It just started as an idea. I shared my idea with my eldest child and he liked it. He liked it so much that he got to work right away.

I love listening to music while I’m cooking and relaxing over a cup of hot chocolate or tea after a long and stressful day or in the middle of a stressful and tiring day.

During the Ber months, I like listening to relaxing and uplifting Christmas music using our Echo devices or via the Alexa app.

One day last month (mid-September), I thought that instead of listening to songs performed by artists on Spotify or Apple Music, why not listen to the songs performed by my eldest child who is a musician also? Instead of paying other artists, I thought of paying him instead.

So, I shared my idea with him and my husband. They liked it. We got excited and brainstormed about it immediately. We even came up with an album title right away. Christmas Hymns for Him. That’s the title of the album. It will be a compilation of Christmas Hymns that will remind people that Jesus is the reason for the season of Christmas. the songs will be centered on Him. We started making plans.

Then, my son started experimenting and recording. As of today, he has released 4 singles so far! That was fast!

Let me backtrack a bit.

How did we do it step by step?

When my eldest son, who is officially a teenager already, liked the idea and accepted the challenge of recording his performances and making them available on Spotify, we wasted no time and brainstormed on what songs he will record and include in his debut album.

I suggested that he makes a Christmas album since it’s already the start of the Ber months and people like listening to Christmas music already during this time. Also, he has done something similar before. He also planned and recorded Christmas songs years ago (3 years ago before the pandemic started); but, we didn’t get to release those songs or that album. Looking back, I realized that it was not yet the right time.

I suggested that we choose really old songs that are no longer under copyright so we don’t need to pay anymore. We researched the oldest Christmas hymns or carols.

Next, we checked which of these old Christmas hymns and carols he already knows how to play on the piano. Aside from asking him, one of the easiest ways to check this is by looking at the songs on his YouTube channel. I did my best to document the songs he has learned and performed through the years and to compile them on his YouTube channel Yanthy’s Music. I even made a playlist for Christmas songs that he has performed and uploaded so far on his YouTube channel.

Then, I suggested that we narrow the list first to slower and more relaxing songs. The relaxing Christmas hymns will be part of his 1st music album. The faster, more upbeat Christmas songs will be part of his 2nd album.

Unlike our plan 3 years ago to simply record Christmas songs that he knew how to play on the piano, my husband suggested that our son Yanthy puts his own style into these songs.

Initially, I just wanted my husband and son to review and improve the Christmas songs they recorded 3 years ago. But my husband said that it is better for Yanthy to record again because he has improved a lot in terms of skill in playing the piano in the past 3 years. I agreed.

And so, we challenged him to make his own musical arrangement of these songs.

Why did we do that?

We gave him this challenge because we know that he can rise to the challenge. He likes to improvise and put his own twists or unique style in the songs that he plays on the piano. I think it bores him to simply play the songs as is from the music sheet or the chords given. He started doing this even while he was still a little boy and was still quite new to playing the piano. He was a fast learner with a wild imagination!

And because he was homeschooled using the child-led, interest-led, project-based, unschooling, and progressive approach, he had plenty of time to explore, experiment, and use his imagination!

After a couple of hours or so of more structured homeschool lessons, he would spend the afternoons and evenings playing.

He would play pretend. I remember, when he was around 7 years old, he wore his tuxedo and pretended that he was having a Christmas piano concert. He played some Christmas songs and I recorded videos of him. You can watch those videos here, here, here and here.

He would play the piano on his own any time he wanted to and play Name That Tune with his brothers or with the whole family wherein he is the pianist playing parts of a song and we guess the song titles. To make the songs not easily recognizable, he would play the songs differently . . . to my dismay. hahaha I am not as musically gifted as my husband and children. Thus, I find it really challenging to guess the song titles right when my eldest son does this.

I also remember one of the pianists in our parish telling me years ago that she admires Yanthy as a pianist because he gives the songs that he plays his own flavor or unique style.

He really can’t help it. I overheard one of his piano teachers explaining to him before that he cannot change the way classical music is played. But he can modify other pieces of music.

Then, there was also a time when his very first piano mentor and teacher advised him to keep his piano playing simple when serving in the Mass so that the congregation can easily sing with him as he serves as accompanist. My husband and I told him then that he can keep his piano playing in church simple and reserve his more complicated and elaborate piano playing during performances, recitals, and shows.

With this project, he can let his imagination soar and his musical genius loose.

Why do it now?

I thought that this project is timely for him, not only because it’s the start of the Ber months, but because he can make this a milestone project for his first year as a teenager. I thought that maybe, he can release a few singles while he is still 13 years old. Then finish the rest of the songs for the album within the month of October, his birthday month.

I know that it’s quite a short time. But, I know my son’s capabilities well.

Thus, I was not surprised when he was able to record many versions of the first 5 songs on our list. From those recordings, we were able to choose the 5 best versions.

I love that we have the freedom to do this now because we are homeschooling with an open curriculum. We can make this our homeschool project for this school year. I really want his high school years to be an opportunity for him to explore possibilities for him. having this as one of his homeschool projects would enable him to have a glimpse or taste of the life of a musician or recording artist. If he likes it, then, he can opt to pursue a career in performing arts or music in the future. this kind of project and experience can help him decide on what course to take in college.

How did we help him?

To help him in this project, I got him a coach/mentor who has been making musical arrangements also. We’re blessed because I have a friend from the UP College of Music who is doing this kind of work. I set up and scheduled online coaching and mentoring classes for him with my friend.

With the help of my friend and with guidance from my husband and me, Yanthy continued working on his musical arrangements.

Then, I asked for help from some of our friends and his godparents. I asked them to be the “beta-testers” or the group that will be the first to listen to Yanthy’s experiments. We asked for their feedback or input.

We suggested that he makes an Excel sheet to help him organize his thoughts, plans for each song in his album, feedback from his “beta-testers”, and expenses.

With their comments and suggestions, we were able to come up with the 5 best versions that Yanthy is happy and proud to release to the public.

The very first single that was released was Silent Night. It was released first on Apple Music.

Then, it was released on Amazon Music, YouTube Music and eventually on Spotify.

It was also released on many other music platforms.

I will write another blog post to detail how we did it and where his songs can be listened to. Watch out for that post!

Yanthy’s second single was O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. The third was O Come, All Ye Faithful. The fourth was Away in a Manger.

As of this writing, all 4 singles are on Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and Spotify!

We hope to release one more single before my son’s birthday this month. The title of his fifth single is What Child is This?

Follow Yanthy on his Facebook Page (Yanthy) to get updates and on your music platform of choice where he released his singles.

I’m so happy for him! I’m also very proud of what he has accomplished at such a young age!

I knew in my heart that he could rise to the challenge and that he could make his 13th year a milestone year just like his 7th year.

If you are new to my blog, you probably do not know that Yanthy had his first solo piano concert when he was 7 years old and he also served as a church pianist officially when he turned 7. It was also around the time of his birthday and it was his idea, not mine. You may read about it here and here.

My prayer for Yanthy now is that God would pour a double portion of His Holy Spirit upon him so that Yanthy would be inspired and equipped to finish the rest of the 5 remaining songs for his upcoming album. I pray that God would continue to provide for all his needs to complete this project and that His name would be glorified through Yanthy’s music.

I pray that through this album, many people would be reminded that Jesus is the reason why we celebrate Christmas and that He deserves our worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

Thus, we offer this homeschool project of Yanthy to Him who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! To God be the glory!

Do you also have a homeschooler who is in high school or in unschooling and you want to try these approaches that we use in homeschooling our children? Contact me or check out my coaching packages here. I’d be happy to help you.