In today's world you are more apt to hear the “Rockin' around the Christmas Tree” than “O Come, O Come Emanuel” or “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” at Christmastime. For our family, hearing and knowing the words of the English Christmas Hymns is even more of a challenge as we're surrounded by the Spanish language which, at least here in Southern Mexico, includes very few Christmas songs at all! This year, Hero and I have made it a point to teach our children Christmas hymns in English, and along with regularly playing CDs of the hymns in our home, we have found an invaluable resource in Kim Sorgius' Gloria, A Christmas Hymn Study.
I was SO excited when she published this a few weeks ago! It was just what we were looking for to reinforce the songs we wanted to teach to our kids!
About the Study:
Gloria, A Christmas Hymn Study is a 98 page printable study guide teaching the stories behind and around eight of the best Christmas hymns of all time:
For each hymn Kim includes a history of the author and the hymn, a copy of the music and lyrics (and often the penny whistle score as well) along with copywork, word searches, activities, note pages, coloring pages, internet searches and other fun stuff! It was written in a way that would work well as an independent study for a 3rd-5th grader, or a guided family study to include all ages of children. What's great is that each purchaser is granted permission to make unlimited copies of the study for their immediate family use, so you could use this again and again with your family throughout the years!
How we are using the Study:
I printed the activity and copywork pages and included them in a December notebook I put together for my children. We don't do “serious school” in December, but they like to stay busy. This was a great addition to their “school book” and they are enjoying it. I printed the entire book for myself, so I would have the histories and the teacher's notes as we go through it.
Our favorite so far was “O Little Town of Bethlehem” when we got to do the geography activities and following the links Kim provided, we thoroughly enjoyed the online virtual tour of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, said to be built over the exact spot where Mary and Joseph took shelter the night of Jesus' birth.
Our Reaction:
We have not been disappointed at all in this product! If anything I am more excited about it now than when I first heard of it! The activities really do give meaning and explain the meaning behind the beloved hymns of Christmas. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about the hymns or to any family looking to preserve the heritage of the Old Christmas Hymns in your home during the holidays.
Click the photo below to purchase Gloria, A Christmas Hymn Study on Kim's site Not Consumed.
