The Perfect Gift for Imperfect Families
December 24, 2008 by Beth
Have you ever looked at another family and easily recognized things that inspired you and made you wish your family could be like that? I am not talking about material things, but the things that money can’t buy. Sometimes instead of being encouraged by their life it does more to discourage you. Maybe you aren’t able to homeschool and wish that you could or maybe your husband is not able to be at home as much as you would like or maybe you are a single mom and just wish that there was a husband.
I recently had an inspirational revelation. I saw a ruler. The ruler was measuring everything that I wanted for my family. As I looked closer I could see that in my natural ability and circumstances it did not measure up to the dreams and desires I had for my children. And then I saw something happen to that faulty measurement. In the place where my ability stopped, God’s grace continued. And because of his grace I saw that the ruler now reached the full measurement. It wasn’t that something magical happened because of God but my eyes were opened as I realized that God does the impossible with our inability and our lack.
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. II Corinthians 12:9 NKJV
It is so easy for us to take stock of our lives and become quickly discouraged by what is lacking. That is when I thrive on stories that are full of hope despite the hopeless circumstances. These stories are encouraging because the individuals should not have succeeded. Mom had no choice and had to work. There was no father in the home and the wallet was empty.
Joel Chandler Harris, the author of the famous Uncle Remus Tales, comes to mind. Being born out of wedlock and abandoned by his biological father, his single mother had nothing to offer him monetarily. Because of this he grew up in close proximity to the slave quarters. It was during these early years that Joel heard stories being told in the ancient African Storytelling tradition that would later inspire him to become known as a master story teller and writer. One of his final jobs was working for what today is known as The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NKJV
What if the very thing you loathe and despise is going to be the catalyst for something good? That is what grace does. It takes the seemingly useless things like mud and spit and when it is placed in God’s hands it can heal a blind man. This Christmas as you measure your goals, dreams and desires for you and your family, don’t be discouraged by where the line falls. We all fall short. But remember that we have all been given the gift of God’s unmerited and undeserved grace. And wherever you see lack I want you to picture God’s grace to use all of those things for good. That is a promise we can stand on and one that gives us hope not just for today but for the outcome in our children’s lives tomorrow.
Beth discovered how fun learning can be when she began homeschooling in 2003. She considers homeschooling to be a treasured blessing.On the path with her are her 2 boys and husband John, who is her biggest supporter and fan. Somehow she has enabled her frog loving outdoor boys to love tough subjects like Latin, Writing and Grammar. (She is not kidding!) Now if she could only get them to eat all their vegetables. Beth loves capturing life’s precious moments with her camera and decorating them with Photoshop. You can visit her blog at Pages of Our Life.
How Questions Empower Our Teaching
November 1, 2008 by Beth
How Questions Can Empower Our Teaching
All of us know how to ask our kids questions like, “Did you clean your room?” Or “Did you finish your homework?” But do we know how to ask the kind of questions that encourage our kids to think and take us straight to their heart?
Questions Empower us to Open Doors to Our Children’s Hearts
Questions can be powerful. One of the lessons I have learned along the way is that a good question can be a powerful tool to open up the door to your child’s heart. Some of our most meaningful lessons have come from conversations that began with a simple question.
Recently, one of my sons returned from a playdate angered over the fact that one of the boys told him he couldn’t play in his room. I found out later that my son had opened up a board game in the middle of where the other boy’s were playing battlefield. Instead of rebuking my son’s attitude and telling him what he did wrong I began asking him a few questions. Son, how would you feel if you were playing baseball and some kids came and set up a pool on your field? Then I asked, “How do you think those boys felt when you put your game in the middle of their playing area?” He began thinking about that and realized how wrong his attitude was and that his anger was a result of his own actions. In the midst of questioning his heart more he told me, “Mom, I need to call him back and apologize.”
It would have been easy for me to have gotten upset with him over this and just corrected him skipping over the heart of the matter. But by asking a few simple questions it gave me the opportunity to disciple my child’s heart. Allow questions to empower you to open doors to your child’s heart.
We all want our kids to develop good thinking skills apart from their peers. A good question does that. It creates an opportunity for them to process information and think on their own. In order to build thinking skills this needs to be something we learn to incorporate with everything we do. A question can also point their attention to something they would have never noticed. One of the ways we can do this is by being aware of teachable moments throughout our day.
