What are your thoughts on memorization

[Karie]

I know memorization is good. My kids are in AWANA and doing tons of memory work with bible verses. I've been to a Classical Conversations meeting, and the amount of memory work my kids do pales in comparison to what they suggest. I've looked at getting CC's memory cards to try out, but I don't want to overwhelm my boys. What are your thoughts on so much memorization? Has anyone just done the CC cards and thought it was doable?

[Daisy]

I think memorization of any kind is wonderful. I think it builds connections in your wrinkly gray matter that stay with you forever. My DH never had to memorize much of anything and he really struggles to memorize now. I had to memorize a chapter out of the Bible every month for school and that skill has stuck with me. I also think memorizing larger passages over a long period of time (constant review, long term memory) is the best way to go. I'm a little frustrated by Awanas because the kids memorize so many disconnected short verses. Before we joined, our family was memorizing chunks of Scripture and we were all working on the same passage. Now I feel scatterbrained. ;-)

[Trivium Academy]

We were very heavy on memorization and I never understood the drill/kill comment, but I have to say that since I dropped 98% of our memorization and stopped trying to manage it all- we are much more relaxed and enjoying our studies more. We still memorize poetry and I highlight important facts but it's no longer an important factor.

 

I think providing engaging books, talking with your child about important events and having them narrate (in any form) is enough. I can't tell you how many times I've seen veterans say that their kids forgot all that they memorized by the time it came to study the topics again. I'd rather spark my child's imagination by reading and talking about Ferdinand Magellan than remember it was 1522 when he completed his first circumnavigation of Earth. My goal is not to fill a bucket, my goal is to reach my child's heart and imagination.

[Karie]

Thanks Jessica for your post on relaxing. We are memorizing states/capitols, and the order of the presidents right now. Also, we've memorized helping verbs and prepositions which has been extremely helpful. I don't want to overload my children (or me) and have memory work be treacherous!

[pixelroper]

memorization is treated as an important skill. But it has to be balanced with the *other* important skills. Every day a couple of subjects get their memorize portion checked off. Friday is review day where dd can impress me with all she has retained (hopefully:)).

[dangermom]

From an adult perspective: my mom used to enjoy memorizing poetry when she was a girl. She can still recite yards of it--all of "The Night Before Christmas," "The Housewife's Lament," all kinds of fun stuff. It even helps her at work since she is--a storyteller. (And librarian.)

[Jami]

I'm not a fan of memorizing huge lists for their own sake, but committing things to memory which serve as necessary building blocks for later ease in studying more complex content can serve a student well. For example, but memorizing math facts and Latin grammar, the student can spend less mental exertion on those foundational steps and concentrate on the work of algebra or translation. And then there is memorization to shape one's soul and mind with beauty, goodness and truth. Poetry, songs, Scripture not only train the mind to memorize well, but can be used to form imagination and character. I'll link an excellent essay on the value of memorizing. I personally think the Veritas/Classical Conversations model is overkill, I'd rather spend time with my children having them memorize a Psalm or poem, then the countries of Europe or dynasties of Egypt.

 

http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_3_defense_memorization.html

[Trivium Academy]

That didn't come across right, we memorize- we've scaled back to the necessities though instead of trying to build a vast catalog of items to refer back to later.

[Heather in Neverland]

I'm not a fan of memorizing huge lists for their own sake, but committing things to memory which serve as necessary building blocks for later ease in studying more complex content can serve a student well. For example, but memorizing math facts and Latin grammar, the student can spend less mental exertion on those foundational steps and concentrate on the work of algebra or translation. And then there is memorization to shape one's soul and mind with beauty, goodness and truth. Poetry, songs, Scripture not only train the mind to memorize well, but can be used to form imagination and character. I'll link an excellent essay on the value of memorizing. I personally think the Veritas/Classical Conversations model is overkill, I'd rather spend time with my children having them memorize a Psalm or poem, then the countries of Europe or dynasties of Egypt.

 

http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_3_defense_memorization.html

 

My sentiments exactly. Memorization of facts that are the pegs on which you can hang later learning is important. Rote memorization of lists just for the sake of memorizing makes no sense to me. I never memorized all the presidents and I am an intelligent, educated professional so I think my kids will be fine.

[ArwenA]

Our focus for the grammar years memorization is poetry. In the logic years we move on to Scripture, parts of stories, various facts, prime ministers, presidents, kings and queens... There are some things I never really find a need to memorize, we've never learnt any of those rhymes to help remember the continents, my dc have just picked up what they are.

