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Help -- Hymn Class Ideas!
Hey everyone,
I teach a hymn class at church to 2nd grade and under.
However it is not very organized, and me and my friend who do it are not too experienced so I was asking if you guys can advise me on how to make the class from fun, interesting, and beneficial. What we basically do is just teach the hymn and give them candy when they're good, and pray "Our father" before and after class.
I basically need ideas, such as activities, games, hymns to teach, maybe stories, teaching methods, wording to use when talking with them, when to reward them, how to make it organized, etc.
We taught them such hymns as:
-amen amen amen ton thanaton
-amen amen amen Your death
-Zoxa Patri
-Ni sherobim ceoosht emmok
I hope I can make the class better through your advice. Thanks!
I teach a hymn class at church to 2nd grade and under.
However it is not very organized, and me and my friend who do it are not too experienced so I was asking if you guys can advise me on how to make the class from fun, interesting, and beneficial. What we basically do is just teach the hymn and give them candy when they're good, and pray "Our father" before and after class.
I basically need ideas, such as activities, games, hymns to teach, maybe stories, teaching methods, wording to use when talking with them, when to reward them, how to make it organized, etc.
We taught them such hymns as:
-amen amen amen ton thanaton
-amen amen amen Your death
-Zoxa Patri
-Ni sherobim ceoosht emmok
I hope I can make the class better through your advice. Thanks!
Comments
and maybe reward with lovely pictures to colour in and less candy.
a 4 yr old in my last church wanted to donate money to the church so 'Jesus will give me sweets'.
ok, it was great that he wanted to give away his pocket money, but i worry we are teaching kids the wrong theology.
tell them that we 'sing and make melody in our hearts' to the Lord and so learning the hymns will give us good words and tunes that keep going around our head in the place of lots of junk (like angry songs or bad thoughts) that we sometimes have in our heads.
give them personal examples of when you were thinking something naughty or angry and u remembered the words of a hymn or psalm and it cheered you up.
then sing as if Jesus is right there in the room with u (coz He is) and give Him all the glory.
Btw, I'm no sure what you mean with the hymns replace bad thoughts part because they're only 2nd grade and under, most of whom are kindergarten and 1st grade. I hope you can help me out on this part. :)
Also, I would LOVE to hear more of your advice.
Do you have any hymn ideas for this grade level too?
i have helped out a little with sunday school since i became orthodox, but have moved house too many times to do this regularly. but i make time to hang out with kids to help me to remember what it is like to be a kid.
children can understand quite difficult concepts if you put them in kid's language and make them practically relevant to kids.
e.g. don't say 'love your neighbour' but 'God loves the people you meet just as much as He loves you. so you should be nice to other people because that will make God happy'.
so ask the kids if anyone ever got angry with someone. if they did, ask if anyone ever thought of something bad to do and then decided not to do it.
ask how and why they decided not to do it, and then you can talk to them about how to deal with bad thoughts and get rid of them.
but... kids will only open up if u r not threatening. so make sure you are on the same level as them.
that's why i suggested you give an example of yourself, so they see in your life how God helps you. then they will be very encouraged.
if u spend half the time in the class explaining why we sing hymns and half the time in the class teaching the hymns, you will have a group who knows half as many hymns, but who sings them from the heart.
:)
may God guide you.
Sorry but I understand the bad thought part now, but since this is hymn class, how can I incorporate that into the bad thought part. Getting rid of such thoughts sounds like part of Sunday School not hymns class.
Thanks again!
So maybe you can tell them that the devil can give us bad or distracting thoughts to disturb us or stop us from praying/ praising God. So then, we have to always try to concentrate on the hymn (the words, tune, etc..)
Just my 2 cents worth... though am not to sure it would be applicable to kids in kindergarden.
P.s. i like Mabsoota's suggestions ;D
That was great advice for me! lol. But I don't think that would work out well with such young ones. Do you have any teaching methods, hymn ideas, or ways to treat them?
I teach a similar class in my church but for 3rd 4th and 5th graders and I've learned over the years a few methods on how to have a successful class.
You need to always keep the class focused- even though you might be teaching a younger age alhan, it is crucial for you to prepare for it more that an advanced hymns class teacher would for their class because younger children can tell almost instantly tell if you are prepared for class or not and this is where they make their decision whether it is worth it to focus or not. If you have prepared your lesson for that day and carry it out perfectly, then you can guarantee they won't find any room to lose focus or tune out.
