacher, not extra student material, so take it only if you want help organizing your own week. If your co-op also runs a separate high school music class, that curriculum is sold separately, and code TEACHMORE15 takes 15% off when you buy both.
Honest limits
What you still bring yourself
There is no audio or video in the package, so you need your own recordings and a speaker. Instruments, keyboards and any software for digital composing are also yours to supply. The curriculum is written for U.S. middle school classrooms; it does not meet any state homeschool law or credit requirement on its own, so confirm that with your state or umbrella school. The licence covers your own teaching. If other families' tutors will use the files, send Teach Lessons a short message first. If it is not a fit, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is this aligned to state standards or approved for homeschool credit?
No such claim is made. The curriculum is written for U.S. middle school general music classrooms, but it is not approved, certified or endorsed by any state or standards body, and it does not satisfy a homeschool law or credit rule by itself. If your state, umbrella school or transcript service has requirements, compare the content list on the product page against them before you buy.
Can I teach it if I am not a musician?
Yes, within limits. The lessons introduce the terms students need, and the answer keys cover the theory work, so you can check a rhythm worksheet without reading music fluently. Where you will notice a gap is performance: modeling a rhythm or a melody is easier if you can play or sing a little. A simple fix is to let a stronger student demonstrate.
Our class has 11- to 14-year-olds together. Does that work?
Units build across grades 6–8 and the worksheets are differentiated, so you can keep one topic for the whole group and hand out different levels. For a wide gap, start everyone at the theory foundations and let older students move on to intervals and chords while younger ones finish note values and meter.
Can I see sample pages before I buy?
Yes. The product page has a browser preview of three sample documents: Music in the Orchestra – Instruments, Sound Art & Experimental Music, and Joseph Haydn – Biography & Works. They show the layout and the reading level, which is a good test of whether your group can handle the material.
Can other parents in the co-op teach from my copy?
The licence is for instructional use by the buyer. If another tutor in your co-op will teach from it, or the files would go to other families' teachers, send Teach Lessons a short message before you share anything. Posting the files in a co-op drive open to everyone, reselling them or publishing them online is not allowed.
We meet only once a week. Is a full curriculum too much?
Not really. You can run it as a full sequence or pick individual units, so a once-a-week group might take the listening and theory units first and treat composing projects as two-session tasks. Material you do not reach in class still works as short review between meetings.
A music class the parent on duty can run
Open the product page, look through the three preview documents, and judge whether the level suits your group.
See the music curriculum →