How much emphasis do you put on memorization?

[happyWImom]

We recently have attended some Classical Conversations mock days & info. sessions, and now it has me freaking out & questioning everything again!

 

We are pretty eclectic, and tend towards a combo. of CM with some Classical thrown in, as well as unit studies, etc.... But, after hearing everything at the CC meetings, I feel like we haven't been memorizing the way we should. We have done poetry & bible verses (and we used FLL 1 & 2) but haven't been really structured/strict about it. I definitely saw the reason behind it, and my ds totally ate it up & retained a lot after just 1 day. Honestly, if our budget would have allowed it, I would have had them both do it. I was impressed with everything, especially the Essentials portion.

 

So, it has made me wonder how and if we should be memorizing the whole history timeline stuff the way that CC does (I'm thinking of VP history) but I am overwhelmed at the thought. Is it necessary???? Or is just reading & narration (we don't narrate everything, mainly science from HOD Preparing, now) enough? If we go through & follow the classic history cycle, do we need to memorize it all???

[regentrude]

Pretty much none.

Other than foreign language vocabulary words, my kids do not memorize anything.

That does not mean they don't know anything - they remember many things, but we do not intentionally work on rote memory.

[Heidi]

Have you seen memoria press' timeline? I think it only contains 60 events to memorize for history, 15 for each phase of history. it seems doable. I don't know how that compares to CC.

[Classically Minded]

We just memorize scripture and poems from FLL3.

[Gentlemommy]

I'm rethinking this as well. I'm thinking of joining CC next fall, or just getting the guide and doing it at home if we can't afford the whole program. Honestly, after seeing how well my dd's do with memory work, how much THEY enjoy making those connections, and reading more about how memory work has been used in schools historically, I am convinced I want to add some it. Maybe not as much as CC, but I certainly dont think it will hurt, and will most likely really help.

[weederberries]

I'd say we are in the middle of the road. We memorize scripture, poems and lists from First Lang. Lessons, math facts, and the occasional history or science item. However, I noticed that we were not retaining them year to year. So, I created a binder with 3 sections. I print the items we've memorized on color-coded paper (yellow for math, green for poems, etc.) and stash them between tabs.

 

The first "section" is a plastic page protector at the front of the binder. This is usually the new poem or verse we are memorizing. It gets practiced daily.

 

The next section has a set of 5 tabs (M-F). Here are some of our more important memory items like multiplication facts they struggle with, some of our more recent poems or that hard list of prepositions. I've sorted the items into one poem and one math or science memory behind each tab. Whichever day of the week it is, is the tab we recite that day.

 

The last section has tabs numbered 1-20 for the 20 days of school we do a month (approx). Here you will find all of the poems, chants, lists, and facts we have ever memorized sorted amongst the 20 tabs. We mark the current tab with a sticky and practice them sequentially throughout the month.

 

This way, the important things we are memorizing aren't slipping away from us, being pushed out by new information. Every thing gets reviewed at least once a month, some weekly and the newest are reviewed daily. It's an ever growing collection of memory work and they get satisfaction from recalling it. My two older students (8 & 9) are able to prompt each other from the book - another independent activity while I work with my youngest.

 

Having said that, if you have a child that struggles with memory work, I wouldn't beat them up with it. Choose only a few essential items and work on those slowly and steadily. My kids find memory work easy, so it works for us. They get it from me. If my husband had been asked to memorize all of this stuff as a child, he would have crumbled under the pressure of it. Make a judgement call based on what your children are capable of. If they aren't reaching their potential in this area, consider stepping it up, but as you know, there isn't one magic formula to education. That's why we do what we do.

 

Lisa

[happyWImom]

I'm rethinking this as well. I'm thinking of joining CC next fall, or just getting the guide and doing it at home if we can't afford the whole program. Honestly, after seeing how well my dd's do with memory work, how much THEY enjoy making those connections, and reading more about how memory work has been used in schools historically, I am convinced I want to add some it. Maybe not as much as CC, but I certainly dont think it will hurt, and will most likely really help.

 

 

I was thinking about trying CC at home, also, but I was thinking it would be difficult without actually having done it as the group first. I was thinking of starting another thread about CC at home. I need a lot of hand holding!

[boscopup]

I disagree with memorizing things out of context, so no, we don't do much, and I'm fine with that. I'm constantly amazed at what my kids remember - that they actually understand - without spending time reciting things. We memorize math facts, and we'll work on foreign language stuff. We memorize grammar definitions as we learn them.

