This month I desire most for my kids not to lose sight of the cross. Not to forget the empty tomb. In a world that is focused so entirely on everything other than Jesus, I want to impart to them the beauty of the good news. We will be listening to resurrection music this month. We will be reading the story of the Passover Lamb. We will be meditating on the love brought to earth and expressed in death. I invite you to join us.
The Gathering is such an ingrained and cherished part of our family culture that when I made the announcement this week that we only had one or two more days of March’s Gathering, there were groans of disappointment. These were followed quickly by reassurance that we would have new Gatherings next month. I just love the joy my kids have in Gathering.
If this is your first month of sharing the Gathering with your family: Welcome! I pray the Gathering placemats will be a support to you as you refresh, restart, or embark on a morning time routine with your kids. They are a stand alone blessing – morning time made as simple as placing them at a table and inviting attention to them; but I know extras are always a blessing, too! Those are here today, for you.
April 2020 Gathering
Get your copy of the April Gathering Placemats here in the shop. You can get this month’s set for FREE when you use the code: COV1D-Gathering. I pray these simple placemats will be a blessing to your family during this time. If you have questions about the Gathering, please read my FAQ.
April 2020 Gathering Extras
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As I mentioned at the top of this post, we will be working our way through the story of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection this month. I have been blessed with a vintage copy of Egermeier’s Bible Story Book which is a favorite for reading with my young ones. I cannot speak for any modern versions, but the stories are truly special. A little dose of Sunday school lessons each day for our kids.
Our family Bible verse this month will be taken from the Gathering placemats, Matthew 28:6. We have memorized this for Awana in the past and have found this song from Awana to be helpful in memorizing this verse.
On a decidedly more silly note: I am looking forward to singing the Simple Song with my kids this month! This is a favorite tune around here, but the challenge from the placemats will breathe freshness to it. I have been meaning to get around to creating a video with us singing the challenge, so stay tuned. If you need a little help with the tune, it is here. We are big fans of Super Simple Songs on YouTube. It is our go-to for after bathtime!
If your kids are interested in history, encourage their love of a good biography by picking up one of the Who Was books. This month’s biography mentions Napoleon. I listened to a Napoleon biography on Scribd earlier this year and I found him fascinating!
For kids who are into science and love to conduct experiments, check out this book of Physics experiments. Exploring heat flow is one of our favorite things right now. This may or may not be due to an extremely ear wormy song I made up to help us remember how heat flows.
April 2020 Gathering Playlist
I struggled to shorten this month’s Gathering Playlist, I really did! In fact, there are many songs on my heart this month that I want to share with my loved ones. But I kept it to these few. Still the this month’s playlist stretches its way into 50 minutes!! I guess we all have a little bit more leisure time this month. Enjoy!
This month’s hymn is “O Thou Who Camest From Above” by Charles Wesley. A song rarely recorded outside of a cathedral brings us choral music to start off the Gathering. I usually try to avoid choral music because (interestingly enough) I find it hard to distinguish the lyrics and sing along. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to this choral version of this hymn this month. The instrumental version is the one I prefer.
I wanted to share some worship music this month with a meditative quality. The two songs by Strahan are the songs I come back to so often, that I thought I would share them with you. My kids will be excited to hear such familiar refrains. I pray they bless you and yours, too.
The folk song for this month is one I hope to fall in love with over time. I honestly did not like many of the versions I found. I include these folk songs as part of the Ambleside Online suggestions and schedule. So, if they do not become favorites, I won’t be offended. I have noticed, however, that they often become among my favorites each month.
April 2020 Gathering Answers
Heads up, scrollers! Here are the answers you have been looking for!
Page 2: Instrument Study – this is a trumpet (sometimes called a coronet – depending on some details); it is a member of the brass family. A truly special instrument, played by some of the best ever: Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsallis.
To get a preview of some more music from Schumann (this month’s composer) and the trumpet, watch this video (another interesting trumpet configuration) and then listen to Schumann’s 1st symphony, “Spring”.
Page 6: Geography Drill – This country is Austria. The Alps are in the western part of the country and the Danube flows through its capital city Vienna.
Page 6: Who am I?: the answer is a pair of glasses.
