Scripture memory with littles

[daniela_r]

Our dds are 5 1/2 and 4 next month.  (Our son is newly 2, but I don't care about Scripture memory for him yet.)  I would love to get more into a groove with memorizing Scripture with our girls.  We didn't do any memorizing before this year, and this year they've learned (more or less, anyway) 3 Psalms and about 10 verses.  Here's some questions I have:

1) Our girls really don't remember references. at. all.  Do you think this matters for littles?  After all, "Psalm 119:105" is like so much gobbltey-gook to the not-yet-4-year-old who can't count past 20 ;)   I wonder if it might be valuable to try instead to get them to remember that a verse is "something Jesus said" or "something from one of the beautiful Psalms that King David wrote"?

2) Our older daughter memorizes much faster than her younger sister.  This could be age or natural ability, I don't care which, I just wonder how to handle it.  Keep working on a verse until the younger has learned it, or move more at the older's pace, or just work with them on different verses?  With their close age (21 months) and personalities, they tend to comparison and competition ("Mommy, she didn't say that right like I did, did she?").  Somehow, I haven't been able to get them to recite something together or in unison with me; we just take turns saying it.
3) I'd like some kind of system for reviewing.  But how do you actually review?  What if they've mostly forgotten it, do you keep reviewing it for a few days?  I've seen some ideas for review systems, but I don't see how those systems work for reviewing passages (like Psalm 1 or Psalm 23) versus individual verses.  Seems like a passage would take longer to review, yes?
4) What do you work towards anyway for littles?  So far, I've considered a verse "learned" by dd5 if she can keep going mostly word-perfect after I say the first word or two, and "learned" by dd3 if she can say something that is mostly correct, with maybe one small hint.  Like, if dd5 says "light to my path" instead of "light for my path", I figure that's great.  And if dd3 switches the order to "light to my feet and lamp to my path", I figure that's fine.
5) I've seen lots of people recommend music for memorizing Scripture.  Does that mean that you just play Scripture memory songs, or that you actively work together on learning those songs, or what exactly?
6) Finally, how do you work Scripture memory in to your day?  Especially if it is (or has been) a struggle for you?  It's really important to me, but I'm mostly in survival mode and am dropping even important things all the time.  (In addition to 3 littles, I'm expecting again, and we live in a 3rd-world country.)

Thanks in advance!!

[Mom2TheTeam]

Do you have any churches around that offer AWANA?  The kids learn verses and earn badges for saying them.  They also play and have fun at club.  My kids LOVE it.  This has really helped for getting my kids memorizing a lot of verses.  We also do work it into our school work, but it's included.  I don't have to put much thought into it.

 

To answer some of your questions:

 

1. Personally, I do think the references matter even if they don't get them down cold.  I like to have mine say the reference with them for practice and exposure even the 3 year olds who I know won't really get the reference.  Plus, I think it lays the foundation for making sure they know the reference is important later.  As a 35 year old who learned a TON of verses, but did not focus on the references, I can tell you that not knowing the references is frustrating for me.

 

2.  I would pick a time frame, like one week, and memorize a specific verse for the week.  At the end of the week, I would move on no matter who knew the verse.  I have spoken to my oldest on more than one occasion about the age difference and people being different in general and not making our siblings feel badly because they aren't quite as good at it.  21 months makes a big difference at 5 and almost 4.  I have 5 memorizing.  They rarely say it together even though I want them to. They are getting better at that though.  My 5 year olds often do theirs together now.  This is one way that AWANA is helpful.  Your children would learn verses at their own level.  Your 5 year old would be in Sparks and your almost 4 year old in Cubbies.  They would learn their own verses that are geared toward their age.

 

3.  We just review things periodically.  You could review verses on Mondays or something like that.  AWANA has review built in.