A way to keep them engaged is to have a mini recital at the end of the class, tell them 'every 2 kids will be reciting the hymns we learned today with me and will be getting candy if they say it correctly!' and obviously give them candy, or pictures as mabsoota mention, regardless to encourage them. Also, you can teach them a saints story during every class. It would help them stay focused just in case they lost focus because the hymns was taking too long.
I think the most amazing way to make the class fun is to go on a little field trip, if you will, to the church itself! So for example I teach hymns class downstairs in the basement and I have taken my class upstairs to the church a few times and taught them about the iconostasis, the respect of the altar, katamaros, how to act as a deacon or as someone in the congragation, etc. Every last child was on their best behavior, completely focused as they learned things they've never learned before. Don't forget that hymns classes is not only about teaching a tune and that's it. You're teaching the kids how to glorify God and how to use these praises and hymns to Glorify God and to know Him, which is essentially the first step of learned Theology.
My FoC once told me that Theology is delivered and understood more clearly in Hymns classes than in Sunday school. And every since he told me this, i've been seeing it more and more. And this is what you have to do- Make sure they see the Love of Christ in you, in the way you teach, and in your service as a whole.
The Hymns you have taught so far is at the right level for that age. I would also include smaller Liturgy responses such as the many Amen's, 'This is also true, Amen', etc.
God bless your service and reward you a hundred fold. Pray for me!
GM
little kids love a guided tour of the church (even 2 and 3 year olds like being held up to see the icons etc).
:)
A tour sounds like a great idea! but that won't work because the church is kind of small and is being used the whole time. Moving 30-50 kids anywhere will cause chaos. But actually i really love that idea!
Everything else is great advice! I forwarded it all to my friend! :)
Sorry for all the questions but one of the biggest obstacle in the class is control. My friend and I are around 16-18 years old and the kids are mostly kindergarten. There are more than 30 children. On one day, we've had almost 60. It's very difficult to control them (talking, playing, standing up, moving around, angering each other, crying, bathroom, I want mom, etc.) Especially at this young age, we feel like we're holding a daycare.
Do you have any tips on stopping kids from talking, maybe shouting at the class, or keeping them all quiet and attentive?
Thanks so much for all the advice!
Oh we sometimes do the recital thing.
A tour sounds like a great idea! but that won't work because the church is kind of small and is being used the whole time. Moving 30-50 kids anywhere will cause chaos. But actually i really love that idea!
Everything else is great advice! I forwarded it all to my friend! :)
Sorry for all the questions but one of the biggest obstacle in the class is control. My friend and I are around 16-18 years old and the kids are mostly kindergarten. There are more than 30 children. On one day, we've had almost 60. It's very difficult to control them (talking, playing, standing up, moving around, angering each other, crying, bathroom, I want mom, etc.) Especially at this young age, we feel like we're holding a daycare.
Do you have any tips on stopping kids from talking, maybe shouting at the class, or keeping them all quiet and attentive?
Thanks so much for all the advice!
Actually my Sunday school servant does something kind of weird/funny in a way - but it works (But this is high school so I don't know if it'll work for kindergarten.)
My Sunday school servant goes to the front of the class about to give the lesson then waits until we're quiet while putting three fingers up then makes the sign of the cross (And he use to have to lecture us and tell us the first few times - but we got the message.)
It is basically "hot potato" with a hymn. So e.g. I start Taishori (Ta ---- - - - - - - ) and then I point to someone else and they pick up where I left off. It was fun. I remember abouna was walking by and stopped to watch us, I pointed to him and he blew it! We all started cracking up (the hymn was Ke Eperto).
Boys never won. :P
:o
that's not sunday school, that's a farm.
that's really crazy.
please ask for at least 1 adult for every 10 kids.
ideally get them into smaller groups.
-2 teachers and 40 kids in 1 room
-1 teacher with 20 kids in 1 room, another teacher with 20 kids in another room
[quote author=TITL link=topic=12472.msg146294#msg146294 date=1319118939]
When I was little, my hymns teacher had the boys sit on one side and the girls on the oppsite side. At the end of every class, he'd have the boys recite the hymn, then the girls recite it. The louder, more correct group got ice-cream!
Boys never won. :P
TITL I do the boys vs. girls thing lol. They start screaming to beat each other. At the end, we always say that they were both good. Would it be wrong to say that one specific group won, or would it motivate them? If it would motivate them, then I'll just start honestly picking winners! :)
Also do you have any other ideas to do in class?
