Way to teach hymns

[3girls4me]

Hi!

I am wondering if any of you have used any curriculum or books to teach the old hymns to your children.  I am hoping to set up a little area where we cover poetry, hymns, composers and artists and focus on one of each of these for about a month (probably Monday - poetry, Tuesday, hymns, etc.....). Then switch to a different one of each.   I have things set for all but the hymns.  I have heard that Hymns for a Kids Heart (Joni Eareckson Tada) is good, but they are pretty hard to find cheaply.  I have also heard of the Mr. Pipes series, but I am not sure those actually teach entire hymns and also don't have cd's with it.  Any good ideas?

Thanks!

[mmeblue]

Not a curriculum/book, but here's what we do: I print out the words to a hymn and sing it with my kids each morning.  We do a new one each week.  It's pretty easy to find lyrics online, and if you're not comfortable singing a cappella, you can also usually find a sound file with the tune online that you could use to sing along with.  (My denomination's website has all the hymns from our hymnal listed at http://www.opc.org/hymn.html?list_type=numerical , with lyrics and a piano accompaniment you can listen to.  But some of the hymns you're looking for may not be included or may be set to a different tune than you're used to, depending on what sort of church you attend.  I find it a great resource, though!)

 

I have DD read the name of the writer, the title of the tune, and the name of the composer.  We also spend a short time talking about what the lyrics mean; I usually let DD tell me a word she doesn't know the meaning of, and then I talk about that word and the verse it's in so she has the context to understand what she's singing.

[Lori D.]

We did go through 101 Hymns Stories over several years; that was our starting point. Mostly I picked especially powerful (theologically) or important and well-known hymns. We would do a hymn each morning for a week. We didn't do all of the hymns in that book -- I often picked a favorite from a hymnal, and we definitely repeated favorites and did hymns typically sung at certain times (Advent, Easter), at those times.

 

If we had something we could read to learn about the hymn and author, we would do that on the first day of the week, if it was a new hymn. And then we would just sing the hymn, using Cyber Hymnal website as the musical accompaniment and reading the lyrics for singing along. If the hymn was not on Cyber Hymnal, I did a google search for the hymn by "___title___, midi file" -- OR -- "____title___, youtube".

 

If there were more verses than what we wanted to do, I copy-pasted the 2-3 verses we wanted into a text document, bumped up the point size so all could see on the laptop, and we opened our daily morning Bible time with the hymn. We discovered several special favorites along the way. :)

 

Hope that helps! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Peaceful Isle]

We sing them in church, so my kiddos have been reared on them. :)

[happypamama]

Mr. Pipes has been great -- a mix of ones we knew and ones we didn't. He sometimes uses the whole hymn, and sometimes he references a part of it, but the whole thing is always included. It's worth taking the time to find them on youtube or somewhere.

[Gil]

Sorry, I spat out my drink. I read this title as "Way to reach hymens"...I was oh, so very confused.

[mom2bee]

Sorry, I spat out my drink. I read this title as "Way to reach hymens"...I was oh, so very confused.

Oddly enough, so did I. I didn't know the word 'hymn' so I had to look it up.

[73349]

Does your denomination have a bookstore? They may have materials designed for this. Even if it's meant for Sunday school classes, they'd surely let you buy it.

Edited October 29, 2022 by 73349

[Milknhoney]

Here's a vote for Hymns for a Kid's Heart. I bought the three that are in print. I don't know why you can't get volume 2 anymore; I'd buy it if it were available. I love them for the simple reason that the CD is geared towards children but the music isn't cheesy. If you have any kiddy hymn/worship CDs you know what I mean!! This music is traditional and classy. The content in the books is just a bonus. When the kids are a little older I know I'll want stories that have a little more depth, but for a simple introduction, these are perfect.

[LMD]

We started something very similar to what you describe this year.  I pick a hymn/composer/artist per month, and we do a little each morning, rotating through each item.  I don't use a curriculum, I just pick a hymn (usually with help from the list on AO or SCM), print out the words, we listen to it & sing along on YouTube.  I'd like to add in a short story about the history/circumstances of the hymn but haven't done it yet.

 

ETA - If you're interested, I wrote a little about it here: http://apassingnote.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/2014.html

[twoxcell]

We use the Hymns For a Kids Heart books. I also sometimes just download a hymn I want them to learn or find it online and then print out the words. We do the most with hymns in conjunction with Advent and Lent. I usually pick several to learn and sing as a family during those times.

[Chelli]

You can download all of the sheet music and the instrumental accompaniment for all of the Hymns for a Kid's Heart books from their website for free. 

 

That's what I do. Then we spend a few weeks learning the song.

[happypamama]

You can download all of the sheet music and the instrumental accompaniment for all of the Hymns for a Kid's Heart books from their website for free.

 

That's what I do. Then we spend a few weeks learning the song.

Thank you for mentioning this. We have one of those books but haven't looked at it much yet. DD is really into teaching herself to play the piano, using Synthesia and our keyboard; she will like being able to teach herself to play some hymns.

[Staceyshoe]

We used some free lesson plans from Practical Pages and a Faithbooking resource from Currclick.  Learning the stories behind how the hymns were developed and biographies of those involved led to powerful lessons and insights I had not anticipated.  The hymns became more meaningful, and my children's enthusiasm for worship increased.  We tried doing hymn study on a whim, and it's been one of the greatest homeschooling experiments for us.

[Rachel]

We sing more praise music than hymns at our church these days so our kids only learn some through church. We have a hymnal and sing our favorites with the kids at bedtime. If I can't remember how a melody goes I look for a video on YouTube.

 

My husband is the singer in the family so he's usually the one introducing them to the kids. We've taken the kids to the quarterly hymn sing at my in laws church too, they sing more traditional songs there.

[pehp]

Hi! I haven't read the other responses (no time!) but we learn hymns in our home learning environment! :)  I play the piano (poorly) and I choose a piece and we just sing it one stanza at at time.  In other words, learn the first stanza.  Maybe talk about what it means.  Once it is mastered, move on to the second stanza.  Ditto all the way through. My children love it when we sing hymns!  We have our church hymnal, but I use a very simple "Religious Favorites" James Bastien book that I played out of when I was a child.  It works for us!

[alisoncooks]

Interesting thread, thanks for starting it!

Our church is very contemporary and rarely uses hymns during worship.  I've been thinking lately that I want my girls to know some of those iconic hymns that I grew up singing.  I will be looking at some of the recommendations in this thread! :)