Four Moms: Memorization **And A Give Away!**

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and ME, at the Common Room

This week we are discussing memorization.

Obviously, or at least it seems to me something I would take for granted about my family, most of our memory work has focused on scripture memory, although we do take breezy little trips off into the realm of poetry memorization and the memorizing of Shakespeare, and we often speak in movie quote, although this is spontaneous rather than planned.

However, most of what follows could be used just as well whether you are memorizing the first of the Psalms, a Hamlet soliloquy, or a Yeats poem, although obviously (there's that word again), I think one of them is more important than the others. These tips are probably a bit much for the memorizing of grocery lists, and if you want help with memorizing your kids names, I am not your woman. Some days around here we resort to Thing Four and Thing Five. Of course I am joking. You think I can remember their birth order?

I have a couple of guidelines which we more or less loosely try to follow when memorizing scriptures.

Don't let the music overpower the lyrics if you are using verses set to music: I do like Bible verses set to music, but for memorization purposes, not when set to complicated music, not to music where the recording is so jazzed up and spazzed out that the instrumentation overwhelms or just outshines the lyrics. I like it simple, so I can focus on the words- we're memorizing the words, after all.

Context matters: I don't much like verses out of context, but of course, all verses memorized in singlets, as they must be at some point, will be out of context. But still, if you're memorizing verses by topic, don't take them out of context and apply one topic to a verse that isn't related. Confusing? Here's an example of what I mean- a friend of mine attended a catechism class for potential, well, whatever- new members? Converts? Not sure, it wasn't a church I've had much to do with. They were to memorize questions and answers, both of which had verses attached. One of the verses to memorize was Acts 2:37,' when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter, brothers what must we do to be saved?'

They were also supposed to memorize the answer to that question- that is, question and answer, both verses, were memorized as a matching set. Except the answer to be memorized wasn't the very next verse,where Peter answers the question, it was some other verse from another book, from another place and context altogether, and had nothing to do with Peter's answer to the question.

I've also seen a couple verses from Job quoted authoritatively, when the statements made in those verses are made by Job's comforters, about whom God said nothing that they said is true.

Don't confuse the topic: For the most part, I like memory work to be memory work, not diluted by something else. That is, while we do use Bible verses for handwriting practice, I personally don't think that this is all that effective for memory work, though as you'll see below, I think it could be different with typing practice.

So... how? Basically, memorization requires repetition and some regularity. There really aren't huge shortcuts (as in so much of life). There are some helps.

• You can use this free memory verse box system. This would work,by the way, for any memory work- speeches, poems, grammar rules.

• You can type up (or find online and paste to a document) the things you want to memorize with the children, print them out, cut them up and paste to index cards to use with the above system, or you can laminate them, punch a hole in the corner, attach them to a d-ring, and have portable memory verses..

• Write out the verse on a white board or chalkboard. Read it aloud. Erase all the one letter words, read it aloud, inserting the missing words orally. Erase all the two letter words, repeat. Three letter words, repeat. I also erase the reference last. If it's a long verse or we are pressed for time, I will erase all 1 and two letter words, then all three and four letter words.

• Same concept, but write out each word on a separate index card. Lay them out, then take turns removing an index card, and reading the entire verse as though the missing word were still there.

• Say a verse loudly, then whisper it, then shout it.

• Take turns repeating a memory verse at the table at dinnertime.

• Print out a longer passage for memory work, cut it apart so each line is on a single strips and put the strips in order.

• Here's an idea I just found on this website:

write (or type) the passage on a practice sheet in full, word-for-word. On the opposite side of the page, write (or type) it out in verse-by-verse format, but only providing the first letter of each word, the capitalizations and punctuation. After reviewing the full-text version, turn the page over and try to do the first-letter version.

• If that sounds intriguing to you, then you'll love this- it has a handy tool that converts a chunk of text into a chunk of first letters of each word for you.

• Put the verse to music. The easiest way to do this is to find somebody else who already has. Abe and Liza Philip did this with over two dozen verses on God's Word from A to Z (full disclosure- they sent me a free CD several months ago. Also full disclosure- my godson Blynken asked for Psalm 34:15 to be replayed all the way home, a distance of some 20 miles, one night. I love John 3:16, and if you can resist singing along to 'o give thanks unto the Lord,' well, you're a stronger and possibly more sour woman than I. Or maybe you just have laryngitis. I guess I won't judge)

Here you may freely download 24 verses set to music.

There are a number of longer passages in the NIV set to music here, also free. The quality of the sound isn't the greatest, but if you open your Bible or an online bible program to the passage and follow along as they sing, you should have no trouble.

• Use tunes you already know- you could use the tune of Ring around the Rose to sing "In the beginning/God created/ the Heavens and the earth/Genesis 1:1" It's not particularly inspired match, that tuen and that verse, but it works well enough to help memorize it quickly.

• If you want to combine scripture memory with some typing drill, this is a neat free program.

Other Resources:

Navigator Press' Topical Memory System has been around for a long time, although I've never used it, I've seen excellent reviews (just don't get the Kindle version).

Bible Memory System. Illustrated Mem-lok. God's Word Changing the Heart

Memlock has been a favorite of many for year, although, again, I've never used it.

Another sort of memorization- the Bible chronology box is cool.

What about you? What are your success tips for memorization?

~ ~ ~ ~ The Four Moms Are Doing Another Give Away! ~ ~ ~

What's more... it's a give away with two winners! You could win either:

a) The God's Word From A to Z CD (why, yes, the very one mentioned earlier in this post. It sounded good, didn't it? :)

or

b) One of the Psalms CDs (Pure Words, Ascending, or Songs from the 40s, 50s, and 6os) from Jamie Soles ~ I've been listening to Ascending on and off almost all day and really liking it. His style reminds me a bit of Michael Card and I love how he's taken the Psalms of Ascent and grouped them together into an album. Personally, I think it would make for an excellent and meaningful study period for a teenager to combine this album along with the reading of Eugene Peterson's A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, which is also based on those Psalms.

The Small Print & How To Enter:

~ A to Z CD winner must be a resident of the United States

~ Psalms CD winner resident of the United States or Canada

~ winners will be chosen at random

Four Ways To Enter!

1) Leave us a comment (we really do love to hear back from our readers!)

2) Subscribe to this blog (it's an option on the sidebar... and you've been meaning to do it for a while anyway, right? :)

3) Tweet a link to this post *or* like us on Facebook if you're not a twitterer

4) Facebook a link to this post

Please leave us a separate comment for each thing you've done so we can better keep track of entries. :)

Aaand the winners will be announced next week in the next Four Moms post!

(full disclosure: most of this post written by the DHM, but contest information entered by the HG as the DHM is somewhere without internet access for part of this week. Thus, the HG takes full responsibility for any issues with this post :)

Comments are now closed.  Winner to be announced later today (October sixth)