 

Obviously, CC wouldn't be a good fit for me. :D

[happyWImom]

I disagree with memorizing things out of context, so no, we don't do much, and I'm fine with that. I'm constantly amazed at what my kids remember - that they actually understand - without spending time reciting things. We memorize math facts, and we'll work on foreign language stuff. We memorize grammar definitions as we learn them.

 

Obviously, CC wouldn't be a good fit for me. :D

 

And I am obviously too easily influenced by the newest thing! Newest thing to me, that is. :001_smile:

 

I am amazed at my dc, also, so I don't know why I do this to myself every so often. Again, I think it is because they are just growing up way too quickly, and I'm afraid I'm going to leave something out, not give them what I should-you name it.

 

I guess it's time for me to get out some of my hs books like "Educating the Wholehearted Child" and "Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home". And time for me to start praying & listening!

 

I feel like you have set me straight a little, here. Without even intending to, I'm sure! Thank you!

[Farrar]

We occasionally do poems. We do things like times tables that are practical. Both the kids do drama and end up doing memorization of lines. Otherwise none.

 

CC with its heavy emphasis on memorization is one way to educate. There are others.

[Rosie_0801]

Memorisation is important here, but my dd has Echolalia, and that's how her brain works.

[Paula in MS]

Before we did classical conversations, I always felt like things were going in one ear and out the other. Even things she "learned" , she couldn't remember 3-4 months later. Memorizing facts well has made a huge difference in how much she knows. I feel like I have something to show for all the hard work at the end of the year. Of course, you can do this in many different ways besides CC. Some families who notebook say that their children retain a lot of information as well.

 

The Classical Conversations timeline is really great and is learned fairly easily through song.

 

Paula

[redsquirrel]

Medium? :tongue_smilie:

 

I do place some importance on it. We use FLL and I do require them to memorize the poems. They also memorize the grammar definitions. My 7th grader has found it extremely helpful to have memorized that big list of prepositions or the state of being verbs back in 3rd or 4th grade. We also study Latin and that requires a fair amount of rote memorization. Those nouns won't decline themselves, you know. There are some very basic history dates I expect them to have memorized, and then there are basic math facts they need for fluency. We also do some scientific memorization such as the bones in the body, the parts of an atom, the parts of a plant, they types of rocks, attributes of certain elements, the solar system, speed of light etc. As my elder son moves toward high school I can see there are a bunch more mathematical and scientific formulas, applications and diagrams he will have to memorize

 

We are lucky in that memorization is easy for my kids. They enjoy it. If they didn't find it easy then I would work a lot harder at it. It is an important skill to be able to memorize things, such as math formulas or the parts of an atom, or lists of vocabulary when needed. The memorization of poems and grammar definitions at an early age helped us learn how to do it.

[RootAnn]

We use memorization in context. My my older three all have memory work as part of their science this year, for example. It provides them with a hook for more information.

 

Here is a post I did for my blog on memorization earlier this school year. For those who don't want to click through, it basically says that younger kids remember things (funny, fun, exciting, interesting, musical, etc. things) really easily. Why not have them remembering things that will help them? At the end, I point out that the brain is a muscle that we need to exercise so it doesn't get flabby. (I'm not a pusher toward doing CC-type memorization. Just that all memorization isn't bad.)

[EKS]

Very little.

[Momof2littles]

I disagree with memorizing things out of context, so no, we don't do much, and I'm fine with that. I'm constantly amazed at what my kids remember - that they actually understand - without spending time reciting things. We memorize math facts, and we'll work on foreign language stuff. We memorize grammar definitions as we learn them.

 

Obviously, CC wouldn't be a good fit for me. :D

 

But you can add the context at home, right?

 

I think we are going to join CC. I love that my dd will have some knowledge of a subject (even if it's just a name!) when we learn about it at home.

 

My reason for joining CC is to have a consistent social gathering. Support groups aren't always consistently the same families. My dd needs friendships...not just casual park dates, but friends who she sees every week.

 

So, with that in mind, the memory work at CC will only help her, not hurt her.

 

But before we join CC memory work is very little in my house. We memorize scripture and catechism and that's about it.

