Big Chunk Memorization

Memorization has escaped us so far this year. Oh! The guilt! I dragged out our Memorization Boxes from last year but was faced with working on two sets of memory verses, with two very different children. We gave it a try. It wasn't happening.

As I've strained and prayed to get a hold of my wits today (as much as one can with a head cold!) I thought of my dear Charlotte (Charlotte Mason!! :)) and realized there was a much simpler and more profitable solution. The objective of memorization--as with anything else we attempt--is threefold.

1. That God be glorified in all we do.
2. That we know Him better.
3. That we abide in Him every step of the way.

Today, for us, that means "Big Chunk Memorization!" We've done lots of this before, so it's not new to us. It will be the first time we are all three memorizing something new together. It wasn't hard to choose a passage either. The Psalms are poetic, personal; proclaiming truth and abounding with hope. So in other words, the Psalms work for me!

I chose Psalm 46. What a great passage! And it meets all of our objectives! We'll work on this for a while, then worry about what comes next (Boy! Does that go against my grain!!). To God be the glory!!

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"

The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
(Psa 46:1-11)

What We Do, Part 3: Memorization

Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer weinerrrrr.
For that is what I'd truly like to beeeeeeee.
For if I was an Oscar Mayer weinerrrrrrr.
Then everyone would be so proud of meeeeee.

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion, on a sesame seed bun.

Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere...

To be, or not to be. That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind....

I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America...

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

You get the picture.

Memorization.

Every stored up bit of life becomes a part of who we are. We draw from what we know whenever the fancy strikes us. With hymns and scripture, we draw comfort and inspiration. With literature and history we gain purpose and understanding; and we wax philosophical. With music and stories, we find passion and joy. The benefits of memorization have been studied and documented and a child who memorizes will always excel in communication (as well as everything else!).

I've talked about memorization now and then, so there's not much new to add. I'll just tell you this: I'm more amazed every day at the number of beautiful things there are to memorize! I can't help but think about that saying, "Garbage in, garbage out!" It applies to so many things, but memorization takes the cake. My own brain is a plethora of pop songs and old jingles. Being a "no tv" family, causes me some amusement as I remember the glory days of "I'm a pepper, he's a pepper; Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too!" Not really what I want to be remembered for knowing, yet it's in there...forEVER! :)

Now my mother was a different story, she died nine years ago and I inherited her many photo albums. Upon taking them apart to reorganize them and make sure they were protected, I made a little discovery. My mother wrote lines from poems and occasional folk song lyrics on the back of my baby pictures! At the time I thought that was so odd, but truly "who she was". Now I'm amazed at the treasury of thoughts that she passed on to me! Because she memorized.

You'll remember from previous posts that we've used Simply Charlotte Mason's Memory System for awhile, tweaking it and making it our own. I continue to mold it to fit our needs and throughout the week we drill and practice presenting. We work on them together, as a family. I've come to realize that when done alone, this hasn't been as effective. Together, it's personal!

We memorize all kinds of things. Scripture, poetry, speeches, bits of history (like the poem on the Statue of Liberty). We even memorize hymns, through our hymn study. Don't forget the value of ALL the things you choose to memorize! Then there was the War of 1812. This contribution by their dad, taught them all about the Battle of New Orleans. They sing it together and it is a hoot!

Don't underestimate the value of music in helping with memorization--even if you have to make it up. Though we haven't used any of the memory song CD's, we did find Schoolhouse Rock's Multiplication Rock particularly useful! There's also putting things to rhyme. We tried to memorize the Ten Commandments out of the Bible. We struggled for awhile until I found this:

You shall have no gods but me;
Before no idol bend your knee.
Take not the name of God in vain;
Dare not the Sabbath day profane.
Give both your parents honor due;
Take heed that you no murder do.
Abstain from words and deeds unclean;
Steal not, though you be poor and mean.
Tell not a willful lie, nor love it,
What is your neighbor's do not covet.

Now we all have them memorized! Every day we come across something that we want to memorize. Whether it's hiding God's Words in our heart, or treasuring a favorite poem, we memorize. That's not likely to change. I relish the day my children turn to their own children and tell them "I know how to memorize the Ten Commandments!"

Read about the other things we do:
Part 1: Hymn Study
Part 2: Prayer

Apostles' Creed

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Memorization for Two

For the past couple of years we've enjoyed the benefits of the Scripture Memory system from Simply Charlotte Mason. I began this year with a new card box for daughter and recently began to realize that there might be a way to improve things.