 

4.  I get stricter and stricter with learning it exactly as they get older.  My 8 year old is required to say it perfectly.  My 6 year olds (turned 6 today) have to be pretty close.  My 3 year olds can vary a bit, but I do correct them when it isn't word for word.  I aim for word for word with all of them.  But, there is a time-frame for learning our school verses, a week or so.  They work on getting it the best they can in that time-frame.

 

5.  I don't use music unless I happen to already know a song for it that I learned in church or growing up.  We just repeat it.  I DO use a song for the books of the Bible.  I find it helped me a lot when I was learning them.  So, we do that for those, but not for most verses.

 

6.  We do our verses first.  Bible is the first thing we do every day. I have 6 kids all 8 and under including twins who turned 6 today, twins who are 3 and a 14 month old.  I definitely get being in survival mode and struggling to get things done, even when they feel very important.  I have learned that whatever gets done first, gets done. Bible and verses are the most important thing I teach my children.  Therefore, we do it first.  Also, AWANA holds us accountable when it comes to verses.

 

Hope that helps.  :)

[Twigs]

Here are a couple of resources.

 

Scripture Memory Fellowship

Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System

 

As far as learning references, the most I would require is the book and chapter. I don't think you really gain anything by memorizing each and every verse number. (Chapter and verse numbers were added much later than the writings.)

 

His Word in My Heart is a great reference for memorizing Scripture, but more for an adult than a child.

 

Best Wishes.

[snickerplum]

I agree with AWANA. I think you can buy the books and cds even if you don't join a club and just want to work on the verses at home. So, my thoughts on your questions.... :)
1. When they're little and just starting to learn verses, I personally don't think references are crazy important. When they're old enough for it not to be difficult then yes, they need to know it, but right now I find it more important that they know the verse itself. It's better for them to remember that "Jesus said..." than to be frustrated trying to learn a reference. And in AWANA, Cubbies aren't required to know the reference. Kindergarten age and up are.

2. Learning at their own pace is fine. Daughter 2 can't learn as fast or say it the same? That's okay. Let daughter 1 know that "she'll say it like you when she's your age."

3. I don't know about review. Like the PP said, AWANA does verse reviews, so you could really do the review from the book if you'd like. Otherwise, you could just periodically throw some old verses out there to go over.

4.  For the little children, the verses are shortened. Even for our K'er daughter who has some delay, they've provided shortened verses for her. Some may disapprove with that, but I'd rather her learn the short way and "hide it in her heart" and feel confident enough to press on than to push for her to learn the long way and lose heart.
5. My oldest daughter will learn anything that is put to music. So we buy the cd that goes with her book every year. While most kids "pass" 1 or 2 sections each Wednesday, mine will pass between 4 and 12. A good bit of the credit goes to the music. I mean, think of how quickly children learn commercial jingles and other songs. I think it's a great way. Also, Steve Green has some super Scripture cds  called Hide 'Em in Your Heart. Great stuff.

6. We just do it like other subjects. That's not too helpful, but it's true. Sometimes we'll go over things at dinner, so Daddy can hear, too.
I think it's great that you want to start so early! :)

[Dory]

I think references are important. They might not understand them now, but eventually they will know what they mean and actually be able to look things up. Verses I don't see as necessary to remember especially if it's hard for the littles. If they at least know the chapter, they can look things up to find context when they get older.

 

Our memorization goes like this.

 

I have a recipe box with index cards in it. It has dividers labeled even, odd, weekly, monthly, 6 months, and yearly. I have three different colors of index cards and each child has a different color so that they are learning verses that work for them. Sometimes that is the same verse, sometimes not. We will have one verse in even days and one in odd. Once they have gotten a verse correctly for two days, it gets moved to the weekly spot. At the end of the week we review the verses in the weekly spot. Once they are getting them consistently after not saying them all week, we move them to the monthly spot. We review the monthly verses at the end of the month and if they get them correct I put a pencil mark at the top. Two marks and they get moved to the six months spot and the pencil marks erased (I remark when they get them right in the six month spot). It becomes a game at the end of the year to see how many we can remember from the yearly spot. No pressure. If they have forgotten some verses I just move them back to the beginning for us to slowly put through the system the next year.

