Until River was about 3 or 4, we played the CBC on our radio pretty much all day long. (The CBC is Canada’s public broadcaster, like the BBC in Britain.) I was working on a degree in Political Science at the time, and I liked to keep on top of what was happening in the world. And, quite frankly, I preferred CBC’s shows to Raffi or Sharon, Lois and Bram. I’m just not a fan of Baby Baluga, I guess.

But as River got older, I realized that the radio wasn’t appropriate anymore. OK, I didn’t so much “realize” it — more River herself told me that she hated the radio: “it’s always about someone dying or killing someone else.” Yikes. Just hand me my worst-mother-of-the-year award already.

These days I’m far more mindful of what we having playing in the background, and now the music we play intentionally reinforces the overall structure of our day.

Morning: Classical Music

For example, I still listen to the CBC in the morning, but I switch to classical when school starts. When the classical music is playing, I find that I’m less distracted and I focus on my kids better. I like that the kids are exposed to wonderful music, and both my girls have told me that they enjoy it.

My first choice for music is CBC Radio 2, which runs the program Tempo every day from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The host Julie Nesrallah shares interesting tidbits of information before each piece of music, and I really do enjoy both the music and her stories. In fact, there have been several times that I’ve gone to switch the station back to Radio 1 when the kids aren’t home, and I find myself standing in front of the radio, unwilling to change the station because the music is just too beautiful.

Of course, there are days when I’m not comfortable with the radio playing at all. CBC Radio 2 still has regular news updates, and if the news is particularly frightening on any one day, I switch over to Spotify. Finding a good playlist is so easy on Spotify — I just pick a composer from the classical music section and we’re treated to their greatest hits.

Afternoon: Contemporary Music

As school wraps up in the afternoon, we switch from classical to other styles of music. Often, I let CBC Radio 2 handle this transition for me with the show Shift with Tom Allen; it starts out playing classical and then gradually moves to more contemporary styles of music. By the time I hear Arcade Fire or Mumford & Sons, I know that we’re done school for the day.

When we’re doing family chores, I like to switch the music to something more energetic. Spotify has some really fun playlists — I’m a fan of the Electro Swing one in particular. My kids usually pick a Disney playlist if I give them the choice, and I’d be fine with that if only they’d let me sing along at the top of my lungs. Bathrooms are more fun to clean when you’re singing along with the Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast.

You guys, can I just tangent* for a minute and say how much I LOVE Spotify? I asked you on my Facebook page a year or two ago if it was worth paying for a subscription given that you can just use it for free (with ads). Every single person that responded told me that they loved their subscription so I signed up for a trial and never looked back. I just pay by the year now.

I love that Spotify makes different playlists for me based on what I listen to most. I love that I can find custom playlists for pretty much anything. I love that there are separate playlists for Advent and for Christmastime and for Lent and for Easter. I love that there is a playlist called Folk for Kids — Charlotte Mason homeschoolers: you’ll want to bookmark that one. I love when companies like Memoria Press use Spotify to enhance their curriculum. I love that there was a playlist called Happy 90s and that every song on it made me feel so, so happy. And so, so old.

*Tangent. It’s a verb now. As of today.

Evening: Jazz Music

I keep the fun music on right until dinnertime, and then, when I remember, I switch the music over to jazz. This Jazz – Classical Crossover playlist here is a favourite.

Bedtime: Lullabies

Until recently, bedtime was cued with music too. I set my computer to automatically play the lullaby Stay Awake every night at 7:00. You probably know the song — it’s a cover of the song from Mary Poppins by the Innocence Mission (Now This Day Is Over). Every night when I heard the song play, I would remember to get Forrest ready for bed. I’m terrible with time, especially when I’m tired. Hearing the song was such a help, and far less annoying than an alarm.

Harbour had a song too: Always from the album Blink by Plumb. It’s quite possibly the sweetest mom-to-child song ever? I don’t know, the whole album is lovely, and Harbour loved that song in particular.

Stay Awake at 7:00 and Always at 8:00. The songs actually drove my family crazy, especially when they were watching Netflix and the music started up. I didn’t care though — I liked having an audible reminder to send the kids to bed, and I think it was a peaceful way to signal bedtime. I only stopped them recently because my computer is old and grumpy and the auto-tasks slowed it down too much.

Classical to contemporary to jazz to lullabies. I don’t know that my kids even realize that the music they hear in the background is intentional, but I believe that it affects them subconsciously. It also helps give that extra bit of structure to a day without making me feel bored myself.

Find more ways to add structure to your homeschool days each day this week with my contribution to the iHomeschool Network’s 5 Day Hopscotch: Five Laid-Back Ways to Add Structure to your Homeschool Days

---

Check out the rest of the iHN Hopscotch posts here…