[wehave8]

We do a lot of memorizing. Well, to me it is a lot. :) Each month I make out our schedule and we spend time first thing each day with it. It is called our "Opening". We do the pledges, Bible verses for each letter of the alphabet ( I pick my own because I like to use entire verses, not just parts of verses), a poem to go along with our history or season of the year, a smaller poem, usually to do with good habits, etc., a song of the month, and also a larger portion of scripture to learn chapters of the Bible. We are going to add more history documents soon. We've done presidents, continents, oceans, etc., and are working on countries now.

 

I feel memorizing is important. It's amazing how much a child can memorize. It is so much harder when they get older, so I say do it now! before they fill their minds with junk! :) I can still quote a lot of what I memorized when I was in school and I am 50 yrs. old now!

 

Pam

[Kuovonne]

I always felt like things were going in one ear and out the other. Even things she "learned" , she couldn't remember 3-4 months later. Memorizing facts well has made a huge difference in how much she knows. I feel like I have something to show for all the hard work at the end of the year.

 

This is why I do memory work with my kids. I get tired of reteaching the same things to the same child. Fortunately my kids remember most of what I drill, even without context.

 

It seems that families that do not do memory work are often pleasantly surprised by how much their children remember without any review. I, on the other hand, am constantly finding things that I need to add to our memory work because my kids do not remember them. For my kids, the retention rate without drill is abysmally low, even with context and fun activities. For example, two or three years ago, about a month before Christmas my younger DD decided to memorize a Christmas poem. We discussed the poem, I explained the vocabulary, listened to her recite, and told her the words she couldn't read. When Christmas came and went without her memorizing the poem, I tried to get her to drop it, but she insisted on persisting. It took working on the poem daily for two or three months before she was able to recite the poem. Now she has no recollection of ever having heard of the poem, much less memorizing it. Another example, my kids took a super fun science class that was very hands-on, but could not tell basic facts when they went back to class the next week.

 

So I drill memory work, and I will continue to do so seven days a week, 365 days a year, even though other people's kids remember things just fine without it.

[ccolopy]

Not much. We memorize vocab for foreign languages, times tables and the occasional poem. DS has a fantastic memory and he always remembers dates in history, definitions of science vocab and quotes from literature, which I think is really cool, but unnecessary.

[boscopup]

For example, two or three years ago, about a month before Christmas my younger DD decided to memorize a Christmas poem. We discussed the poem, I explained the vocabulary, listened to her recite, and told her the words she couldn't read. When Christmas came and went without her memorizing the poem, I tried to get her to drop it, but she insisted on persisting. It took working on the poem daily for two or three months before she was able to recite the poem. Now she has no recollection of ever having heard of the poem, much less memorizing it.

 

How old was the child? I'm guessing pretty young? This is completely normal for a young child. This is exactly why early elementary subjects repeat themselves year after year after year. Because young children *will* forget things not used. They need to use them long enough to put the info in long term memory. By time they get to high school, how to write their letters and the basic math operations are automatic, so if they stop using those things for a year or two, they won't forget... because they've been using them for several years up to this point. The things you learn one year only, you're likely to completely forget (do I remember much science or history from high school? Nope!).

 

So anything you do, be it learning/practicing/memorizing... You're going to have to repeat for years if you want it to stick in long term memory - for most children.

 

Another example, my kids took a super fun science class that was very hands-on, but could not tell basic facts when they went back to class the next week.

 

My oldest remembers more if he reads about a subject (I don't do projects with him much - they become pointless). He doesn't need to memorize things, but he needs to read it. And again, age can come into play. We read a book when he was just turning 6, and then exactly a year later, I assigned the book to him to read... He had zero recollection of us ever reading it. Even once he started reading, he didn't remember ever having had it read to him before, nor could he guess the storyline of what was coming next. It's just an age thing. And again, that's exactly why the same things are taught in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. :)

[boscopup]

But you can add the context at home, right?

 

As much as they memorize, I think it'd take a lot of time during the week to teach the context at home. I guess if you based your entire homeschool off the CC schedule, it might work ok. I personally have different goals than CC, so it would be a really bad fit for me. :) My friend does CC with her two kids, so I've gotten a glimpse of the work she puts in just to have her kids memorizing everything. I personally don't want that for my family. But many families love it and it works for them. I'm very much a context person, and my kids seem to be as well (my 6 year old would be asking about every single thing, and we'd have to go on bunny trails to learn about them... then the whole week would be filled with teaching the context of what he was supposed to memorize for that week :lol: ).

[Shmead]

At the end, I point out that the brain is a muscle that we need to exercise so it doesn't get flabby. (I'm not a pusher toward doing CC-type memorization. Just that all memorization isn't bad.)

