Teaching Singing to the Little Ones.
By Hope Ledyard
ALL primary teachers should be interested in singing; not only at Christmas time, when, all over the land, scholars are being drilled for the Christmas celebrations; nor only at anniversary time, when the little ones are expected to take part in the public exercises; but all the year round. It may not be inappropriate to give a few hints on how to teach singing to the very little ones. One great advantage of singing is that it needs so few "appliances." A good piano or organ, a blackboard, a large hymn roll, and an exquisite voice, are all delightful, but they are not essential. Some of the best teaching is done without them. You need only a correct ear, to be painstaking, and to love your work. Do not think that teaching singing is any less important than teaching the lesson. I grant you that it should never supersede or interrupt the lesson; but it is quite as much a work for God, and has as great an influence—with little children a greater influence—for good as the lesson teaching. If possible, teach the singing at a separate session; either in the afternoon, if your school meets in the morning, or on a week-day. Only one teacher is needed for a large number of children, for the singing, if interspersed, for little ones, with a march around the room, or some motion songs, does not tire them or make them restless. Get the co-operation of your pastor in your work. Let him know what hymns the children sing, and then the little ones will hear one of "their hymns" given out in church, and the sweet, childish voices will ring out, while eager little heads will twist and turn to see if they can catch "teacher’s eye." Now, as to the teaching. There are three kinds of children in every Sunday-school; the children that can sing, and delight in so doing; the children that can but don’t care to; and the children that cannot, but long to. If you devote yourself to the last class, you will carry the others along, though you will not have those touching and beautiful solo performances which do such infinite harm to the little performers. Little children should be taught hymns that tell the gospel story, that teach some lesson helpful in their every-day lives, or such as can be used as part of their morning and evening devotions. I know no better hymn to help the little folks to fight the arch-enemy than that one: "Yield not to temptation." Teach it to a hot-tempered little lad, and then, when he is in a perfect fury, take his flushed face between your hands, and, looking down into the angry eyes, sing the chorus softly. The effect is wonderful. "Glory to thee, my God, this night," is a hymn that every child should learn. I know of one case where this hymn, sung night after night by a little child after he was left alone, was the means of awakening a careless soul. In teaching a new hymn, it is best with little children to rouse their interest by talking to them and getting them to talk; sing the first verse to them, and then let them repeat the words of each line twice; they will not all have learned it perfectly, but enough will have been taught to begin the singing. That, too, must be a line at the time, and you must be thorough. Children enjoy doing a thing well, and if you are bright and good-tempered, and make them laugh a little at their own mistakes, they will enjoy thorough practice. Talk as you teach; tell a story about when you were little and learned hymns. Ask the boys to sing alone, and then call on two or three at a time. I do not advocate solo singing, for those who do it well do not need the encouragement, and those who lack confidence cannot sing alone, and grow discouraged. But get one little one with a true sweet voice to sing with half a dozen poor singers, and praise them all, without making any discrimination between the good and the poor singers; the poor ones will pluck up heart wonderfully, while the good singer is sure to appropriate all the praise she deserves—the good singers always do. Be careful the children understand what they sing, and for that reason teach them the words with regard to the punctuation. A very simple hymn sometimes becomes strangely twisted before it enters a child’s brain. My own little boy once said to me: "Mamma, baby’s a heavenly babe-u; just like Jesus, isn’t he?" I could not think what he meant; and, like all little ones, he was hurt and angry, and kept repeating: "A heavenly babe-u," with looks that said plainly I was very stupid. Suddenly I remembered. He had been learning that old carol, "Hark, the herald angels sing," and the music made the words of the second verse come in this way: "The . . . heavenly babe you . . . there shall find." So mind your stops! Be careful as to definitions. Mission children need every word explained. Do not spend your whole time on new songs. Children like to listen, and you can sometimes sing to them, letting them join in the chorus with very good effect, teaching them truths they might slur over if they were singing themselves. Do not despise the simple old favorites of childhood—"I have a Father," "Come to Jesus," and such like. These are such delightful plain sailing to children. Have you forgotten your one joy at being able to sing one of them "alone"? It is a good plan to form a choir in the school, letting the members sit near you, and help you lead. These need not be only good singers, some can be selected as models of attention. Then, get one of the older boys to turn your music if you use an instrument, and treat him as a gentleman assistant, and let two or three boys take charge of the books; you get hold of the boys in this way. Be careful to teach children, from the first, that they take God’s name in vain when they sing holy words thoughtlessly, that singing is worship or preaching. Let them regard their ability to sing as a gift from God for which they must give an account. Nothing will shield them more from the poisoned shafts of injudicious praise and fulsome flattery. Teach them that if a friend is sick, one of their Sunday-school hymns will do her good, that an aged person may be pleased by a little girl singing for her, and you give the children a new incentive to attend the practicings.—Hope Ledyard, in S. S. Times.