Music for singing time for 2019 is now available! This material follows Come Follow Me for singing time.
Find the most current year’s curriculum HERE.
You can check it all out HERE.
There are now 3 suggested songs for each month! How wonderful! If you want to teach all 3, you can. If you want to focus on 1, you can! Options are so wonderful! You decide what works best for you and your primary and go from there.
Here are a few of my personal thoughts in order to try and fit it all in while keeping my sanity!
After discussing it with the primary presidency, I’ve chosen one of the suggested songs for the months January – September that will be presented at the program (the program is suggested to be in the last quarter of the year – my preference is the last Sunday in September even though I know that’s not in the 4th quarter!). I made my song choices for each month based on what our primary knows LEAST, (or that I’ve never taught before) in order to bring in more variety to singing time (my choices are below). I’ve also incorporated 1 hymn (1st verse only).
For the other 2 suggested songs, I will be treating them like an opening song that we’ll rotate singing every other week during that month. I would prefer that they are sung at the beginning of opening exercises, before the prayer if possible. But if not, I’ll sing them at the very beginning when I start singing time.
With this arrangement, I’ll still be able to keep up my current rotation of 2 weeks working on program songs, 1 week singing something seasonal or holiday (which a lot of times we need to prepare something to sing in sacrament meeting like on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Christmas, etc.) and 1 week to review the songs we’ve learned for the year. All while singing everything that has been suggested. It’s a win, win! You can find more information on my monthly scheduling HERE.
For our primary’s Christmas gift this December, I also create a CD with ALL of the suggested songs. See how I do that HERE. This way I’ll be able to get all the songs to the kids, helping them to sing them at home during the upcoming year.
September/October is typically program review time for most primaries so the suggested songs will most likely be treated as opening songs each week. Then November and December I’ll again sing the suggested songs as opening songs and teach seasonal the rest of the time.
To help you stay organized throughout the year, I’ve got a 2019 Planner and Scheduler HERE.
You can also check out my most recent monthly singing time schedule posts HERE that have detailed lesson plans for each week during the month.
Below, I’ve gone through some of the information and found relatable lesson plans throughout my blog, hoping it’s helpful. I’ve bolded and marked the songs with an (*) that I’m tentatively planning to teach for the 2019 program.
January
“Come, Follow Me,” Hymns, no. 116 – find my lesson plan HERE
“A Child’s Prayer,” Children’s Songbook, 12–13 – find my lesson plan HERE
“Jesus Once Was a Little Child,” Children’s Songbook, 55 – find my lesson plan HERE*
February
“Baptism,” Children’s Songbook, 100–101 – find my lesson plan HERE*
“I Will Follow God’s Plan,” Children’s Songbook, 164–65 – find my lesson plan HERE
“He Sent His Son,” Children’s Songbook, 34–35 – find my lesson plan HERE
March
“I’m Trying to Be like Jesus,” Children’s Songbook, 78–79 – find my lesson plan HERE
“Did You Think to Pray?” Hymns, no. 140 – find my lesson plan HERE
“Tell Me the Stories of Jesus,” Children’s Songbook, 57 – find my lesson plan HERE*
April
“Faith,” Children’s Songbook, 96–97 – find my lesson plan HERE
“I Feel My Savior’s Love,” Children’s Songbook, 74–75* – find my lesson plan HERE
“Jesus Has Risen,” Children’s Songbook, 70 – find my lesson plan HERE
May
“Keep the Commandments,” Children’s Songbook, 146–47 – find my lesson plan HERE*
“Families Can Be Together Forever,” Children’s Songbook, 188 – find my lesson plan HERE
“I Am a Child of God,” Children’s Songbook, 2–3 – find my lesson plan HERE
June
“Love One Another,” Children’s Songbook, 136–37 – find my lesson plan HERE
“Behold the Great Redeemer Die,” Hymns, no. 191 – find my lesson plan HERE
“Did Jesus Really Live Again?” – find my lesson plan HERE
July
“Stand for the Right,” Children’s Songbook, 159 – find my lesson plan HERE
“I’ll Walk with You,” Children’s Songbook, 140–41* – find my lesson plan HERE
“I Know My Father Lives,” Children’s Songbook, 5 – find my lesson plan HERE
August
“When I Am Baptized,” Children’s Songbook, 103 – find my lesson plan HERE
“The Holy Ghost,” Children’s Songbook, 105 – find my lesson plan HERE
“The Lord Gave Me a Temple,” Children’s Songbook, 153* – find my lesson plan HERE
September
“When We’re Helping,” Children’s Songbook, 198 – find my lesson plan HERE
“A Child’s Prayer,” Children’s Songbook, 12–13 – find my lesson plan HERE
“I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” Hymns, no. 136* – find my lesson plan HERE
October
“When He Comes Again,” Children’s Songbook, 82–83 – find my lesson plan HERE
“The Church of Jesus Christ,” Children’s Songbook, 77 – find my lesson plan HERE
“I Love to See the Temple,” Children’s Songbook, 95 – find my lesson plan HERE
November
“Search, Ponder, and Pray,” Children’s Songbook, 109 – find my lesson plan HERE
“Tell Me, Dear Lord,” Children’s Songbook, 176
“Kindness Begins with Me,” Children’s Songbook, 145
December
“My Heavenly Father Loves Me,” Children’s Songbook, 228–29 – find my lesson plan HERE
“Choose the Right Way,” Children’s Songbook, 160–61 – find my lesson plan HERE
“When I Am Baptized,” Children’s Songbook, 103 – find my lesson plan HERE
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I LOVE that I don’t have very many repeat songs that I’ve taught before! I’m on a mission to sing most of the Children’s Songbook before it gets changed!! And this will help SO SO much!!