I find poetry such a beautiful thing to memorize, to me it seems natural to want to know the words by heart. There can be great meaning in poetry and there rhythm makes the words roll of your tongue in a satisfying way. I love poetry and I want to share that love with my children. I do not think that love is past on through memorization but I do find something very family like and loving when we can all recite a poem together.

[Peela]

I havent focused on it much...its one of the things I have let go of. With history, I would rather my kids enjoy it an get an overall feel for it.

However, I love to memorise poetry with them, and I jsut think its a nice thing to do. We have maybe 20 poems under our belt and we have only been doing it for a couple of years. We are not doing it intensely. I just like to do it. I read poems, we go over some old ones, then we work on a new one. They dont love it, but they often get a kick out of it.

So I guess I am like Jessica....I am relaxed about it.

[Guest Lorna]

I love memorization, but not for the sake of it. We memorize poems with facts in (for the history, science and languages they are studying). The criteria is that they must be fun and make the knowledge more accessible.

We also memorize poems for occasions. I can invent occasions, such as Father's birthday or family get togethers. Our children love to memorize. It builds up their confidence. I make sure that they have enough time to memorize something properly and, like Daisy says, revisit poetry over long periods.

Our daughter bowled the family over when she was asked to read a poem at my sister's wedding. She memorized the whole thing, whilst the adults read theirs from bits of paper. My sister cried she was so touched.

[VaKim]

We memorize poetry and hymns. I take vocabulary words from whatever we are working on, and they seem to stick with my girls since they are committing them to memory in context.

We also memorize things like states and capitols, the books of the Bible, and the names of the poets with the poems- not for the sake of memorizing, but so that they are familiar with the names whenever they encounter them again.

[Kimber]

I decided to try putting together a list of stuff to memorize for my children's daily workbook. I didn't have any expectations on how long it would take to get it done. But in one month they've memorized about 4 pages of stuff with lots of white space. It includes the 1st ten presidents, 4 chapters of LC vocabulary and declensions, 4 poems, psalms 1, 10 Spanish verb conjugations, and 1 page of spanish vocabulary, and grammar definitions--it's all relevant to studies.

 

Last week, I changed out the pages, I switched everything, but the spanish verbs to conjugate. We've added the next ten presidents, and different grammar, preposition lists, psalms 121, and psalms 23, and new latin vocab and declension charts.

 

I don't go over it with them. I just send them off to read their history books, and to review their memory work. They review the memory for about 15 minutes as fast as they can for 4 days per week. It's painless and effortless. When they can recite most of it to me, I'll make new sheets and add those in for daily review.

 

I plan to have them weekly review their old lists. This is per Andrew Pudewa and Veritas press people. They always review what's been memorized.

 

Someone here on the boards mentioned that she wrote out the memorization for her daughter to read daily. So thanks for the idea, I love it!:auto:

[Karie]

So, can you give me some poetry ideas? Any good books to use as a reference?

[Kimber]

My kids love Andrew Pudewa's book of poetry. But when I lost it, I pulled a few from one of my copybooks. Here's what my kids have to memorize.

 

All Things Obey God

From The Infants Delight

 

“He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth.â€

God’s works are very great, but still

His hands do not appear:

Though heaven and earth obey His will,

His voice we cannot hear.

 

And yet we know that it is He

Who moves and governs all,

Who stills the raging of the sea,

And makes the showers to fall.

 

Alike in mercy He bestows

The sunshine and the rain;

That which is best for us He knows,

And we must not com-plain,

 

Whether He makes His winds to blow,

And gives His tempests birth,

Or sends His frost, or bids the snow--

“Be thou upon the earth.â€

 

 

Father William

by Lewis Caroll

 

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,

"And your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head—

Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

 

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,

"I feared it might injure the brain;

But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,

Why, I do it again and again."

 

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,

And have grown most uncommonly fat;

Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—

Pray, what is the reason of that?"

 

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his gray locks,

"I kept all my limbs very supple

By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—

Allow me to sell you a couple."

 

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak

For anything tougher than suet;

Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak:

Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

 

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,

And argued each case with my wife;

And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw

Has lasted the rest of my life."

 

"You are old," said the youth; "one would hardly suppose

That your eye was as steady as ever;

Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—

What made you so awfully clever?"

 

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"

Said his father, "don't give yourself airs!

Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?

Be off, or I'll kick you down-stairs!"

 

The Lost Thought

by Emily Dickinson

 

I felt a clearing in my mind

As if my brain had split;

I tried to match it, seam by seam,

But could not make them fit.

 

The thought behind I strove to join

Unto the thought before,

But sequence raveled out of reach

Like balls upon a floor.

 

The Pessimist

by Ben F. King

 

Nothing to do but work,

Nothing to eat but food,

Nothing to wear but clothes

To keep one from going nude.

