Memory Work in Homeschool

Memory work in homeschooling is often either highly revered or looked down upon as inadequate, Or at the very least just unimportant to a quality education. I have also seen it referred to as work that is done merely for bragging rights. Although there is some level of truth to this. I think we all can feel a level of pride in knowing something, Even if it was from simply memorizing it. I don’t think this is a reason to dismiss memory work in your homeschool altogether, though. If bragging rights aren’t of interest to you, that’s ok! There are actually plenty of good and compelling reasons to have your kids memorize different things.

To quote Andrew Pudewa, “If you don’t give your kids good stuff to memorize, they will memorize stupid stuff.” (Think commercials!)

Our brains are wired to memorize things around us. Think about how a baby learns to talk, for instance. They are constantly mimicking and memorizing language patterns in order to make sense of the world around them. At first, they may not understand a word, but once they hear it repeated over and over again, things in their world start to make sense. First, they’ve memorized the sound the word is making and then comes the understanding of that word.

Basically, your kids are memorizing things all the time, whether intentionally or not. Worthy or not.

So why do memory work in homeschooling?

I’ve been homeschooling 13 years now and started out teaching my very young kids to memorize the continents and oceans. Of course, being so little they didn’t yet have a good understanding of the earth and their place in it but were able to tell you how many continents there were. Hearing that, you may think it is a waste of time because they could just learn it later when they are older. That’s true, but it would take more effort. Almost like learning a second language. The younger you are, the easier it is and the longer it stays with you.

To quote Andrew Pudewa again, or rather what his mother said about memorization. To memorize is to “learn it by heart”.

When you learn something by heart, it becomes a part of you. You likely won’t forget the things you learn by heart.

My now 16-year-old daughter has reported to me that she feels as though she’s doing preschool work when she has to label the continents and oceans. It’s easy for her because she “learned it by heart”, Allowing part of their education to become second nature rather than such hard work is a bonus in my book.

The point of memorization is not full understanding. At least not at first. It’s after it has become a part of them, that they grow in understanding. Think about scripture. As parents, we know the importance of teaching our kids about who God is and making sure they hear scripture. Not because they have full understanding yet. But because we know we want God to become a part of them. A part of their soul. We want them to know him by heart, Later, as they mature, they can grow in understanding. But that foundation is so so important. You want to give them the building blocks for their education as well.

Laying the foundation in homeschool

I think first it is important to decide what it is that you want your kids to know. What you want them to really know. By heart. What is important to you and your family values.

I think when we realize that our kids are memorizing things around them all the time, this can help shift our mindset a little. It’s about putting in front of our kids’ things that are good and beautiful. Worthy of memorizing.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Philippians 4:8 KJV

This is a good standard to go by. Whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, worthy of praise, or of good report. If it doesn’t meet these criteria, we aren’t giving it a second glance.

Scripture meets all of these. History is true. Poetry is lovely. Continents and oceans are God’s creation! They are true and lovely. There are many more things that are worthy of memorization, but keep in mind the criteria you wish to go by in your homeschool and the things you wish your children to know by heart.

What does Memory Work offer academically?

We want our kids to be great thinkers, so memory work may seem counter intuitive. Mindlessly reciting facts over and over again. But it does serve as something more. And although it may seem mindless, it isn’t.

The ability to be able to think critically about a subject or topic is greater when we already have the basic facts of the subject stored away in our minds.

We live in a time when we could just google anything we want to know, but relying on this doesn’t allow us to think critically and grow our minds. Think about this… if someone mentions a country somewhere in the world while having a conversation, if you are not familiar with where they are talking about, your mind won’t ponder that location. You likely won’t think on it at all because you have no frame of reference. On the other hand, if you do know the country they mention, you are likely to picture it in your mind…to think on it.

This is with all information. The longer it sits in our minds, the longer we are able to consider and ponder and think critically about it. Some of the greatest minds of history certainly didn’t have google. They sat with information longer and were able to think on it. Not only that, but they were then able to build upon those great ideas. This is what helps us flourish! This is exactly what we want for our kids. To give them great and thinking minds full of information to ponder. To build upon great ideas and do great things because of that.

Check out this post if you need some ideas about how to do memory work in your homeschool.