During our read aloud time with our children we have an excellent opportunity to pull significant thought provoking questions from our reading and create teachable moments. Have you ever been reading a story when something captured your attention? These are great moments to stop and ask a question. The great preacher George Whitfield was once a stone throwing, mischievous little boy. During one of his altercations in the story we stopped and I asked the boys several questions like, “Why do you think he was acting like this?” Even as a young ruffian he was an influential leader. Seeing this we talked about the power of influence both for good and bad. By using a question I was able to point out something I wanted them to ponder and create a teachable moment.
Stories provide excellent material for probing questions like, “What would you have done?” or “Was that a good decision that he made and why?” Be prepared to have some wonderful conversations with your kids when you do this. The lessons from these rabbit trails are so precious.
Questions Empower Our Children to Develop Self Expression and Elocution
Elocution simply means the art of speaking and communicating well. I don’t know about you but I still struggle with adequately expressing myself at times. Asking our kids challenging questions not only makes them think but requires them to put those thoughts into words and communicate back to us. This takes practice. When I don’t understand what my child is trying to communicate, I will kindly tell them to say it another way. With my boys I make the point to have them slow down and speak clearly without mumbling.
When a child is more introverted they especially need their parents to give them opportunities for self expression. They need to know that their thoughts and voice are just as important as their sibling who may seem to never stop talking.
One of the ways we provide time to do this is by having a “tea time” boy’s style with hot chocolate instead of tea. The boys bring the books that they are currently reading and we discuss them. I make it a point to teach them to listen to one another, respect each other and to also ask each other questions. They have loved this new family tradition and so have I.
So, do you purposefully use questions with your kids? Do you ask questions as part of the learning process and if so what does it look like at your house?
Beth discovered how fun learning can be when she began homeschooling in 2003. She considers homeschooling to be a treasured blessing.On the path with her are her 2 boys and husband John, who is her biggest supporter and fan. Somehow she has enabled her frog loving outdoor boys to love tough subjects like Latin, Writing and Grammar. (She is not kidding!) Now if she could only get them to eat all their vegetables. Beth loves capturing life’s precious moments with her camera and decorating them with Photoshop. You can visit her blog at Pages of Our Life.
Giveaway: First Language Lessons of the WTM
September 23, 2008 by The Amies
**The winner is Nikki (aka nikkiculture).
Today we are giving away a copy of First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, Levels 1 & 2, written by Jessie Wise.
Parents can assure their child’s success in language arts with this simple-to-use, scripted guide. First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind uses picture study and other classical techniques to develop the child’s language study in those first two all-important years of school. Each lesson leads the parent, step-by-step, through the simple oral and written projects that build reading, writing, spelling, storytelling, and comprehension skills. Use this book to supplement school learning, or as the center of a home-school language arts course.
About the Author
Jessie Wise, a former teacher, is a home educational consultant, speaker, and co-author of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, a book which has rapidly become an educational standard.
Read a review by HOTM guest reviewer Sarah Small.
To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below. Comments will be closed Friday, September 26th at 10pm EST and the winner will be announced on Sunday in our new weekly newsletter. You can sign up by entering your email address in over in the right sidebar.
As always please make sure you leave your email address or that it is clearly listed on your profile or blog. If we can’t email you, you can’t win.
A Pair of Classical Tales
June 21, 2008 by Guest
Are you looking to introduce or supplement your study of the culture of ancient Rome or Greece? If so, look to these two books by Caroline Dale Snedeker, a Newberry-Award winning author, who painstakingly researched and studied the time periods of the settings of her novels.
Published posthumously, Lysis Goes to the Play is a short novel about a young Greek boy who is looking forward to attending his first play with his father. Disappointed when something comes up and his father has to cancel the outing, Lysis decides to disguise his sister Callisto as a boy and attend the theater performace with her. Although I felt that the characters could use more development, this 62-page book alludes to important aspects of Greek culture and historical figures. The pagan religious customs, the roles for males and females, the social hierarchy, and the architecture and art of ancient Greece included in the book would make excellent discussion starters. You will be delighted to see Athenian greats, such as Sophocles, Pericles, and Euripedes, through Lysis’s eyes.
