How many songs do you still know from high school? The old band – cooler than ice cream in its day – revs up the radio and you’re right back, lyrics sure after all these years. Which is why Holistic Boy learns a lot of things through music. He had the optional challenge of memorizing the first 17 verses of Exodus 20 in the King James the past school year and so I went to work. After writing the melody, I found the perfect male baritone (for the voice of God), and recorded countless takes on the piano with Husband and Son on drums. The families in our homeschool community were given the best version to run at home. T and many of his homeschool friends learned it easily as we sang it a verse at a time in our weekly gatherings. The final stage presentation was open to anyone who wanted to perform it this spring, whether they had mastered it or not. Some who made Bible Master were too shy but I was so proud of the kids that night. We had five-year-olds up there. The 17th century diction and syntax were not easy but they got it.
1 And God spake all these words saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
A Holistic Journey 
Terrific!
Thanks. =)
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Thank you.
You’re very welcome!
Hey D,
How awesome!! God’s blessed you so much with talent and it is indeed wonderful to see you put it to such good use! Those kids and the CC community are lucky to have you!
J
Sent from my iPhone
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Wouldn’t say so much. I apparently have just enough to float T through school, ha ha ha. I’m sure you could do this yourself. =)
You rock, mama! Not an easy thing to do, but they did great!
Thanks, L. It was fun. And very rewarding when T started singing it even in the composing.
frankly I can’t remember too many from high school but thank God for youtube.
Ah — a lad who did not need love songs to cry with. You were either very well adjusted or somehow suffered no heartbreak. *grin*
What a wonderful thing you are doing exposing your child to moral principles. We need more like you in today’s world.
If only parenting were as easy as serving up “moral” text to memorize, Ian. How we live the rest of the time is everything.
Yes demonstrating those principles reinforces learning.
Freakin awesome
Heh heh. Grazie. Was fun through and through.
I must say I am glad I only had to learn 10 commandments. I think music is wonderful for helping with memory and those children are precious
I didn’t think of that. Yes, glad there was only 10!
Sure, the best way to learn something is to set it to music! Nicely done!
Or rhyme. 😉 (But in this case, I wasn’t allowed to rewrite the King James!)
Darn! Maybe next time!
Ha ha.
amazing work
Very sweet. Thank you. If only all work were so enjoyable!
Lovely! There is nothing quite as inspiring as hearing children sing. Thanks for making my day!
Thanks, A. It was a delight. And many of them learned it even without reinforcement at home.
I think the Ten Commandments was a great idea and it was stellar of you to be able to carry it to fruition. The kiddos were so cute and the video was a nice one. I can’t think of anything better to teach. I am impressed.
It was an optional challenge put forth in the curriculum. This Fall will be Ephesians. Thanks so much for following along, Yvonne. I hope our Danny is on his way.
Thanks Diana. He continues to make progress except for depression. Will be returning to psych MD for re-evaluation of meds on Wednesday.
Poor guy. Can’t blame him. Come on, Danny. Come on!! Let’s change the self-talk, buddy!! Wish we could cheer him up.
Yes, I wish you could too. Some days are better than others. I worked with him this afternoon on cognition and have him some pointers on how to remember things. It seemed to help as he did far better than he has in the past.
There’s nothing like the homeschool community, Diana! During my season, it was awesome to see how the “hidden” gifts and talents of the parents beautifully complimented their children. Good stuff!
I appreciate that, V. You touched on something meaningful and yes, many of the parents exercise their gifts so wonderfully to facilitate their kids’ learning. It gave me joy to be able to participate in that synergy.
Good job, D. I am afraid that ditties I learned as a kid weren’t nearly as edifying. –Curt
LOL. I actually rued something along that line, how I let so many silly, empty songs (ok, love songs) take up so much CPU space back then. And conversely, how much easier chemistry and history would’ve been if I’d done for myself what I’ve been doing for T!
It is interesting how music, and poetry for that matter, can help the memory, D. Peggy’s mom was a high school English teacher in Ohio back in the 60s. Her students can still recite the poems she had them learn. –C
Wonderful. Makes me feel good about what I’ve been doing with T. He’s been listening to poetry on audio for over a yr now. Thanks.
