Today's post is written by my church musician friend, Janis Maxwell. She's the Director of Youth Music Ministry and Organist at Athens First United Methodist in Athens, GA. I hope her thoughtful perspective on ministry encourages and blesses you in your work this season.

- Ashley

"Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing." - Psalm 100:2

As I reflect on the topic, “Why What We Are Doing Is Important”, this Bible verse pops into my head.

For some people, the word “curriculum” may denote academic rigor, standardized tests, detailed lesson plans, and lack of freedom and flexibility. Do we really need this level of planning and detail in our church choirs?

To a certain extent, yes. Here’s why: 

Curriculum can be defined a few different ways. My favorite definition is that curriculum is “the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process” (Kelly, 2009). 

Think of curriculum like a guide: a plan to help you do your best teaching and help promote meaningful learning experiences. Like I tell my students in Directing a Church Children's Choir 101, a curriculum is your basic framework for all the teaching and learning you hope will take place in your choir this year.

The church year (also known as the liturgical year and the Christian year) is made up of seasons and holy days that connect us to our faith history, the stories we read in the Bible, and Jesus’ life and ministry on earth.

The church year begins with Advent - a short season of waiting and preparation, beginning four Sundays before Christmas. After Advent, we have the season of Christmas, which begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for 12 days.

We celebrate the season of Epiphany, beginning January 6, remembering the journey of the magi and Jesus being revealed as the Savior of the world. The season of/after Epiphany is often considered Ordinary Time (based on the word “ordinal,” meaning measured or counted).

Transitions are a fact of life, but they can seem especially cumbersome and drawn out when working with a group of children. 

It takes time for everyone to come in and get settled.
It takes time to get everyone quiet and listening to directions.
It takes time to pass out instruments or other props.
It takes time to collect instruments or other props.
It takes time to move to another area of the room.

You get my point. And when your classes or rehearsals are only 30 minutes, the amount of time you spend transitioning from one thing to another can really add up.

Here’s a question: What if we could make these transition times musical? What if we could keep children engaged, listening, moving, and singing, even, as they transition from one activity to the next?

Today, I’m sharing 12 practical transition songs you can use in your children’s choir rehearsals.

Over the past month, or so, I’ve been putting together a few lists of what to teach when in children’s choir. Here are the links for the other posts in this series, in case you missed them:

What to Teach When: Younger Elementary (K-2nd grade)
What to Teach When: Older Elementary (3rd-5th grade)

Today, I’m going to talk about what to teach when in preschool choirs.

There’s no denying it: preschool choirs are pretty adorable. Watching them sing and do hand motions and wave to mom and dad is both sweet and heart-warming. But, if you’ve ever worked with preschool-age children, you know that leading a group of little singers each week takes a lot of thought, care, and intentional planning (and energy!).

Related Post: How to Create a Seamless, Joyful Experience for Your Preschool Choir

Preschool choir rehearsals often have lots of vocal exploration, steady beat movement activities, musical play (with instruments and story-telling), and lots of opportunities to experience musical contrasts: fast vs. slow, high vs. low, soft vs. loud, short vs. long.

A few weeks ago, I shared a “What to Teach When” post for Younger Elementary (read it here, in case you missed it!)

Today, I’m sharing the same type of post for Older Elementary singers. 

Here is a general list of musical skills and concepts you can teach to children in 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, and 5th Grade. Use this chart as a point of reference in your teaching, an outline of what to teach when, and a guide to what children at different ages may be capable of, developmentally and musically.

Like with Younger Elementary, remember that children are often capable of higher levels of learning and musicianship when surrounded by others who are a bit older and more experienced. If you have younger and older elementary children together in one group, you may be able to introduce things that are a level or two above the youngest members of your choir.

Have you ever wondered what’s developmentally appropriate for children in 1st grade versus 2nd grade, or what order you should teach things in? How soon should you start talking about things like steady beat or vowels or breath? When are children ready to sing in parts?

There aren’t hard-and-fast rules about this sort of thing in church choir settings, but I’ve put together a general list of musical skills and concepts for children in Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade, a group often referred to as Younger Elementary.

Use this chart as a point of reference in your teaching, an outline of what to teach when, and a guide to what children at different ages may be capable of, developmentally and musically.

A note for those of you with a combined choir: I know it can be a challenge sometimes to know what to teach when. How do you challenge your older children while not planning activities that are over the younger ones’ heads and keep everyone engaged and participating the whole time? Do you aim for the median grade level?

Growing a church music program is an important part of what we do as directors and leaders. In building a program, we’re building a place where people of all ages and walks of life can come and learn and grow. We’re creating a safe environment for them to explore and discover and feel loved and supported and encouraged.

Most of you likely inherited your church’s choir program and are building year to year on that foundation. Others of you might be starting from scratch—building a program from the ground up.

Either way, we’re always building, right? Trying new things, finding new things to offer, creating new opportunities for people to come and grow in their faith and knowledge of God, learn about music and develop musical skills, and find new ways to connect to worship.

Some of our biggest challenges as church musicians are recruiting people to be part of the ministry work we do and sustaining that ministry for years to come.

Sound familiar? If so, this post is for you!

Today, I’m sharing five effective tips and strategies for recruiting for your church ministry and outlining several things you can do to help sustain your ministry, now and in the future.

Sing this with me! (To the tune of “Oh, How I Love Jesus”)

Come and sing together,
Come and sing together,
Come and sing together,
It’s time to praise the Lord!

Clap your hands together,
Clap your hands together,
Clap your hands together,
It’s time to praise the Lord!

On the next verse, change the lyrics to add your own movement or hand motion idea! Better yet, ask a child in your class to suggest a motion, for example, “rub your hands together,” or “stomp your feet together.”

When I jump into preschool choir rehearsal or music class and see so many little eyes peering up at me in wonder, I realize I’m encountering a divine appointment.

Do you find it challenging to find time to plan exciting, thoughtful, musical rehearsals for your children’s choir every week? 

From finding relevant, good-quality resources to choosing age-appropriate songs and anthems to preparing, introducing, and properly sequencing new musical concepts and skills throughout the year, the job can seem overwhelming at times. 

Where do you find music and materials? How do you develop musicianship in young singers? What makes a rehearsal fun and productive?

If you can relate to any of this, then this course is for you.

This course is designed for children's choir directors in church settings.

Whether you're a full-time staff member or a dedicated volunteer, whether you have a music degree or not, whether you lead a small group of six singers on Wednesday nights or oversee a large graded choir program, this course will equip you to lead, teach, and inspire your young singers and give you the practical skills and useful step-by-step processes you need to plan, direct, and teach on a weekly basis, and grow your choir ministry.