 

My kids have managed to put a lot of verses into their little minds with this system and actually remember them long term. They are 10, 8, and 6 and I started them on the system when they turned 2 or 3 (both of the boys were 3). Although at that age it was just half verses and I wasn't picky about small mess ups.

[KrissiK]

A Beka has some nice cards for the preschool set that I use. It has a picture on the front and the verse on the back. They're pretty short. I just go over them a couple times a week with my preschooler and she picks them up. I do think the reference is important. Maybe not for them at that age per se, but it's a good habit to get into. That way you can differentiate between actual Scripture verses (they come with a reference) and a pithy saying that many people attribute to Scripture (The Lord helps them that helps themselves).

[vonfirmath]

Our dds are 5 1/2 and 4 next month.  (Our son is newly 2, but I don't care about Scripture memory for him yet.)  I would love to get more into a groove with memorizing Scripture with our girls.  We didn't do any memorizing before this year, and this year they've learned (more or less, anyway) 3 Psalms and about 10 verses.  Here's some questions I have:

 

1) Our girls really don't remember references. at. all.  Do you think this matters for littles?  After all, "Psalm 119:105" is like so much gobbltey-gook to the not-yet-4-year-old who can't count past 20 ;)   I wonder if it might be valuable to try instead to get them to remember that a verse is "something Jesus said" or "something from one of the beautiful Psalms that King David wrote"?

 

In AWANAs, Cubbies, they have 3 and 4 year olds.

 

They expect 4 year olds to memorize references, not 3 year olds. (if that helps)  It's also a good source of age appropriate verses.

 

Even if the kids do not understand completely what Psalm 119:105 means, it starts setting the stage.  As much as possible, when younger, the first thing we did when memorizing was open the Bible and I'd show the child how I found it.  here's the book of PSalms. Chapter 119. Verse 105. And read it directly from the Bible like that.

 

In Kindergarten (age 5) AWANA sparKs has kids learning the New testament books. And Old Testament in 1st grade. (This is where my son is now)

 

http://thecommonroomblog.com/2013/02/bible-for-grade-schoolers.html 

http://thecommonroomblog.com/2010/03/morning-bible-class-in-our-homeschool.html

Here is stuff from The Common Room about how they do verses. She had a wide range of ages.

[happi duck]

...

Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System

 

...

 

I really like this one and wish we would have known about it when the kids were younger.  

 

I like the review and the ability to see all that has been accomplished.  

 

I would probably do different colored cards for each kid or a different box for each kid.  That way they can go at their own paces and not need to wait for each other.  If they are comparing it might be nice to have each child work on verses in a different order so that they are not working on the same ones at the same time.

 

As far as memorizing the reference...I wish I had learned those as a kid.  I remember things but can never find them.

[Ottakee]

Lots of good advice here. I agree with AWANA as a great program and using the music CDs. As for the reference, I think book and chapter is enough as then it is easy to find when they want to look it up.

 

I think you could give them each their own thing to memorize, esp. if you did AWANA as then there is less competition and the younger can feel good about her learning instead of always being behind older dd.

[Mom2TheTeam]

5. My oldest daughter will learn anything that is put to music. So we buy the cd that goes with her book every year. While most kids "pass" 1 or 2 sections each Wednesday, mine will pass between 4 and 12. A good bit of the credit goes to the music. I mean, think of how quickly children learn commercial jingles and other songs. I think it's a great way. Also, Steve Green has some super Scripture cds  called Hide 'Em in Your Heart. Great stuff.

