I have seen this listed in a lot of programs and on Charlotte Mason and Classical Education sites. They have kids memorize poems and bible verses. Do you all do this with your kids? What are the benefits of this? I have never really memorized anything so maybe I have just been missing out! If you do this, how do you do it? Thanks!
I personally think it's very important for a child to learn how to memorize things, I also think that memorizing Bible verses is VERY important because they can help you the rest of your life! We memorize Bible passages (so they don't loose the context) a verse or two at a time, and then after each verse of the passage has been memorized we put it all together and do it all at once. My boys have memorized poems in a similar fashion, one stanza at a time, then put it all together. They get quite proud of what they memorize and they love reciting it to family and friends.
Hmm.. I'm a huge memorizer. I have several poems in my head that I memorized as a kid To me it's much more important for the kids to LEARN something than memorize it. Some learning, though, needs to be memorized first. Basic math formulas, even for littles, need to be memorized so dd can use them.. then once she understands the whys, she'll be able to KNOW it. Her phonics instruction, too, requires memorizing what a sound is for letters, then USING them until she knows them cold. I'm not big on memorizing passages, I guess. I'm not convinced of the value of 'spelling tests'. I do want to add though that for kids memorizing is a game. It isn't the tedium we might feel like it is. Would I memorize the Jabberwock poem now, for fun? Uh.. no. But I did when I was 12 and loved it. I read dd a very short story on Monday. Today she 'read' it back to me word for word. Of course, she wasn't REALLY reading. She was getting letter sound clues from some of the starting letters, but in her little head, having me read it aloud on Monday was enough for her to memorize. And for proof that memorization is way easier for kids than it is for us, play any 'memory' card game with them. I think it's an important skill for them to have, but that there aren't necessarily things they should have memorized JUST for the sake of memorizing. Memorizing for learning is ok, memorizing just for today.. not so much.
I think the ability to memorize is very important. It builds brain cells, or something. I learned by heart Psalm 23 when I was 5, which is now more than a half-century ago, and I still remember it. The Preamble to the Constitution, which I memorized in 7th grade, isn't quite as firm anymore as it used to be. If you can memorize, you can learn anything. But if you learn-by-heart you'll have it forever.
When my children learn poems, they learn how to not only memorize them, but perform them. We put actions to the words and they learn how to use their voice and pausing for emphasis. Effective speaking skills can be learned from memorization as well.
Memorization is a part of everyday life. We memorize things like phone numbers, addresses, and how to get from one point to another without a map. That said, I hate memorizing. The cram it in your head the night before a big test memorizing is pointless. But memorizing poems, Scripture, or the multiplication table are useful things. Practicing memory skills makes memory skills stronger. My kids aren't memorizer-style learners so I don't use it much, but we do incorporate some memory work.
YES!! We are a total Charlotte Mason family here. This past year for 2nd grade my dd7 memorized Psalm 23, Matthew 28: 1-6, Luke 2: 8-14 and a poem by Walter de la Mare. I think it is wonderful that she has these beautiful passages of scripture commited to memory and in her heart. As she masters the verses I work with her on her public speaking skills, tone of voice, infliction, etc. This next school year (which we start in a couple weeks) I will also have her memorizing Shakespeare.
I think it is important in some instances--Bible verses, multiplication tables, alphabet, etc. IMO-I don't think memorizing poems is important (don't throw tomatoes-it is just an opinion). I also don't see why memorizing the states/capitals is important at ALL. I asked my sister why people think that is important and she had to think for a few moments and the only thing she could come up with is that it might be important if you live there to know what the capital is. Well, you only live in one state at a time-right? I think this falls under the routine being accepted as good just because it has been done so long. I think memorizing formulas should be done away with also. Why? I think they should learn how to use them, without the added pressure to memorize them. Plus, if they use them enough, they will memorize them.
How do you all pick which bible verses or poems to memorize? I have always marveled at people who could throw a Shakesperean quote into a conversation. I am TERRIBLE at memorizing things, but, then again, I was never taught to do that. How do you go about it with a 5 year old? Do you just read it and have him repeat it until he knows it? I do like the idea of having the family over to hear them "perform" to give them a sense of pride in their work. I am following CM (for the most part) so it seems like it is an integral part of that system of teaching! I totally agree that memorizing random facts is a waste of your precious brain space! In 9th grade, I spent weeks memorizing every capital for every country. Not only have a lot of the countries changed since then, but I really don't remember hardly any of that. What a waste of time. Thanks a lot, Mr Spiegelberger...LOL.
In my opinion memorizing poetry is great only if you actually enjoy poetry, which we do here at our house. Just like Bible verses or Shakespeare it is something that is lovely to you that you can always remember. This is how I do memorization with dd7. I type the memory work, 3 hole punch it and put it in our memory folder. Each day we spend about 5 mins working on it. Day one we begin with saying the verse name and begining words - "Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd". I have her say it over and over again about 5 times and that is all. The next day we begin by saying the same thing perfectly. If she says it perfectly we ad a few more words and she has to say all she learned so far about 5 times or until it is perfect. Each day we build on the day before. On Friday she says everything to me that she has learned so far that year so everything she has learned she uses and it stays in her mind. Grace likes to have the copy in her hands so after I tell her the new portion for the day I give her the folder to read silently to herself and she tells me when she is ready. Also, I make her stand up while reciting and say it in a nice voice slowly. I don't let her rush it or say it without the proper feeling. At first she thought it was so hard but now she loves it and loves reciting for people.
My kids memorize verses for AWANA's and do fairly well. Some of the verses they know better than others because they keep coming up in the program year after year. Right now we are memorizing X's tables and I am about to pull my hair out because it is going SO slow. But even if it takes an entire school year, I know it will pay off because they will never forget what 8x6 is. So I do believe memorization has it's place. But I agree with PP that memorization for its own sake is not really necessary. States and their capitals for instance, seems like a waste of time to me,too.
We do ours very similar to MonkeyMamma, except that we actually do the whole verse a couple of times on day 1, few times on day 2, a few times on day 3 and so on until it's memorized (usually only takes about 5 days). Then after each verse of the passage is memorized we do the whole passage together. As for choosing passages, I usually choose them based on passages that have been helpful to me in the past, or passages that will help them to work on developing godly character. We also memorize poems, but like MonkeyMamma we do it because it's something we enjoy. They love performing for others and showing off what they've learned.
This year I chose our passages of scripture based on time of year mostly. Matthew 28:1-6 was for the school term around Easter, Luke 2:8-14 was right before Christmas and Psalm 23 we did during the summer and did it because it was my father's favorite scripture and he passed away last October. When Grace says it we think of him.