Sounds like a very special son, D. –Curt
There are still many songs that my memory connects with late teens… No religious ones though. 😉 Most of my religious education at school was rather boring, I have to say. We learned the 10 commandments (in a less complicated wording) out of pure fear of our teacher (who was also the priest at our local church, which says as lot about how I experienced religion back then). My later teachers in that subject were mostly boring and we made fun of them behind their backs, I have to say… Except for one, who was really cool and took us to see some trials at the local court – minor things, of course, no murder case 😉 but he wanted to show us how jurisdiction works, and we had quite a discussion about justice afterwards. But no songs 😉
Well, that was my point. Not that we replay religious songs from our youth – though some of us do – but those old snazzy, catchy tunes (pop, rock) are dormant until you hear them somewhere again. What a great teacher that was, taking you to see trials. No textbook can beat experience and personal observation.
Music is a powerful way to learn and can trigger memories. When I was still teaching (French), I used it a lot in the classroom; baroque and Mozart are particularly effective at tuning those brainwaves into a learning rhythm. And did you know that grammar points have their own theme songs? Take ‘Verbs will be friends’ (sometimes referred to as ‘Friends wil be friends’) by Queen …
The video is so cute and I loved the little girl on the front row, dancing, to the ten commandments 😊. The chunks of scripture I know by heart all come from the King James version, such beautiful, rich language, though I tend to read the NLT these days.
Exactly! (To everything you said.) Wish I had you for a teacher growing up, J. Your students were so fortunate. And yes, our curriculum’s taught T grammar points through song and I obtained some more jingles for him. Where I am not keen on a song, I rewrite it for him. We listen throughout the day, esp crevices of time where he can’t sit and do fine-motor work. The founder of our homeschool prog set the King James as the bar for this memory work for the beautiful language. If we don’t keep it going, it is sure to go extinct. No one will go out of his way to insist on kids’ learning it nowadays.
I’m not so sure all my students felt fortunate, certainly not all of the time 😀 I do hope that I helped build some positive memories, perhaps even contributed to a love of learning, in some lives. I’ll never know.
Eh. You might find out in Heaven. =)
Maybe 🙂
Too cute!
=) The littles who wanted to sing on stage were esp precious. Thanks.
💕
T and friends certainly look like they are having fun with the music and each other. If you have fun, I suppose that is what counts at end of the day. What songs do I know in high school? I remembered listening to a lot of Britney Spears and boybands. I sort of blended in with the crowd.
Oh, this is interesting because now we get into generations, how music belies the one you belong to. Britney was a little after my time, ha ha ha. Feeling old. And I appreciate the viewing, M. T loved the song. Thanks.
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Thank you. =) Glad you enjoyed.
Lovely and so original … you sound a great Mum keep going! (I loved Motown when I was growing up … )
Ha ha. Motown’s great. Thanks, M.
We don’t see you often enough. Glad to know what you’ve been doing…and it’s wonderful, D.
I don’t see myself often enough, V. I appreciate the sweet sentiment. I actually wrote the song last summer in preparation for the Fall and Winter, and the kids went on stage this past Spring. Appreciate the good word. Hope you’re enjoying your summer. Was 114 degrees in inland CA yesterday. We were dying…
Good job mom. 🙂
Great job, Diana.
You are a good and faithful servant of the Lord. You honor and glorify Him through the voices that He holds dearest; the little children.
-Alan
From the mouth of babes…Thank you, dear Alan.
Excellent method of attaching a melody to lyrics which one tries to memorize. I often make up lyrics that include the title of a movie, in order to remember the tune of the movie’s theme song. I’m also grateful to the various teachers– even in high school– who made us memorize selections of poetry or lines from various plays. Nice post.
Yes, I wish I’d been assigned more poetry memorization as a student. Thanks, L.
Didn’t they do well! 🙂 Great idea to help them memorise the words.
Thanks for sharing in this, Andrea.
The Ten Commandments… awesome or what? That’s a tough learn, but the children did very well.
I’ve written many scripture songs and they really do stick. It’s been years now, and I can usually just pick them up again where we once left off, be it years, or just a matter of months.
Right! Wonderful to know. =)
I ever tell you that you have a great cult following? lol 🙂
Huh. I’ve always wanted to run something. Not the business type so cult will do. =) I’m just glad they stick around when I fall off the grid.
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Thanks. Glad you liked.
What a terrific job they did! A great idea, executed perfectly. I bet those kids were thrilled.
We all had fun. =) My question is how long we can keep up the fun in the learning. Some things he will have to plow through, mostly on the strength of discipline. My only hope is he will be more mature to handle it by then. Thanks for sharing in this, Carol.
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Thank you.
