Abingdon Press, 1994-1996.
Advertised as a "complete choir education program," this series offers Scripture-based anthems, choir lesson plans, and resources for teaching basic musical skills. The three-year curricula provides materials for four levels: pre-elementary, ages four through six; younger elementary, grades 1-3; combined elementary, grades 1-6; older elementary, grades 4-6. Materials for each level include a teacher book with thirty complete lesson plans; student books with activities for choir or Sunday school participants; a resource pack with visual teaching aids, worksheets, posters, and memorization charts; and a cassette tape for either helping inexperienced directors to learn the music or for accompanying rehearsals.
Anthem texts and lesson plans correspond with the Revised Common Lectionary and feature instruction not only in musical skills, but also in hymnody, the pattern of worship, and the Christian year. In fact, the primary goal of this curriculum is to prepare children for lifelong participation in the music of the church.
The major advantage of this program is its careful integration of lectionary texts, anthem texts, and rehearsal plans. Most of the anthems included in this series were commissioned to correspond with both specific age-level requirements and the biblical themes in the lectionary. Purchasers who use these anthems will benefit the most from this program.