Using Competitions or Rebus to teach (Picture of an eye=I), music, lesson, reading

[Jenny SmithParticipant]

We’ve been counselled to avoid using a rebus (using a picture of a word that sounds or seems the same to represent a different word, ie, a picture of an eye to represent the personal pronoun “I”) when teaching children music:

Quote:

Are some teaching aids more appropriate than others in teaching children spiritual concepts?

by Daryl V. Hoole, Primary General Board.

Primary leaders Church-wide prepare prayerfully and carefully to teach and lead in ways that will be for the good of the children. However, well-meaning leaders and teachers sometimes employ teaching methods that are not in the children’s best interests. Among these methods can be the inappropriate use of some types of memory aids and the improper use of competition.

Memory Aids

I find that memory aids are appropriate when used with wisdom and propriety, but they can also be misused and confuse children or cheapen sacred things. For example, when we want children to think of the gift of the Holy Ghost, we do not want them to visualize a wrapped present.

Another method that I think is frequently misused in teaching Primary songs is the use of rebus symbols–pictures that suggest syllables or words in a phrase. The following are examples of rebus I find misleading: a head of lettuce and an iron depicting the words let us all press on; a picture of a bee and a leaf for the word believe; a spear being thrust into an object for “spear-it” (spirit)

[Jenny SmithParticipant]

Here is a related article Random Sampler, 1998 April Ensign

[Author]

Posts