Outline for February for Older Children: The Church of Jesus Christ and He Sent His Son
February. A new song. No...Two new songs.
The Church of Jesus Christ is slated of April, but I will use it in February in order to have a contrast with the mood and tempo of He Sent His Son.
But what about the songs from last month? Follow the Prophet also is a good contrast, so I will go back and forth between them, doing reviews of I Know That My Savior Loves Me. (Brain research shows that to stay in the memory, it is helpful to have a new experience with something previously learned. Heavenly Father teaches us like that- coming back around in a spiral - in so many ways.)
Some of the primary children already know He Sent His Son, but many don’t have as deep a connection with the song as they could with just a few different kinds of activities. (See the post from January 29th on Why you should teach this song even if your children already know it.)
The ideas below can be used any time in any order. Here is an outline of some of the activities I might use:
Week 1 -
He Sent His Son: Story Song
The Church of Jesus Christ: Maori SticksWeek 2 -
The Church of Jesus Christ: Concentration Matching Game
He Sent His Son: Paper Plates and Map
Week 3 -
Follow the Prophet: Rhythm Stick Pattern
I Know That My Savior Loves Me:Tone Bell Chords
Week 4 -
The Church of Jesus Christ: Body Rhythm Patterns and Partner Body Rhythm Patterns
He Sent His Son: Fill in the Word Moving Squares (I will detail each of those in a post.)
Notice the contrasts between not only the mood and beat of the songs, but the activities used to teach them. The flow of energy between each of the activities is different, which makes a wonderful flow to the entire Singing Time.
Notice the variety of activities used to teach the same song. Remember the brain craves variety, but desperately needs repetition with time in between each repetition.
Notice that each song has a movement activity for the kinesthetic learners. Remember that each child's brain is built to learn feelings and attitudes, thought processes, and brain connection by moving.Primary Music with variety, yet repetition, contrasting flow, and kinesthetic learning that reflects the mood and tempo of the song really is a great thing for brains!