If you want a complete list of all the songs found in the Come Follow Me primary curriculum, I’ve got a link posted HERE (a document posted by Allison on that post). But I did notice that each of the suggested songs for singing time correlate to Come Follow Me.
Okay, on to more suggestions found in the Instructions for Singing Time…there are activities suggested to help you teach doctrine as well as the music. I’ve gone through my blog and found a few activities where I’ve demonstrated those suggestions (or similar ones). For a complete list of my entire blog, check out my Song Index tab HERE and Review Activities tab HERE.
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Using Music to Teach Doctrine
Read related scriptures: For many of the songs in the Children’s Songbook and the hymnbook, references to related scriptures are listed. Help the children read some of these passages, and talk about how the scriptures are related to the song. You could also list a few scripture references on the board and invite the children to match each reference to a song or a verse from a song.
Fill in the blank: Write a verse of the song on the board with several key words missing. Then ask the children to sing the song, listening for the words that fill in the blanks. As they fill in each blank, discuss what gospel principles you learn from the missing words.
Quotations from Church leaders: Invite the children to listen to a quotation from a Church leader that teaches the same gospel principle as the Primary song. Ask them to raise their hand when they hear something that helps them understand the truth they are singing about. Ask them to share what they heard.
Testify: Bear brief testimony to the children of gospel truths found in the Primary song. Help the children understand that singing is one way they can bear testimony and feel the Spirit.
[I try to conclude every singing time with a BRIEF testimony of what I’ve been teaching]
Stand as a witness: Invite children to take turns standing and sharing what they learn from the song they are singing or how they feel about the truths taught in the song. Ask them how they feel as they sing the song, and help them identify the influence of the Holy Ghost.
Use pictures: Ask the children to help you find or create pictures that go with important words or phrases in the song. Invite them to share how the pictures relate to the song and what the song teaches. For example, if you are teaching the song “I Will Follow God’s Plan” (Children’s Songbook, 164–65), you could put pictures throughout the room depicting important words from the song (such as gift, heaven, home, earth, and birth). Ask the children to gather the pictures and hold them up in the correct order as you sing the song together.
Share an object lesson: You could use an object to inspire discussion about a song. For example, the song “Faith” (Children’s Songbook, 96–97) mentions a little seed. You could show the children a seed and talk about how we show faith when we plant a seed; this could lead to a discussion about ways we show faith in Jesus Christ, as described in the song.
Invite sharing of personal experiences: Help the children connect the principles taught in the song with experiences they have had with those principles. For example, before singing “I Love to See the Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 95), you could ask the children to raise their hands if they have seen a temple. Invite them to think as they sing about how they feel when they see a temple.
Ask questions: Ask the children to listen for answers to questions in song lyrics. This can lead to a discussion about the truths taught in the song. There are many questions you can ask as you sing songs. For example, you can ask the children what they learn from each verse in the song. You can also ask them to think of questions that the song answers.
Listen for answers: Ask the children to listen for answers to questions such as “who?” “what?” “where?” “when?” or “why?” For example, in the song “Baptism” (Children’s Songbook, 100–101), they could listen for who baptized Jesus and where, when, how, and why He was baptized. You could also ask the children to listen for key words or to count on their fingers how many times they sing a certain word.
