mamabear2three Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Hit me with all your best options for memorizing scripture... I seem to fail miserably at this and I need that to change! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondchen Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I'm pretty happy with the way we do it, so I'll try to help. Here's our "system": 1. We work on scripture memory every day as a family, at the breakfast table. It is part of our LIFE, not our homeschool (this distinction is very important to us). 2. I choose a variety of passages that I want my kids to have tucked away (both short and long ones, both OT and NT) and we just work on a bit each day until the passage is memorized by everyone, and then we move on to another one. We review all the memorized passages at different intervals, according to the Simply Charlotte Mason memory system, which I highly recommend. It is awesome, and it's easy and cheap to set up. SCM has quite a few recommended passages, if you need that, but I am comfortable choosing my own. Some of our passages are one verse (like John 3:16) and we have also memorized entire Psalms (most recently Psalm 19, which even my 3yo can recite perfectly!). Currently we are memorizing Colossians 3:12-17. Those are just examples, of course. 3. I use our current scripture memory passage and/or a review one as a springboard for informal discussion, as I feel led, or as they have questions, which they often do since there are many words and concepts they don't understand yet, and their understanding is constantly growing and deepening. We just discuss and discuss as we please. This is such a rich time in our day! (Though of course there are days when they are staring out the window and just mindlessly reciting stuff, or being fidgety or whatever.) 4. We keep it short and simple. I don't overwhelm them with a lot at once so that it feels like too much work and drudgery, and I don't have time-based goals (like a certain number of verses per week or anything). I feel it is more important for them to internalize as much as possible rather than just be scripture memory machines. It's very flexible. 5. I don't underestimate my kids. I have been astounded at how much little ones can memorize when it's done consistently. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datimasa Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Totally agree with blondchen, esp IRT the SCM memory system. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 I tried setting up the SCM system once and it never got completed... Maybe that'll be my goal this time - to give it a chance. We've successfully memorized lots of scripture and poems in the past, I think part of my problem right now is that I was sick for all of December so I got out of the habits we had been working on and so I feel like I'm failing when in fact I just need to get focused on it again. Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 The only thing I have successfully used to get students memorizing a large body of scripture is these CDs http://www.joyfulnoisescripture.org Back in the 90s we had tapes, and then around Y2K we updated to CDs, and now I have mp3s. My current students find the songs a bit dated sounding, but they work. I've tried a LOT of stuff over the decades. This is the one that works best for me and mine. To just play the CDs and then after they have been heard and sung a LOT, start trying to memorize the scriptures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 We use the SCM system too, I get out our card box and we do it at the breakfast table before we clean up. If you like music, the Seeds CDs are good too. You can listen to them via the website for free. If you order a CD, they always send a second copy so if you know someone else who might want it, you can share the cost with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I was horrible at it also. This may be radical, but the only way I successfully do it is if it is included in the overall curriculum plan. I tried for years to get it on my own schedule with my hodgepodge of curriculum I had. I bought HOD. It has scripture memory integrated into the curriculum plan. For some reason, if I have a plan already written out, it keeps me weirdly accountable. I'm flakey like that. By the way, I didn't just buy HOD so I could get integrated scripture memory work. It was an extra bonus that it did have that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 The SCM method, coupled with scripturebox.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 For me, LOTS and LOTS of effort and a system, did produce steady and SLOOOOW progress. And the progress got SLOOOWER the more we tried to memorize. The students might groan at the above CDs, but if they hear them, and even more so if they SING them, they learn more faster. I've seen motivated and gifted children, be able to just memorize large volumes of scripture with enough repetition. But those children have been few and far between, in those *I* have been responsible for. I hate saying something that costs money is that much better than something free. :sad: I think some of the songs can be viewed for free at youtube. The CDs are by donation, but the suggested price can be steep for a low income family. I've always struggled with how much to pay. There are free scripture songs online here and there in different versions. My students like some of them more. I get tired though, of looking through them, and I'm familiar with what I have been using for SOOOO long. Music helps. For me, settling for whatever scriptures someone has put to music, rather than trying to put together something "complete" has produced more scripture learned. Just this week, I had to help a student settle on a memory plan. She has tried and failed other plans. I suggested that she just use a copy of my mp3s. I don't worry about copies for my students. Their sob stories are extreme, and I have bought THREE copies of these CDs that are available for donation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I tried setting up the SCM system once and it never got completed... Maybe that'll be my goal this time - to give it a chance. We've successfully memorized lots of scripture and poems in the past, I think part of my problem right now is that I was sick for all of December so I got out of the habits we had been working on and so I feel like I'm failing when in fact I just need to get focused on it again. Thanks :) I use something like this but I use a binder with days of the week tabs and dates of the month tabs so that I can print it out on the computer. It's more expensive, but worth it to me. I printed the days of the week, tabs myself but bought dividers at an office supply store for the days of the months--1-31 with cardstock dividers. Then I put all the memory work in plastic page protectors. And I don't have to worry about dropping a box of index cards!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThursdayNext Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Does anyone have tips for making it fun, besides music? We try to do a monthly mini binder system. But we also do verses in the minivan. As soon as I know a passage well enough to help, we say it to each other on our way to places. It really helps my daughter to speak up and not mumble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smfmommy Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 We just got the Scripture Talk Dvd. Mine like watching the children do the verses and they work on each verse separately or you can watch the whole passage together. It's nice to be able to have someone else do the repetitive practice while I let my voice rest from reading aloud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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