Scripture Memory--Kid Style
(c)Tricia Goyer, 9/2006
This morning, I read a great blog on Home-steeped Hope about teaching Scripture memory to kids. You can read it here.
Anyway, it got me thinking about our family's efforts of memorizing Scripture verses through the years.
I will be starting my 13th year of homeschooling this year, and I can saw without a doubt one of my FAVORITE memories is learning Scripture verses as a famiy. We've tried many systems, and to me it doesn't matter how we get the words to stick, just as long as they do.
Even now, I still study Scripture with my 12-year-old. In fact, he created his own "list" of things that help him.
1. Write it. Nathan writes the verse out.
2. Say it. He says it to himself ten times. (He usually has it memorized by this time.)
3. Share it. He comes to me and shares it. (Then we go over his previous verses too.)
4. Discuss it. I have to come up with three questions to ask him about the meaning of the verse and how it works in life.
5. Hunt for it. I time Nathan as he finds it in the Bible. (Usually under 20 seconds.)
Nathan learned all these study tools through church and home, and now uses them.
Also, my older two kids have devised their own systems. Like me, my daughter (14) has a journal of her favorite Scripture verses. She took it upon herself to read the Bible through and then she comes to John or I to discuss what she's reading or it pops up as we go through daily life. (We've had some VERY interesting discussions as she went through Leviticus and Judges.)
My oldest son, 17, writes his favorite verses and sticks them around his computer monitor on Post-It notes. (Touch the cards and die!) Then Cory works on them throughout the day. He's memorized long passages this way.
Also, he works as a checker at Target part of the day. An older Christian who also works there taught Cory how to keep Scripture memory cards in his pocket and work at memorizing them when it's slow in the store. Cory's been doing this too. As he stands at the end of the checkstand, waiting for customers, I've seen him slip the card out, read it, then slip it inside, the whole time smiling at the old lady taking ten minutes to make it to the checkstand.
In fact, my kids are encouraging me to "get with the system." In addition to my journal, I've taken 3x5 cards (spiral bound) and wrote some of my favorite verses. Then, I read them and study them as I blow dry my hair and get ready in the morning.
Hiding God's word in our hearts, yeah baby!
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3 comments:
Wow! Since my kids are still younger, we just draw the bible verses. (short ones, obviously... mostly Proverbs) It's amazing how we really need to understand something in order to draw it. This gets us talking too.
This is one thing I'm very bad at. I never learned to do this while I was young, so now it's intimidating!
I know I need to do this with my children more. Good thing the church gives them weekly memory verses!
Great ideas. My son is 7 and in Awanas. It is amazing what they can learn when properly motivated. He has a certificate on his bedroom wall where at the age of 3 he memorized the Lord's Prayer. This took weeks, but by breaking it down verse by verse, eventually he was able to say the entire prayer. Thanks for the tips.
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