Helping Children Learn and Remember Primary Songs
Children learn a song by hearing and singing it over and over again. Always sing the words of a new song to the children—don’t just read or recite them. This helps the children connect the melody to the words. After a song is taught, review it in a variety of fun ways throughout the year. Below are some ideas to help children learn and review songs:
Create posters: Display posters with the words from each verse or pictures that represent the words. As the children sing, cover up some of the words or pictures until they can sing the entire verse without the poster. You can also invite the children to help you create the posters.
Demonstrate the pitch: To help children learn the melody of a song, hold your hand in a horizontal position, and as you sing the words, move your hand up to indicate higher pitches and down to indicate lower pitches.
Echo: Invite the children to be your echo by repeating what you sing. Sing to the children a short phrase or a line, and then have them sing it back to you.
Use variation: Sing songs in a variety of ways, such as whispering, humming, clapping the beat, varying the tempo, or singing while sitting or standing. You could also make a cube out of paper and, on each side of the cube, write a different way to sing. Invite a child to roll the cube to decide how the children will sing the song.
Using Handbells in Primary (my FAVORITE!!)
Sing in groups: Give each class or individual one phrase to sing while standing, and then have them exchange phrases until each class or individual has had a turn singing each phrase.
Use hand actions: Invite the children to think of simple hand actions to help them remember the words and messages of a song. For example, when you sing the second verse of “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” (Children’s Songbook, 228–29), you could invite the children to point to their eyes, act like butterflies, and cup their hands behind their ears. Ask them to place their hands on their hearts as they sing “Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.”
Girls sing, boys sing: Draw a picture of a boy and a picture of a girl, and glue or tape the pictures onto separate sticks. While reviewing a song, hold up one of the pictures to indicate who should sing that part of the song.
Basket toss: Place numbered baskets or other containers at the front of the room—as many containers as there are verses of a particular song. Invite one of the children to toss a beanbag or crumpled piece of paper into or near a numbered container. Have the children sing the verse with the same number as the container.
Match a picture to a phrase: Write each line of a song on a different piece of paper, and find a picture that represents each line. Place the pictures on one side of the room and the papers on the other side. Sing the song, and ask the children to match the pictures to the words.
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This will be an exciting year with all the changes! I’ll be posting lesson plans for as many of the suggested songs as I can so stay tuned!!
12 thoughts on “Music for Singing Time 2019”
Your blog now has many advertisements. I am not sure if something has changed on my computer, or if you now have advertising for some reason??? Thanks for response. Danette
Hi Danette,
I've recently joined with an advertising company. What readers often don't realize is how much time, effort and money this space requires – and it's continuing to grow. I spend so many hours keeping up this blog that I had to justify time spent away from my family somehow. I also didn't want my website expenses coming out of my family budget. So it was either put up ads, start charging for my currently free printables or stop posting and take down my website. I thought advertisements to be the best option. I hope you are still able to find my content useful and navigate through the ads. Thank you for reaching out!
~Camille
Thanks, I thought that might be the case. Your content is worth it! Thanks,
You are so wonderful! Thank you for this post and all of the useful information linked in it. Thanks to you, I feel like I have a really good head start on next year's music. I am an avid follower of your blog and you have helped me countless times. Thank you for all of your time and effort! It does not go unnoticed!
I don't think I can do my calling with out your blog. Thank you for all your time and effort.
Thank you for all these wonderful suggestions! The ads don't bother me at all, I'm glad they can offset the cost a bit. Thank you!
Camille, my admiration for you just grows and grows! Thank you for the excellent content you always provide!
I have loved your ideas (and used them) for many years and am so grateful that you are so inspired and creative! I just wanted to let you know that a sister on the facebook page for ldsprimarymusic leaders has posted a file with even more possible songs for next year. She went through each lesson for next year and noted all songs that were suggested for the lesson. Of course, we don't have to use them all in singing time (just as we can use all or none of the suggested song on lds.org), but it will help us to support teachers if we know what they are teaching that week. Let me know if you can't find the file. It was posted. It's by Sister Allison Bitter – titled "Come Follow Me for Primary New Testament 2019 Song List.
Thank you for your blog! I don't know how I would do my calling without it!! ❤❤
Thank you for your time, effort and talents. You are a great help and inspiration to so many of us who would be struggling without your input. I am one who appreciates all that you do.
Thank you so much!
This is so helpful! Thank you for sharing all of this with us!