 

 

That's great yours like the music. Music actually throws my kids off because they are too busy trying to get the melody right and miss the words.  LOL! We have those CD's and mine complain when I try to put them on.  :(

 

Mine have no trouble doing 4+ sections a week without music...except for the books of the Bible.  They need them for those.  My K'ers are done with their book (finished last week).  I did not mean to have them go that fast.  It just happened.  My 2nd grader is doing both the 1st and 2nd grade book this year.  He finished the 1st grade book in 3 weeks and is over halfway through the 2nd grade book.   He wasn't in Sparks in K and they didn't realize he was in 1st last year.  So, last year, he only did the K book plus K review book and did nothing for several weeks at the end because they refused to let him go to the next book...they have since realize he should have been allowed to start his 1st grade book and apologized.  So, in order to finish all 3 books plus review books and get all the patches and awards, he has to do both the 1st and 2nd grade books plus those review books this year. He is very determined. 

 

Anyway, I'm rambling as I tend to do.  :blush:  Point is OP should try it both ways.  Music works great for some kids and not for others. It works well for me.  I have a knack for memorizing lyrics.  But, my kids are opposite. 

[ScoutTN]

We use the Simply Charlotte Mason system for reviewing. 

I love the Fighter verses from Children Desiring God. They have a set for preschoolers. Comes on a key ring. Easy to get one for each of your girls. 

I do think references are important. We say them before and after the text. 

 

Steve Green's Hide 'Em In Your Heart CDs are great catchy memory verse songs. Seeds Family Worship CDs are more upbeat, less little kid music, but not as catchy IMO. 

 

 

 

[hillfarm]

I was amazed to discover how much my dd could memorize at a very young age. Back when she was in the terrible twos I used to tell her a story or read a poem or something each night before bed. We reached a point where I was so tired and out of material that I resorted to something I had memorized - the 23rd Psalm. That was my backup for a few weeks, when I couldn't think of anything else.

 

One evening, with her little hands on her hips, she declared that SHE would be saying the verse that night. I said, "Okay fine, young lady, have at it." I wasn't expecting much at all.

 

I nearly fell on the floor when she was able to recite the whole Psalm word for word! I never would have expected a 2yo to be able to memorize something that long, and I would have thought someone a tiger mom for even trying to get that much out of a toddler. But obviously, they are capable of it. I heard it with my own ears.

 

So don't count your little one out. I wouldn't go into it with any expectations for her, but I wouldn't automatically count it a lost cause for her either. Who knows what these little sponges can soak in???

[daniela_r]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful advice and ideas!!  I really appreciate the input!!

 

Several of you mentioned AWANA.  Unfortunately, we live overseas and have no access to an AWANA program.  I did look on-line at getting the books and CDs though to do at home; we might do that in the future.

 

Thanks especially for the idea of learning the book and chapter of the reference but not the verse - I hadn't thought of that but it makes a lot of sense for younger dd!  And thanks for the advice to check out Children Desiring God's Fighter Verses.  I looked at that today and ended up buying the Fighter Verses app - and I really like it!  I think it will be super helpful!  Thanks so much!!

 

And, hillfarm, thanks for remembering our 2-year-old.  I definitely agree that 2-year-olds can often memorize a surprising amount.  However, our little guy is 26 months and not there yet verbally.  Maybe in another 6 months or so.  For example, he still answers a question with "yeah" if he's in a good mood and "NO!" if he's not, regardless of what he actually wants or doesn't want :laugh:  I do think though that he's bound to be absorbing something from all that he hears during the girls' Bible time.

 

[jelbe5]

We use a book called "Sword Fighting" by Karyn Henley. The book focuses on one verse for a week for 52 weeks. Every day there is a short scripture reading that supports the "theme" of the memory verse. I see it listed on Amazon for $15.29.

[Susan in TN]

I like memorizing longer passages with my kids over a longer period of time - Psalm 24, Prov. 2:1-11, Ephesians 2:1-10, Romans 8:26-39, etc. For the littler ones, I try to have them learn key words, so I say part of a phrase and they finish it, or insert words: "In the Beginning was the (Word), and the Word was (with God), and the Word (was God)." This way they can learn right along with the olders and eventually they will likely learn the whole passage, even if they can't yet verbalized it all.