 

In this book, about child brain development, it talks about how memorization is one of the most "trainable" aspects of intelligence: there's no doubt at all that people who memorize things early and often get better at it, and keep that skill for life. That seems tremendously important to me: I can't tell you how much time I spend going back to look up something I just looked up, or having to recheck something. It's useful to be able to hold large chunks of information in your head at once: to be able to remember people's names, and details about them. To be able to remember phone numbers and addresses after only hearing them once. To look at the price of things at one grocery store and be able to remember what you pay for them at other stores.

 

You know those cats' cradle things you do with a loop of yarn? How complex they can be is, of course, determined by how dexterous you are and how many tricks you know, but it's also about how many fingers you have. I think memory is like that: being able to hold more stuff in your mind all at once makes it possible to see complex interactions and connections. Having no memory is like losing fingers: having an above average memory is like adding them. I know that when I was in college writing research papers, it was absolutely mandatory to be able to remember what each of the 5-6 sources on the subject I had read said so that I could figure out how I could use them together to support my position. Synthesizing information requires that you remember one (or more) thing while looking up another.

 

So I plan on doing memory work with my kid, because the learning to memorize is the point, not the thing memorized. That said, I think there are a lot of ways and approaches to this, and I don't think CC is what would work for us.

[mama25angels]

I've just recently started putting more emphasis after finding a Foundations guide for just a few bucks. I agree with the other ladies that memory work can be done ANYWAY you'd like, I do believe that some should be done. I will be using the foundations guide in a manner that suits me, which is not trying to memorize everything in a single week, but taking as much time as needed and throwing in review weeks.

[Kuovonne]

I'm constantly amazed at what my kids remember - that they actually understand - without spending time reciting things.

 

 

This is my point: you are amazed at what your kids remember without memory work, so you do not emphasize memory work. Indeed, there is no point in emphasizing memory work if you are already pleased with how much your children retain without memory work.

I, on the other hand, am appalled at what my kids forget without memory work, so I do emphasize memory work. In my case I would be remiss if I did not address what I perceived as a deficit in my children's education.

 

How old was the child? I'm guessing pretty young? This is completely normal for a young child.

 

Regardless of her age, I am not surprised that she has no memory of it. I don't remember it myself. But the fact remains that she spent months working on it, and has absolutely nothing to show for it. If I cared about the poem, I could have added it to her memory work, and she would still have it, but I didn't and all her effort was for naught.

 

Or are you implying that I have unrealistic expectations for what my kids should be able to remember? (Please forgive me if I am presuming.) I don't drill my kids on every single little thing. But if I don't drill something, I have to be willing for it to fall out of their brains.

 

This is exactly why early elementary subjects repeat themselves year after year after year. Because young children *will* forget things not used. They need to use them long enough to put the info in long term memory.

...

So anything you do, be it learning/practicing/memorizing... You're going to have to repeat for years if you want it to stick in long term memory - for most children.

 

I think that we are talking at cross purposes. You say kids forget things so they need to be taught over and over again. I say my kids forget things so I drill memory work. I think that we agree that kids forget things; but we choose to do different things about it.

 

[Mommy22alyns]

Not as much as I should. We have weekly Bible verses, but the girls are awful at memorizing them. It just seems like something we never get to.

[happyWImom]

I've decided we just need to be more consistent with our memory work. When we actually used our schoolroom (we have one, but have migrated to the diningroom table)I had them do memory verse, books of the bible, and famous artwork identification every day. Somehow, we got away from all of that. :sad:

 

I think I'm going to have a "memory board" like CC does, and have things pertinent to our current studies-classification stuff, multiplication, etc.... as well as verse for the week and possibly a poem. I get why CC does what it does, because everything comes together eventually, but I want my dc's memory work to have meaning & go along with what we are studying.

 

I also dug out my Lyrical Life Science cd & am going to add that to the memory work.

[SorrelZG]

Memorization is part of our daily core work and provides, in some instances, somewhat of a spine or jump off point for our more informal and /or interest driven content learning. We work on memorizing what we have determined as valuable to our family in the education of our children and I do not do it on a schedule so while I make use of some of CC's resources, joining their group wouldn't line up with our priorities.

[happyWImom]

Memorization is part of our daily core work and provides, in some instances, somewhat of a spine or jump off point for our more informal and /or interest driven content learning. We work on memorizing what we have determined as valuable to our family in the education of our children and I do not do it on a schedule so while I make use of some of CC's resources, joining their group wouldn't line up with our priorities.