I ended up combining the kids' boxes together. I color coded daughters much fewer cards, interspersing them with sons many, many cards. I imagine that they'll eventually have mostly the same verses & things memorized, so this should be a time saver. The cards that son has absolutely mastered, I'll mark with a different marking or color. Son may just have to practice his older verses more often, or at least hear them more. Well, hearing more scripture never hurt anyone!! They will still both have verses unique to them daily, but I may try to make all new items for both of them.

We do our memory time together ever since I found out that son was not really "memorizing", but reading quickly through! Uh-huh. So, now we gather together and have a bit of a competition and a game out of it. We spend 10-15 min a day. Son, who's 9 does not want to be out done by his 5yo sister and she wants to be "better" than him at everything. Boy! Does that make things interesting at our house.

I will add that after 2 years of this, son is more interested in choosing his own things to memorize, which is encouraging. I'll have to see how all the wrinkles come out in the fire.

Recognizing the Question

We started our school day as usual. Prayer, memorization practice from our card files, singing and Bible time. But daughter had a question. "When can I put cards in my box?"

I know that she has been an eager 4yo. Eager to learn. Eager to do what brother does. So to answer her eagerness, I told her how in the fall she would be doing more school with brother.

She agreed and the conversation went back to our place amidst our daily routine.

It wasn't until I "woke up" the next morning that it hit me. She wasn't asking about the box. She was asking to memorize scripture. She wanted her own Bible verses to practice. She wanted to really learn what her bubba was learning. I missed it.

I didn't recognize the question.

So I talked with her about it, and we learned a verse together. She skipped away with a smile on her face. We'll add a card to her box and it will find it's place front and center beginning immediately. This is the day the Lord has made!

Scripture Memory

After my post yesterday, Beth asked about how we practice scripture memorization. It's been a while since I posted about this, so I thought I'd share what we do.

Over at Simply Charlotte Mason, is this post of the method we use. Basically, it's about daily recitation and mastery. We use a card file box and tabs for daily, odd & even dates, Mon-Fri, and dates 1-31. You start your verse off under daily, then as you begin to master it, you move it to odd and even, so you're reciting it every other day, then once a week, then once a month for retention. Sometimes this process is quick, and sometimes it takes quite a while, depending on the selection.

This works really, really well and it allows each family member their own box so that with age differences, individuals will be working on their own selections. I even have my own box! A couple of things that we also do are include poems or quotes on occasion, though the primary focus is hiding God's word in our hearts. We've included things like Patrick Henry's famous speech, the Preamble to the Constitution, 30 Days Has September! Things like that! It's really fun and easy when you come across something suddenly that you know you want to memorize!

Another thing I've learned is to write the scripture "address" on the back of the card and turn them around once we reach the once a month stage. This has been the most frustrating part for my son. He must get that from me! I'm afraid that this is a issue with a lot of folk's memorization of scripture!--remembering "where" they are found!
This year (3rd grade) I turned son's box over to him and he works on this on his own. He writes the verses out weekly for penmanship practice, and recites them daily. Sometimes he takes it to his room at night so he can do this before getting out of bed. Sometimes he does it during lesson time.

Periodically, he recites to me or his dad. He is very good with it, though he often will peek at the first word to get started. We will sometimes play a game where we'll talk about a topic and say a word which will trigger a verse. This is kind of reminiscent of breaking into song when you hear a certain phrase!

I've been amazed at what my 4yo has picked up. One day a week or so ago, she was in the room when son and I were discussing something and he mentioned a verse. She walked away and when she came back she was quoting scripture. She quoted it for the rest of the day and still remembers it! It came way easy to her. A bit scary for the 'ole brain dead Mama who has a very difficult time memorizing anything! So I'm ramping up her memorization as well!

I'm sure you know this, but I'll say it anyway--memorizing God's word heaps unimaginable blessings on you! It never returns void and it builds a Biblical foundation that nurtures principles, character, and truth. It is a primary, necessary, "can't live without it" choice. Wait no longer! If you're not having your kids (and yourself) memorizing scripture, start today!

Edited to include: I had another thought to share. We started out with a giant sized card file. My thinking was that it would be easier for son to write on. I was WRONG!! Stick with the small card file 3x5 size! You won't regret it! It's cheaper, easier to handle, and it actually has helped my son's penmanship that he has to write smaller!