A novel about Rome, rather than Greece, is A Triumph for Flavius, written by Snedeker when she was 82. Longer than Lysis Goes to the Play, this novel’s ninety-four pages also include more character development. The novel opens with the triumphal return of Flavius’s father, Lucius Mummius, who has defeated Corinth. Mummius has brought his son a “souvenir,” a princely Corinthian slave by the name of Ariphron. Flavius is torn by the pride of owning this important conquest and the fear and awe that Ariphron instills. The novel follows the slowly building friendship of Flavius and Ariphron, all the while giving us glimpses into the culture of ancient Rome. Roman warfare, architecture, religious beliefs, schooling, and the dynamics between slaves and masters are explored. Flavius undergoes a a dynamic change from the beginning of the book to the end in how he views Ariphron.
Both of these excellent examples of historical fiction are recommended for Grades 3-5. Happy reading!
The Price of Professional Development
May 20, 2008 by Andrea
Please welcome guest contributor Andrea to Heart of the Matter! We are sure you will all be blessed as she reminds us of the importance of taking care of ourselves! Thank you Andrea.
There is an old phrase called ‘Mother Culture’ used by homeschoolers who follow a Charlotte Mason approach to education. I ran a google search on the Ambleside Online site and was surprised to find that Charlotte Mason herself did not use the term, it appeared only in a parent’s review article.
Is there not some need for “mother culture”? …Then she can listen to her children, and perhaps do a little thinking–not about frocks and foods, but about characters, and how to deal with them; or she can take a book, and “grow” that way.
From a Parent’s Review article, 1892-93
The term irks me somewhat. It conjures up meanings in my mind that are completely contrary to what is intended by the phrase. Each time I hear the term ‘mother culture’ I cannot help but think of the ‘mommy eating bonbons and watching soap operas’ stereotype, the mommy wars between the stay at home and working mothers, the mommies carting their children to preschool dance classes and infant swim lessons. I think of what the concept of ‘mother’ is in our current culture. Instead, ‘Mother culture’ is actually meant to convey the idea that mothers should take some time out of ‘mothering’ to read books, go for walks, explore their own interests.
So, when I hear the term ‘mother culture’ I mentally substitute ‘professional development’, which might not accurately represent the concept either. As a teacher, whether it is of my own children or of other people’s children, I am a professional. It took awhile to get out of the ‘I’m just a housewife’ mind set, but it was very helpful once I did.
The wisest woman I ever knew–the best wife, the best mother, the best mistress, the best friend–told me once, when I asked her how, with her weak health and many calls upon her time, she managed to read so much, “I always keep three books going–a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel, and I always take up the one I feel fit for.
Taken from the same article as the above passage.
Last summer I picked up a copy of a book called ‘The Well-Educated Mind’. It is a reading guide to the great books of classic literature for adults. I started at the beginning of her list with Don Quixote. It took me almost 4 months to finish that book. I soon saw the wisdom in having several books on the go.
I’m now working my way through Jane Eyre (I skipped a few books in between). It is challenging to find time in the day to read the classics. I had grabbed a moment on the weekend when the boys were visiting their grandparents. The house was calm and quiet, except for the Chickadee, who would appear halfway through each paragraph with her loud and demanding requests, “Want cereal!“, “Diaper!”, “Outside!”, “Stroller!”, “Want cereal!”. I finally relented by handing her a mostly empty container of Rice Krispies.
I returned to my novel, snuggled a little deeper into the couch, and managed to read a good section of the book, uninterrupted at last. Every now and then I would sneak a glance at the Chickadee. She was contentedly shoveling Rice Krispie dust into her mouth, most of which was making a sizeable mess on the carpet. Her little arm would reach down into the depths of the container as she tried to extract every last bit of crunchy goodness.
When she had finished, most of my living room carpet was covered with a fine layer of Rice Krispie powder. However, I did find out whether or not Jane married Mr. Rochester in the end.
Andrea is mom to 3 young children, ages 5, 3 and 18 months. They began homeschooling a year ago when they took their oldest son out of Junior Kindergarten. Before embarking on her adventures in motherhood, Andrea was a public school teacher and a park naturalist. The family resides in beautiful Canada. Visit Andrea and her beautiful children at Kids and Nature.
Memorable Poetry
March 19, 2008 by Marsha
Life just gets busy sometimes– so busy that I had forgotten how lovely a poem could be. One of my favorite writers is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow… The Wreck of the Hesperus, The Village Blacksmith, Paul Revere’s Ride, Hiawatha… I first enjoyed all of these when I was in 5th grade. I found this new-to-me poem by Longfellow and thought I’d share. It totally makes me think of my boys and how fleeting their childhood really is!