OOOOPS ! I was typing a comment, and it disappeared. I hope it doesn’t duplicate. Apologies. So, here we go. This experience you write about, here, is awesome! The first word that came to mind is “synergy”, and I know there have to be better words, and you probably know several of them. What a great family you have. By the way, just a little fun fact for my family … we have been homeschooling from the beginning … So, I cheer for you! Have a good day, and the weekend is coming.
Awesome: how long have u been homeschooling, then?
There is something about music that captures our imagination, our hearts, and our souls! I co-taught a Bible study class for 13 – 20 month olds ( in BSF this past year) and we included hymn time. Even though the kids were too young to verbalize many words, they responded with their expressions and their bodies. Although I have no musical talent, I enjoyed hymn time the most!
Great job on the teachers’ and the kids’ part to connect with each other (and with God) by memorizing in the King James version and singing to share with the rest of us. 🙂
Very sweet!! Bravo to the choir.
I remember a lot of songs from high school. Also from grade school: “Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Doo-ter-aw-nuh-meee”
Ha ha ha. Excellent. You were a most receptive and attentive student. He knows the bks of the Bible, too.
Wonderful performance and message–thanks for sharing 🙂
Appreciate your taking the time, Crystal.
Loved listening to this. all of my grands are in CC and I have listened to so much singing of history! this is awesome for these children. I love it! Raising up Godly generations who know His word. Doesn’t get any better!
That is great they’re all in CC!! You have wise daughters and daughter-in-laws, ha ha ha. Thanks for listening, Ruth.
Amazing what can be learned when you make it fun. Brilliant!
Thanks, K. We still review time to time so all that work doesn’t fade into dusty forgetfulness. And not once does he complain. =) Was a fun enterprise for me, too.
How brilliant is this? The video is beautiful, and the concept is amazing. Those are plenty of words to learn, even as lyrics, for an adult, let alone little kids. Brava to you all Diana. 🙂
Thanks so much for the enthusiastic encouragement, Deb. Days I was tired, I made mistakes leading the weekly song! Funny thing, my boy got none of it wrong.
Xxx
D.
It’s amazing how much their little brains can retain. ❤ 🙂
adorable!!
Thank you. =)
Reblogged this on Truth Troubles: Why people hate the truths' of the real world.
Thank you. =)
Nice! 😀
Thanks.
Very cute video, and wonderful post! Thank you so much for liking my Captain America: Civil War movie review! I worked really hard on it, and I greatly appreciate your enjoying it! God bless you! =)
Appreciate your time. It was obvious TLC went into your post. If we don’t care about our subject and presentation, we shouldn’t expect anyone else to.
Happy Day 🙂
=)
Your video reminded me of my children when they were little as they were in a number of productions in a Christian school. It was a great idea to use music to help them memorize scripture. Enjoy these days. I know it is a lot of work but seeing your children serving and following the Lord in adulthood will be such a blessing! Thanks for liking a post on my blog ….myfavoritepasttimes.wordpress.com
Precious. Appreciate the encouragement. =)
Good classical conversation.
He loves it. And I am immensely grateful for it!
Oh.it is good.
Have you ever considered teaching him Bible stuff in context?
It’s really interesting to read the ancient Egyptian version of Psalms, for example, or read about Noah in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Not yet! =) What we call the Challenge Program (high school) is quite rigorous, with translations of Cicero, study of the original documents written by the Founding Fathers, rhetoric and the like. He’ll be able to get into cross-sectional studies like what you mention when he’s older. He’s not yet 9-and-a-half! But as regards context, he long since has begun pieceing it together, realizing Event A happened in tandem with B across the ocean.
OMG- adorable cuteness. I love reading about the way you taught him this song. It’s an interesting window into home schooling. Is this your latest post? This is the most recent date I could find.
Since my screen is open to this page and you ask, this is the most recent. Thanks. =)
https://holisticwayfarer.com/2016/07/30/my-wife-is-an-animal/
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
The kids did surprisingly well with their singing. Delightful.
Thank you. Very sweet.
The Book of Exodus — along with Genesis, Revelation, the Gospels and maybe one or two others (Romans? 1 Corinthians? Isaiah?) are to me the most important books in the Bible.
Romans is a must, of course. =)
Amen! I got my own Christian blog — and Romans is probably something that makes up the basis of lots of my theology.
Exodus, the Musical! Why not? You have the gift, sister. You should consider going pro. We need biblical stories in pop culture.
*Smile* Biblical stories are often butchered on stage. But thanks. =) It’s all I can do to keep afloat homeschooling.