Homeschoolers get chance to learn music
By Sarah Viren
The Daily News
Published March 22, 2004
GALVESTON — Laura Stone stood before 19 elementary school students, waving her arms in conductor fashion as the group sang “On Top of Spaghetti” — the lyrics projected behind her on to the church sanctuary’s wall.
Stone’s three sons were part of the choir, yet for the next 40 minutes she was not Mom, but their teacher. A nametag dangling from her neck read “Mrs. Stone” in bold letters.
Three other moms were in the room: one at the piano, one near the projector and another watched with her 4-year-old son, who mouthed the words along with the other students.
This group, officially called the elementary choir class, is part of the recently formed Galveston Homeschool Performing Arts Co-op. The co-op is one of only a few of its kind in the nation, said Jeannette Duke, founder and president.
“It’s kind of a unique opportunity,” she said. “We are teaching music. It is a cooperative. All the teaching is done by parents.”
For most of the mothers involved in the co-op, teaching is not a new thing. As homeschool parents they spend every weekday ferrying their children through English and science, arithmetic and social studies.
But the mode of teaching — in front of other parent’s children as well as one’s own — is different. As part of the organizational set-up, each parent must assist with the school in some way. Some teach an instrument, others help with day care for the youngest kids.
“We do not allow children to be dropped off,” said Duke. “One parent has to be on the premises the entire time.”
Stone, whose only experience with choir was when she sang herself as a child, said she was initially intimidated by the idea of teaching a classroom of kids.
“It was very nerve-wracking at first; I had never stood in front of so many little ones,” she said. “But as soon as I stood up here and saw all their little faces I said ‘OK, this is where I belong.’”
Stone warms singers up each week by taking them through a stretching exercise followed by brief group messages. Her elementary choir is held in the sanctuary of the Galveston Bible church, which donates its facility for the co-op.
Nearby the older students sit in a circle of chairs in the fellowship hall practicing their own songs.
Classes are held every Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The co-op includes 30 students, ranging from pre-kindergarten to high school age. There is a student handbook for each parent and child. The school also puts on at least one concert a semester. Duke recently received nonprofit status for her organization.
A flute player, Duke teaches the instrument to a class of two in the afternoon. She also instructs in music theory and helps with the band class at the end of the day.
Her 16-year-old son, Joshua, is taking violin but also teaches the percussion class. A self-taught drummer, Joshua was actually Duke’s inspiration for forming the co-op.
“My son is considering majoring in music, which is part of my motivation of doing this,” she said. “He had never been able to play with a group before.”
Percussion class takes place for 40 minutes after the choir classes. As Joshua teaches students the basics of drumming, other parents lead classes in trumpet and trombone, clarinet or, for the youngest ones, the recorder.
June Pulliam, who also plays the piano for the elementary choir class, is the school’s clarinet instructor. She has two children in the co-op. Her son takes drums. Her daughter, Janae, is learning the trumpet from parent Beth Rogers.
This is the sort of arrangement that Duke was hoping for when she first formed the co-op in August. Many parents don’t have the time or the money to give their children musical lessons as part of their day-to-day home schooling, she said. As part of the co-op, parents pay $30 a semester to enroll their children in up to four classes: choir, instruments, music theory and band.
And it’s not just the children who are benefiting from the arrangement.
“We have one mom who is actually taking the violin class with her daughter,” said Duke. “A lot of the parents who are assisting in class are learning along with the kids.”
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