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A gentle boy, with soft and silken locks,
A dreamy boy, with brown and tender eyes,
A castle-builder, with his wooden blocks,
And towers that touch imaginary skies.
A fearless rider on his father’s knee,
An eager listener unto stories told
At the Round Table of the nursery,
Of heroes and adventures manifold.
There will be other towers for thee to build;
There will be other steeds for thee to ride;
There will be other legends, and all filled
With greater marvels and more glorified.
Build on, and make thy castles high and fair,
Rising and reaching upward to the skies;
Listening to voices in the upper air,
Nor lose thy simple faith in mysteries.
Critical Thinking – NOT Magical Thinking
March 17, 2008 by Cheryl
When I first started homeschooling five years ago, I picked up a book called The Well Trained Mind - a guide to giving your child a classical education at home. This book set the foundation for my homeschool approach and gave me a solid plan to start out on this homeschooling adventure. Since then I have moved away slightly from the classical methods outlined in this book and have now become somewhat eclectic in my homeschool approach.
Filed away in the recess of my mind though was some information I gleamed from the book about teaching our children to think critically once they reach a certain age. Since my oldest daughter is now eleven I’ve been keeping a keen eye out for signs that she may be ready to start thinking on a more critical level. According to most classical models, this logic stage can happen between the ages 10 and 13. This is not a post so much about The Well Trained Mind, nor is it a post about the classical model of teaching. It is a post however, about the importance of instructing our children in the skill of being able to think logically – through deduction and reasoning. We refer to this as critical thinking. It is a skill that is not taught in most schools, and it is a skill that is absolutely foundational in order to support an argument or belief system.
Over the last year I’ve been drawn to certain kinds of books for my own reading. Books like It Couldn’t Just Happen by Lawrence O. Richards, and more recently – The Lie Evolution by Ken Ham. I am acutely aware of God’s prompting and leading in the very foundational topic of creation vs. evolution. How we view the world in many subjects of education, stems from one’s core belief system. However, this is not a post about arguing creation vs. evolution, it’s about the importance of instructing our children in the skill of critical thinking. Without this skill, one often ends up in a heated, pointed, emotional argument with weak supports, or even worse, ends up avoiding important discussions all together.
Critical thinking helps us look outside the box, so to speak. It teaches us to explore both sides of an argument, and can be defined as thinking that: consists of mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation. It includes possible processes of reflecting upon a tangible or intangible item in order to form a solid judgment that reconciles scientific evidence with common sense.
Magical thinking, on the other hand, can be loosely defined as: non-scientific causal reasoning. Magical thinking can occur when one simply does not understand possible causes, but can also occur in response to situations that are largely random or chaotic, as well as in situations that one has little or no control over, especially those one is emotionally invested in.
How many people do you know of in the latter category? Additionally, how many people do you know who eagerly throw their opinions around (some quite influentially) without any skill to be able to back up those very same opinions? Can you see how important it is to teach our children to think critically?
Isaiah 1:17-18 says:
17 Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.
Yes, let us reason together – teach your children to reason. Isn’t that The Heart of the Matter?
Classical Education: Narrations
March 9, 2008 by Guest
Classical Education: Narrations
It is one of the most elusive words a homeschooler can hear, “narration.” It seems like a very simple concept, you read and your child tells you what they learned from the reading. It sounds very simple, doesn’t it? It is actually a skill that needs to be taught, modeled and practiced. Are you a storyteller? Are you able to read a paragraph yourself and retell it in your own words with clarity? Try it. Pick up your favorite book and read a paragraph, and retell it to a friend or spouse or write down your narration.
Next step, have your child read a selection to you and narrate it for him. If you find it easy, then you’re ready to teach your child to do it. You will be able to model it for your child until he or she is able to mimic your lead. If you’re unable to do it, then it’s time to take baby steps to learn how.
Common everyday conversations are the easiest way to start the narration process. Repeat what someone else have told you in your own words. This is also used in effective communication, a building tool to become a good listener. Your spouse says it’s going to rain next Tuesday and you simply repeat, “Next Tuesday, the forecaster says it is likely to rain.” Practice doing this for a while. I’m sorry it seems very simple but truly it is one of the areas that most adults need improvement, their listening and comprehension skills. With your child, have them repeat back any directions you give them during the course of the day. You tell your son to gather his dirty laundry, before he leaves to do it, have him repeat what you said. Once this practice is common, you’re ready to move on to applying the skill to reading.
