Author: Ann

Blessed to homeschool in rural east Texas. Two graduated, one to go!

Hymn Study Ideas and Resources

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The study of hymns is an interesting way to add music to your home school curriculum.  Hymn study can be made simple or detailed – tailored to fit your family.   Getting started with a hymn study is very simple.

*  Choose the number of hymns that you would like to study for the year.  Some families choose just one for the month, others like to focus on two or three at one time.  Perhaps you want to focus on the hymns of one particular author or follow a particular theme. You could select the hymns sung by church pioneers  or choose to learn  new hymns to add to your family’s worship repertoire.

* The elements of your hymn study do not always have to be the same.  There are so many elements to study:
Author of the hymn
Composer of the music
History of the tune if is a traditional tune
Scriptural reference that goes with the tune
Date and circumstances behind the hymn
The hymn as poetry
Memorize the hymn
Learn to play the hymn on whatever instrument you choose
Object lessons that the hymn may teach
Using the lyrics for handwriting practice/copy work
Listening to both instrumental and vocal versions of the hymn

*  Gather resources.  In addition to the church hymnals that are available through the Adventist Book Center, there are lots of other resources that are helpful to preparing a hymn study.

Adventist Book Center – Don’t forget there is a companion book to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal that gives background information for each hymn.  There is also Early Advent Singing, which includes a history and story about each hymn from early Adventist history.

The SDA Digital Hymnal website is a collection of midi files and other resources based on the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal.
TheCyber Hymnal website contains over 8,000 hymns.  It is an excellent hymn study resource with lots of author and composer biographies.

Hymns for Kid’s Heart features free sheet music as well as free mp3 files for a nice selection of hymns.  You can also purchase the full-featured book that includes author biographies and a devotional for each hymn.

The best free hymn study resource that I’ve found on the web is the Squidoo lens by  blogger and  homeschooling mom, Jimmie.  She shares some great free hymn study note booking pages that she created, as well as a web page full of good ideas.

Here is  a printable/downloadable .pdf  version of this post  to add to your notes:   Hymn Study pdf

Motivation Monday

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“The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and in God’s purpose they are indissolubly linked together. On this day more than on any other, it is possible for us to live the life of Eden. It was God’s plan for the members of the family to be associated in work and study, in worship and recreation, the father as priest of his household, and both father and mother as teachers and companions of their children. But the results of sin, having changed the conditions of life, to a great degree prevent this association. Often the father hardly sees the faces of his children throughout the week. He is almost wholly deprived of opportunity for companionship or instruction. But God’s love has set a limit to the demands of toil. Over the Sabbath He places His merciful hand. In His own day He preserves for the family opportunity for communion with Him, with nature, and with one another.”

Sons and Daughters of God, 181

Motivation Monday

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“Parents, teach your children that it is wrong to use God’s money in self-gratification…. Encourage them to save their pennies wherever possible, to be used in missionary work. They will gain rich experiences through the practice of self-denial, and such lessons will often keep them from acquiring habits of intemperance.”

The Youth’s Instructor  November, 1904

Motivation Monday

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“If any persons in the world need the strength and encouragement that religion gives, it is those who are responsible for the education and training of children. They cannot do their work in a manner acceptable to God while their daily example teaches those who look to them for guidance that they can live without God. If they educate their children to live for this life only, they will make no preparation for eternity. They will die as they have lived, without God, and parents will be called to account for the loss of their souls. Fathers, mothers, you need to seek God morning and evening at the family altar, that you may learn how to teach your children wisely, tenderly, lovingly.”

Child Guidance, 517

Inspiration For Toddler Activity Bags

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Looking for ideas for activity bags/boxes for the toddler/preschool set?  Here are a few ideas gleaned from Pinterest that I’m sure will inspire you to create hours of new learning experiences for your children.  Follow the source links at the bottom of each picture to learn more about each idea.

Busy Board – hands-on fun while improving fine motor skills.

 

 

 

Shape Sorting – inexpensive stickers can provide hours of productive fun

 

 

 

Twenty-Five Activity Ideas – includes a printable master supply list

Motivation Monday

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“Let every youth and every child be taught, not merely to solve imaginary problems, but to keep an accurate account of his own income and outgoes. Let him learn the right use of money by using it. Whether supplied by their parents or by their own earnings, let boys and girls learn to select and purchase their own clothing, their books, and other necessities; and by keeping an account of their expenses, they will learn, as they could learn in no other way, the value and the use of money.”

Counsels on Stewardship, 294.

Motivation Monday

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The mother should be the teacher, and home the school where every child receives his first lessons; and these lessons should include habits of industry. Mothers, let the little ones play in the open air; let them listen to the songs of the birds and learn the love of God as expressed in His beautiful works. Teach them simple lessons from the book of nature and the things about them; and as their minds expand, lessons from books may be added and firmly fixed in the memory. But let them also learn, even in their earliest years, to be useful. Train them to think that, as members of the household, they are to act an interested, helpful part in sharing the domestic burdens, and to seek healthful exercise in the performance of necessary home duties.

Fundamentals of Christian Education, 416, 417.