 

Nothing to breathe but air,

Quick as a flash ‘tis gone;

Nowhere to fall but off,

Nowhere to stand but on.

 

Nothing to comb but hair,

Nowhere to sleep but in bed,

Nothing to weep but tears,

Nothing to bury but dead.

 

Nothing to sing but songs,

Ah, well, alas! alack!

Nowhere to go but out,

Nowhere to come but back.

 

Nothing to see but sights,

Nothing to quench but thirst,

Nothing to have but what we’ve got,

Thus thro’ life we are cursed.

 

Nothing to strike but a gait;

Everything moves that goes.

Nothing at all but common sense

Can ever withstand these woes.

 

Grammar Terms

 

 

4 types of sentences Declarative (makes a statement), Interrogative (asks a question),

Exclamatory (strong emotion), Imperative (command)

 

Transitive Verb Joey hit the ball. (Action was transferred from Joey to the ball.)

 

Intransitive Verb She reclined. (reclined is intransitive because it doesn’t have a direct object. The action is happening to the subject.)

 

Linking Verb He is sick. (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been….)

 

Direct Object If you isolate the subject and the verb alone and answer who or

what, the answer to that question is the direct object.

(He threw the ball) He threw what? The ball

She saw him. She saw who? him

 

Indirect Object The indirect object tells to or for whom the action is being done.

He read her the book. He read the book to whom? to her.

She threw him the football. To whom did she throw the soccer

ball? to him

 

Clause Every sentence is a clause because they have a subject and a verb

 

Phrase words working as a unit, i.e.

(to the store, over the moon, the amazing sky)

 

Preposition A word that links a noun to another word in the sentence.

 

List of Prepositions

(READ DOWN one column and then the other)

 

aboard before

about behind

above below

across beneath

after beside

against between

along beyond

among by

around

at

 

 

 

down past

during since

except through

for throughout

from to

in towards

inside under

into underneath

like until

near unto

of up

off upon

on with

over within

without

 

 

Psalms 121

 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

 

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

 

The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

 

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

 

Psalms 23

 

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

 

The other couple pages are subject specific, so I didn't put them in here. Latin, Spanish, and list of Presidents 11-20.

 

My son is 8.5 and my daughter will be 10 in 11 days.

[Karie]

Awesome!! Thanks!

[Rosie_0801]

My mother always said "if you don't use it, you lose it!" I think memorisation is a good thing to do, and you might as well make the most of it while they're young enough for it to come naturally. Have your kids memorise what you or they think is important or useful. You may think memorising the constitution is a great idea, you may not care if they memorise the presidents or parts of the Bible. Being neither American nor Christian, I think memorising the recipe for my prize apple crumble and everyone's birthday to be more useful.

:)

Rosie

[Hannah]

We have a memorization period twice during the day. The current poem, verse, science facts, etc. are stuck up on the wall and gets read through once. We also have a review file of old material learnt. DD flicks through and decides which poem / verse or other info to try and recall. It's really low key.

 

I made a memorization file from which we choose the next item to memorize. It was a guideline for myself. I don't intend for dd to memorize everything in the file, but it is a handy resource for me. We've also done one or two items not in the file.

 

To give you and idea of volume. We start the school year in January and, dd is in now grade 3. So, in about 2 years 3 months, she has memorized:

 

 

• 22 poems varying in length from early poems of one verse to four verses. She's busy with the witches' scene from Macbeth.
  
• 8 bible verses
  
• The Lord's Prayer
  
• The 10 plagues of Egypt
  
• The books of the bible of both the old and new testaments. This was done over many months. During the period she started listening to a song with the bible books, and dd prefers to recall them while singing. It's now about a year after she learned them. Her recall is not perfect, but it's pretty good.
  
• History cards in sequence for SOTW1. We did this after we'd finished the book and it was also done over many months (following the books of the bible). We'll start on book 2 shortly.
  
• For geography so far its been the continents and names of the oceans and points on the compass.
  
• Science facts she's memorized are the names of the planets, colours of the rainbow, five kingdoms of living things.
  

 

 

She memorizes math facts as part of our maths time and grammar terms as part of language arts.

 

The above are poems, verses and lists that were up on the wall and that were explicitly covered during memorization time. Of course there is a lot more information that I'd like dd to recall, but I don't emphasize the memorization thereof (narrations, discussions, etc serve that purpose). The memorization work I see as more "out of context" and explicit. Having written it up it seems a lot, but probably took 10 minutes twice a day. If that.

[Hannah]

Being neither American nor Christian, I think memorising the recipe for my prize apple crumble and everyone's birthday to be more useful.

:)

 

 

Rosie, that has me rolling!!