A common mistake that homeschoolers make is to select just any reading material to narrate from, including texts that are dry and boring for their children. Would you want to narrate from a scientific journal or from your favorite novel? It’s the same for your children, so set them up to succeed by requesting them to retell a story they love. You may want to read a selection for a couple of days repeating it each time before you ask your child to retell it.
Don’t expect perfection, if your child retells the selection without using complete sentences, that’s fine. Applaud their effort and remember that narration is a skill that needs to be built. Use short selections such as fables at first, in fact fables are an excellent way to start narrations because there is a moral to be learned. Your child could retell the story without all of the details but still get the moral correct. This would be a successful narration! The point of narration is to find out what your child learned from what they read or what has been read to them. It eliminates the need for comprehension worksheets and allows you to be in communion with your child regarding their reading.
With my own daughter, I give her a heads-up of what type of information I’ll be expecting her to tell me about before she reads. At times I even go as far to write on the board, “Who, What, When, and Where” so that as she reads she can single out these facts. Some children need a little more guidance than others. If you ask your children questions about their reading, make sure the questions is formulated to be open ended, not a simple “yes” or “no” answer.
Narration is thinking, listening and pre-writing skill. It builds a child’s ability to organize their thoughts and prepare them to write. To aid your child, point out how to recognize the sequence of events within a reading, important events that happen and how it affects the ending. You’re sharing the world of reading with them and asking them to share it with you. Write down your child’s oral narrations, show them to your child so that they see their own work. When your child is narrating orally with confidence, it’s time for them to write their own narrations, given that they can handle the writing portion.
This can begin as copywork, you write your child’s oral narration and have them copy it. Gradually, you move towards allowing your child to write their own narration, one sentence at a time. By the time they are able to write a paragraph narration based on a chapter reading, they will be ready to to start a writing program or have consistent written essays. Don’t be discouraged if your child doesn’t take to narrations right away, remind yourself that it is a skill to be taught, learned and mastered. It is not easy but it is worthwhile.
Oral narrations can take many forms at first from the child drawing a picture about what they are hearing from a selection, acting out a scene from the reading to telling their teddy bear what the story was about. It doesn’t need to be formal at all. Some homeschoolers have created “narration jars” where the child to can pick how to narrate from a multitude of ideas placed on paper inside a jar. No matter what your approach, make it a positive experience.
Here are a few helpful links:
For a narration jar:
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2005/08/narration-jar.html
http://www.home-school.com/Articles/CharlotteMason.html
http://www.home-school.com/Articles/AndreolaNarration.html
http://home.att.net/~bandcparker/narration.html
Also see example of children’s narrations at: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/galleryindex.html
Jessica is a Classical homeschooling mom to her 3 and 7 year old children. In her column “Trivium Tidbits”, she offers resources, aids and support for those who wish to homeschool their children using the Classical approach. Be sure to visit her blog at Trivium Academy.
She Blinded Me With Science!
March 1, 2008 by Cheryl
Over the years we have had much fun with science in our homeschool. When my girls were smaller we adopted a classical approach to educating in all things scientific. That entailed studying all four major science categories over a span of four years, as opposed to squeezing all four in each school year.In other words, it looked like this:
Year one: Life Science (plants, animals, human body)
Year two: Astronomy & Earth science (weather, geology & land formations)
Year three: Chemistry (atoms & molecules, basic chemical reactions, scientific notation)
Year four: Physics (natural laws, forces, motions structures etc.)
The idea of classic
al education is that you repeat this four year structure twice more through grade 12. I’m sharing this with you, because with little children who are still learning how to read and write it is often science that seems to get left behind. Adopting this classical approach to science helped us gain the luxury of time to explore and investigate with a much more relaxed and natural outlook.
o go on a nature walk, collect specimens for further investigation or record them in a nature notebook. It is natural to go to the library and investigate animals and insects as interests abound. Second to third graders are very curious to learn about 
the solar system, visit a planetarium, learn about volcanoes or start a rock collection – learning to classify rocks and minerals along the way. Third to fourth graders can usually start to grasp the idea of molecular structures and the different states of matter. Lastly, fourth to fifth graders who are now able to think more abstractly, can then proceed to laws of 
force & motion, understanding strength in structures etc. At age 10-11, elementary level chemistry and physics can now be readily observed through an experimental cause and effect approach. An approach which, in my humble opinion, is not developmentally appropriate for most 6-7 year olds who are not yet able to accurately hypothesise cause and effect.
starting to gloss over, fear not. My point in sharing this with you is so you can step back and look at various approaches to teaching elementary science objectively and developmenta
lly. Too often we try to mimic a system of teaching that was designed for institutions – not homeschool. If this method makes sense to you or your child is still struggling in the areas of reading and writing, why not consider an alternate way to introduce your child to the world of science. Science could and should be an exciting and fascinating subject for children to explore. Why not give them the keys to unlock it?
