This isn't a picture of my son, but I love it so much because it reminds me of the look my two-year-old gets when we finish singing about "Little Boy David." Every time the giant "comes tumbling down," my son bursts into giggles. He doesn't really grasp all the nuances of the story told through the simple melody, acted out with our hands. He just knows it's great fun to sing it and make his arm fall down until his other one to make a loud clap at the end.
Each evening, as we gather to do Family Bible time, we ask each child to pick a song to sing that evening. When my daughter was about one and a half, she went through a phase where she only wanted to sing "Deep and Wide." She'd sung it in Vacation Bible School that summer, and it stuck. We sang that song almost every night for what felt like months. Right now, my son is constantly wanting to sing "Little Boy David" or "Fruits of the Spirit." My husband doesn't groan out loud (most nights), but I can see on his face that he'd like to sing almost anything but those songs AGAIN. And I know how he feels. We sing them anyway, though. Even though it's frustrating to not have more variety, it's also good for our kids, and we know this deep down inside. I heard somewhere that you have to repeat something thirty times to truly learn it, be it a habit or a fact you're trying to memorize. If you can repeat it in ways that use more than one sense, even better. So, singing these words over and over and over again with our children each evening might be frustrating, but it's also helping them learn. They may not fully understand what all the words mean, but when you've sung something so many times early on, later in life, when you need that knowledge, it's there. How do you help your children learn Bible stories and concepts? Have your kids ever gotten to where they only want to do one thing over and over and over again?
1 Comment
Alicia Haney
4/22/2019 10:28:22 am
I really think repeating is a Great way of learning, I know it is for me still at my age. Just like grownups, when we like a song, we want to hear it or sing it over and over again. When little ones do that they find the enjoyment of songs especially their favorite ones and they get to know what the song is telling them besides it being fun. God Bless you and your family Amy, it really sounds like you have an Awesome little family and it all begins with the parenting. Great Job Amy and hubby. :)
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This is a place for me to share thoughts and ideas not just related to writing. Thoughts about what's going on in my life, about an idea I got that I thought shareworthy, or just a funny anecdote.
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