Thanks soo much everyone. These are really helpful.
of course the kids won't pay attention. kids this small need more individual attention, 2 teachers is not enough. so u need 1 more experienced teacher and 3 helpers. the helpers can be from the mums and dads if u don't have someone special to do this.
i, personally, would cancel the class if i couldn't get enough helpers to do it properly. it's just not treating the children with respect to push them all into a big group like a flock of sheep. they are not sheep, they need more than just to nibble a bit of grass.
also if yr church is big enough to have 40 5 year olds, u probably need to split into 2 or 3 churches, each serving a different area of the city (if it is big) or in different towns if they are small. that way u can reach out to more of the ordinary americans/canadians etc. around u (sorry i don't know what country u r in).
but this is a different topic, so i won't say more about this.
my last church (which i had to leave :'( as i moved house very far away) had usually 3 teachers for the 4 - 6 year old group and around 10 to 15 children. the children were very happy and always stayed late to ask the teachers more questions and chat with them.
in my new church, they have lots of rooms, so i don't yet know how the sunday school and hymns classes work, i have just joined them recently and i have not seen the children's classes.
also a big part of serving children is visiting them at home. are there church servants who do this in your church? maybe they can help you by giving your specific advice about the specific needs of the children in your class.
may God guide you, and give you wisdom about how to approach this issue.
:)
The children are around 5 years old yes. You probably aren't able to picture 40 5-year olds too well lol because they are really small. I understand 40 sounds like a huge number, but its basically this: (approximation)
20 boys in 1 side and 20 girls on the other side.
5 rows of 4 (very little and young) children on each side.
It's actually much smaller than you think. It's manageable.
Anyway, we've managed to control them and teach them around 5 hymns. The reason I ask for help in control is that maybe if we learn "HOW" to control them, then they would learn quicker. Nevertheless 90% of them manage to learn a good deal of the hymn.
Mabsoota can you teach me ways to manage them better? For example, when we teach and the following occurs, what can I do in such common situations? Sorry I'm amateur lol.
(1.) 5 of them ask to go to the bathroom.
(2.) 2 begin to fight or get angry at each other.
(3.) Some aren't attentive and just play around. <--very common
(4.) One of them takes out a toy.
(5.) One of them comes into class w/ food/drinks.
(6.) Few get angry for not getting candy although they are singing.
(7.) Crisis situations in which the whole class suddenly begins talking to each other.
I would really appreciate it if someone can advise me on how to deal with any of the above situations. Thanks everyone!!
Hey Mabsoota,
The children are around 5 years old yes. You probably aren't able to picture 40 5-year olds too well lol because they are really small. I understand 40 sounds like a huge number, but its basically this: (approximation)
20 boys in 1 side and 20 girls on the other side.
5 rows of 4 (very little and young) children on each side.
It's actually much smaller than you think. It's manageable.
Anyway, we've managed to control them and teach them around 5 hymns. The reason I ask for help in control is that maybe if we learn "HOW" to control them, then they would learn quicker. Nevertheless 90% of them manage to learn a good deal of the hymn.
Mabsoota can you teach me ways to manage them better? For example, when we teach and the following occurs, what can I do in such common situations? Sorry I'm amateur lol.
(1.) 5 of them ask to go to the bathroom.
My Hymns class teachers don't let anyone leave except in the end & middle break where everyone HAS TO BE BACK by the five minutes
(2.) 2 begin to fight or get angry at each other.
There still kids - seperate them/give them time out/both + they have to sing the hymn by themselves/give them no candy, etc.
(3.) Some aren't attentive and just play around. <--very common
Make them sing the hymn by themselves/bring them to the front of the class/tell there parents.
(4.) One of them takes out a toy.
Take it up and give it back at the end of the class IF THEY BEHAVE - otherwise just give it to there parents after class.
(5.) One of them comes into class w/ food/drinks.
We're not allowed to have food/drinks in the Sunday school building - so my suggestion is just take it up and give it back after class/make them finish it fast.
(6.) Few get angry for not getting candy although they are singing.
Give them a candy if they were singing.
(7.) Crisis situations in which the whole class suddenly begins talking to each other.
Knock on the board/turn off and on the lights/the stay after class every minute they waste/yell "HEY"
I would really appreciate it if someone can advise me on how to deal with any of the above situations. Thanks everyone!!
I just put what my hymns teacher did for us in middle school in bold in the quotes(I can't remember before that to be honest.)
I just forwarded that ^^^ To my friend!!! We're going to make that our class's Code of Conduct!