Classical Education for Free – Part 1: Memorization
February 8, 2008 by Guest
Classical Education for Free – Part 1: Memorization
Iwant to begin this column by sharing elements of classical education anyone can use for free in any homeschool setting. Outside of reading classic literature, this involves copywork, narration, dictation and memorization.
One of the most basic and beneficial elements of a classical education is memorization. It builds mental discipline, retention, confidence, and allows a parent to build a foundation in any subject for later studies. Young children, as soon as they can speak can memorize. How many toddler songs does your child know? Can you think of anything they have memorized? The way home from a store you frequent, or something you said two months ago that you must be reminded of?
From kindergarten through about 6th grade, children are sponges, this reflects the grammar stage of the trivium. The trivium is the backbone of classical education which organizes educational focus to the natural learning cycles of a child’s development. The Grammar years would be from first to fourth grade, Logic years would be fifth to eighth grade and Rhetoric would be ninth to twelfth grade, these grade level are a little different amongst the classical community but I’ll use this one as an example. Sometime around 6th they want to know the why and how of everything, they want to start arguing. This is natural; the absorption of the world around them prepares them to be able to argue when they are older. Memorization is just a way to direct this energy toward items worth remembering. Before I share with you how to do memorization with your children, let me share the benefits.
Memorization sharpens the mind, increases retention, and allows for a foundation to be built within the mind. If you have your child memorize scriptures, your child will draw from God’s word when in a moment of need. If you have him memorize the basics of mathematics such as addition and multiplication facts, it will aid in his higher math studies. If you have your child memorize the basics of every subject, they will have a foundation to draw from in all their higher studies. You’ve heard that starting a foreign language when children are younger is beneficial, right? The reason for that is a child’s natural ability to memorize. If a child memorizes a foreign language’s vocabulary when they are young, they will be able to tackle grammar and writing much sooner than high school.
Let’s talk about how to do it.
The simplest method of memorizing is to repeat the selection three times daily until memorized and then reviewed. There are many timelines for memorization that you can follow; personally my daughter (7) has review every two weeks of all items previously memorized.
Successful memorization is more than just memorizing the selection the first time, which is only half of the exercise, which is why repetition and review is crucial for long term memorization success. There are plenty of resources to help organize memorization materials but by far Simply Charlotte Mason has the most practical and easy to implement memorization organization / scheduled review techniques.
Truly, you can use any method for memorization but since 65% of the population is visual learners, it helps to show your child what you are asking them to memorize. Here’s our method:
First day
I read aloud while showing the child the selection to be memorized 1 time.
Child reads aloud 1 time.
We read it together aloud 1 time.
Second day
I read aloud while showing the selection 1 time
Child reads aloud the selection 2 times all the way through.
Child reads first section (1 lines, 2 lines, or stanza) 3 times.
We read it together aloud 1 time to end.
This goes on until you’ve worked through the selection and the child has it memorized. It is important for the child to be able to SEE, HEAR, and SAY the selection to be memorized. If you have a hands-on child, allow them to illustrate the selection, we have done this with poetry and it has been very successful.
Laura Berquist of The Harp & Laurel Wreath suggests memorizing two lines of poetry at a time of course, your child will dictate the speed of the memorization progress.
There is no end to items to memorize, especially younger children but it is best to remember that only the most worthwhile things are worth your time. A fabulous resource that we use to help trim the vast amount of items to memorize is a homeschooling mom’s grammar stage memorization file which is free to download at Lulu.com.
In the next column, I’ll share about narrations.
Jessica is a Classical homeschooling mom to her 3 and 7 year old children. In her column “Trivium Tidbits”, she offers resources, aids and support for those who wish to homeschool their children using the Classical approach. Be sure to visit her blog at Trivium Academy.