 

That is what I am coming to realize for us, also. I know in CC they are doing extraordinary memory work, but I know some people who say that by the time they have done the CC memory stuff at home, that is all they have time for-no other school, and I don't want that.

[serendipitous journey]

I agree with boscopup & mama25angels: little ones quite naturally forget what they don't use regularly. I disagree with SWB on the "grammar" years as big memorization years, because the child's brains are so flexible that facts quickly are lost unless they are drilled, and it is time-consuming to keep lots of facts in those little heads.

 

We do memory work in grammar stage for things I want the child to retain NOW: some grammar, some math concepts, some science; we're adding poems soon, and will be doing quotes related to character. Those are things Button will benefit from having in his head, they make his work more enjoyable (math, grammar, science -- having facts at hand is useful) and his life richer (poetry, character). I myself plan to add more memory work with academic content in the Logic years when more of the work of memorizing can be handed off to the child, and also the level of analysis I expect in their academic work would benefit from having facts on hand.

 

that said, this thread reminds me that our schedule has changed and I haven't worked our memory work back into it -- need to fix that soonest!

[angelmama1209]

I disagree with memorizing things out of context, so no, we don't do much, and I'm fine with that. I'm constantly amazed at what my kids remember - that they actually understand - without spending time reciting things. We memorize math facts, and we'll work on foreign language stuff. We memorize grammar definitions as we learn them.

 

Obviously, CC wouldn't be a good fit for me. :D

 

YES! this is me! i just don't see the value of drilling and killing meaningless lists of words, numbers, facts, and figures without any context or understanding. :confused1: I learned a song of the presidents in order when i was in 7th grade. i still remember it to this day. while it's impressive when i can spout it off, i know NOTHING about the presidents! i can't tell you when they were in office, what important things they accomplished (with the obvious exceptions), who their vice presidents were, who they defeated, what party they were affiliated with, etc. i can't even identify them by their pictures. so what i now have is an impressive piece of useless trivia without any real knowledge or understanding of the important parts. :bored: i want more for my kids.

[Annabel Lee]

I disagree with memorizing things out of context, so no, we don't do much, and I'm fine with that. I'm constantly amazed at what my kids remember - that they actually understand - without spending time reciting things. We memorize math facts, and we'll work on foreign language stuff. We memorize grammar definitions as we learn them.

 

Obviously, CC wouldn't be a good fit for me. :D

 

This is why I decided against CC, too, after seriously considering it a couple years ago. I wasn't willing to change the content of my hs to follow CC's, and I just couldn't bring myself to devote so much time to memorization of what would be trivia to my kids without additional context.

 

My kids memorize verses for Awana, FLL poems & chants, and math facts. I've wanted to add more from other subjects but never made the time to figure out an organized, efficient way. The above idea of using a notebook with tabs for review is inspiring, though! Currently, they just go through their previous work in their notebooks for review, but not regularly. Thanks for the idea!

[Halcyon]

I do consistent memory work until about fifth grade when other work requirements take priority, and a lit of memorizatio begins to be more contextual. Things they memorize include prime numbers, poetry, latin declensions, order of operations, kings of Rome, world geography locations, capitals, the Gettysburg address, major dates in us history, parts of cells...most of these end up being in context, except poetry.

[MeganW]

We joined CC 15 months ago, but I had real concerns. My triplets have some developmental challenges due to premature birth, and for 2 of them remembering things was a real problem. They couldn't execute 2 step instructions, let alone remember lists of things. I really didn't think they had any chance of being successful in CC, but it was the only co-op around here, so we joined just to meet people.

 

Fast forward to today, and the brain training from CC has been truly unbelieveable. Not that I am a memory whiz or anything, but my kids can remember LOTS more than me. I really think the practice memorizing at CC has made all the difference. Their brains are stronger now than they were previously. And not just with dry facts - they are much more successful at dance, b/c they can remember the order of the routines. They have finally learned their church friends' names. They can remember the words to the songs in choir. Etc. etc.

 

I truly think that working this memory work has stretched their brains in new ways.

 

Also, whenever we come across something they have memorized for CC, they are SO much more interested in learning more about it!

 

I look back at the things I learned in science in high school, and I memorized them for the test and forgot them. I can't help but think that had I memorized them in elementary school, and reviewed them for years, maybe I would actually remember them now!

