"Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand,
and give thee answer to thy prayers" (D&C 112:10).
"A Child's Prayer" has been one of my favorites. I've always liked having the children sing the first verse since it is as if a child is asking the questions and expressing his or her feelings. The second verse I prefer the
teachers/adults to sing since it has to do with answering the child's questions. Last year I had worked a little bit on this song throughout the year (little did I know it was going to be in this year's program) and it always gave me goose bumps as I felt the spirit through the children's sweet voices.
Sometimes it can be hard teaching children how to do duets. Heck, it can be hard for me because I just want to start singing the other person's part when I hear them in between singing my part and before I know it, I'm mixing the song up between the different parts. Sigh!!! Teachers can have a difficult time at it too I've found. Anyway, one way I found very helpful in learning a song with parts, especially if they haven't had much experience singing parts, is to split them up—one group on one side of the room and the other group on the other side. This helps them focus and hear their part better as they are learning the song, yet you still get the duet affect. Besides, it is something a little different to do than the usual singing in their seats. After they get the song down, then they have a much easier time singing the parts all together in their seats.
I originally started doing a flip chart way back when I wanted to teach this song, but decided against it. I felt it would be too difficult to deal with while singing especially when I physically separated them into groups across the room as well as when they sang their parts together—how would I handle two flip charts at the same time? Of course, I could use my magnetic sheet protectors and post them all on the board, which I like to usually do with flip charts as we are learning the song, but I really wanted something more simple for this song. So I did a poster-type version.
This is sized for an 11" x 17" sized paper. You can have it printed at a copy center if you don't have access to a printer that prints this size. Make sure to have it printed on card stock and not regular weight paper. The heavier card stock will help make it more durable and less flimsy. Then just tape each verse together in order butting up the bottom of the first one to the top of the second section and so on. This way you can fold it up at the taped seams for easier storage. This poster makes it easy to hold each verse up or even post on the board if you like. I usually have a helper for each group hold their verse up for their group. The first verse is in black text and the second verse is in red to help differentiate the verses. Sorry for the bad lighting on the pictures. It's late and I didn't have a good place to take them. Last minute thing you see.
I was going to still try and get the flip chart version done that I started a couple of years ago for those who may still prefer that format, but I was just asked tonight to sub in singing time this Sunday {{{YEAH!!!}}} and I'm going to be very busy with work and other activities this weekend and still have to somehow find time to figure out and prepare what to do for singing time. If I do find some time to finish up the flip chart and post it, I will. But as I said, this poster version has been very easy to use in teaching this song.
A Childs Prayer—Poster-Nalani by
nbirdhouse