 

PS - as tedious and annoying as I think reviewing memory work is, my kids LOVE it. Truly. They LOVE it. They really enjoy feeling like they are so smart, that they know these facts. It's really given my kids confidence that they didn't have previously.

 

PPS - We only review in the car, so we aren't using time that we would use learning other things.

[serendipitous journey]

Megan, thank you for that perspective on memory work and CC particularly. It is wonderful to hear how well your triplets are doing, and the benefits you are noticing from their memory work are ones I'd not heard of before.

 

though we do audiobooks & composer study in the car, so memory work there would displace some learning ... there are never enough hours in the day!

[kdownie]

My knee-jerk reaction to memorization was "No!" because I memorized long, boring stuff back when I was in school. So, it is taking me some real effort to realize that memorization in itself can be a very good thing! DD memorizes short poems, lists of verbs etc (like in FLL) and some Bible verses. Once I get over my own issues with it, we will hopefully be more purposeful about it.

[violamama]

We use the cc stuff as a kind of spine for our school (so maybe our LA and math are the spinal chord? Or, like, platelets? quarks? what's more central than quarks?).

 

We memorize that week's words by repeating them in different ways (the silly voices dice are wildly popular), then do a little contextualizing, then a few activities, center our SOTW around the history sentence, etc. I'd say we spend about 20 minutes per school day on straight CC memorizing with another 20-30 minutes spent on building it into bigger topics. This doesn't count listening to the songs in the car or on their iPods.

 

Last year we did it in a much more half-hearted way and I put almost no effort into giving them context. They are still popping up with things they had learned and how it relates to the world around them. It kind of freaks me out sometimes, realizing how much they are actually listening & remembering... and they think it's fun.

[laughing lioness]

We've done CC with a group, on our own, and memory work on our own. I see the value of memorization. I don't necessarily like CC's memory work- CC is more of a memory program than a classical program per se. The value, for us, was learning HOW to memorize effectively. Here's a brief post about it and another and another and yet another (one of these is about CC, one about the diff between overview and memory, one about using a whiteboard, one is about "Memory as the Mother of Learning)

 

We've done the VP timeline. Our kids don't know it word perfect rigth now but they have an amazing understanding of where things "fit" in the timeline of history- they do have a timeline in their head and a whole bunch of "hooks" on which to hang new information. In conjuction with the VP cards, CC history sentences they have listened to SOTW so many times ds 12 had parts of it memorized. He finds discrepencies between them because he has them memorized- he wouldn't be able to do this if the info had been simply introduced to him and he had overviewd it, kwim?

 

Ds 18 has participated in a Shakespeare Camp for the last couple of years and I can watch and see his udnerstanding of the content and language GROW as he memorizes the lines.

 

This year my 2 youngest are very slowly memorizing Horatius at the Bridge from MP (It's 70+ verses- they are on verse 20). It's amazing how much vocab, geo, anc. lit they are getting because of the memory work.

 

I have CC to thank for my understanding and appreciation of memory work. And while we are not automaton's about it, we do a fair amount.

[happyWImom]

We've done CC with a group, on our own, and memory work on our own. I see the value of memorization. I don't necessarily like CC's memory work- CC is more of a memory program than a classical program per se. The value, for us, was learning HOW to memorize effectively. Here's a brief postabout it and another and another and yet another (one of these is about CC, one about the diff between overview and memory, one about using a whiteboard, one is about "Memory as the Mother of Learning)

 

We've done the VP timeline. Our kids don't know it word perfect rigth now but they have an amazing understanding of where things "fit" in the timeline of history- they do have a timeline in their head and a whole bunch of "hooks" on which to hang new information. In conjuction with the VP cards, CC history sentences they have listened to SOTW so many times ds 12 had parts of it memorized. He finds discrepencies between them because he has them memorized- he wouldn't be able to do this if the info had been simply introduced to him and he had overviewd it, kwim?

 

Ds 18 has participated in a Shakespeare Campfor the last couple of years and I can watch and see his udnerstanding of the content and language GROW as he memorizes the lines.

 

This year my 2 youngest are very slowly memorizing Horatius at the Bridge from MP (It's 70+ verses- they are on verse 20). It's amazing how much vocab, geo, anc. lit they are getting because of the memory work.

 

I have CC to thank for my understanding and appreciation of memory work. And while we are not automaton's about it, we do a fair amount.

 

Thanks for all of the great links!!! They were really helpful.

[laughing lioness]

ymvw :001_smile: !