I am going to be sharing with you today for the letter M all about Memory Work in our homeschool!

When I set out to homeschool, over 7 years ago, I never even thought about memory work and never imagined it would take such a huge place of importance in our home! But, truly, God has used this in our homeschool {and in my life personally} and now that we’ve been doing it awhile I would have it no other way!!

Why We Memorize

1. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119: 11

If that isn’t encouragement enough, to get God’s word in your heart ~ and the hearts of your children ~ I don’t know what is. 🙂 God’s Word is alive, it is powerful, it is life changing. I want these powerful truths engrained on the hearts of my children. Am I guaranteed that they will “turn out great” if we memorize scripture? No! I don’t memorize Scripture as a way of trying to perfect my children. There is no formula for raising great children, they are going to make mistakes, they are their own little human beings. But, God does tell us in Isaiah that His Word will never return void. I am clinging to that promise and praying that these seeds of truth we are memorizing will be used by the Holy Spirit in their lives when they need it most!

2. Memorization develops the brain in ways other things cannot, aids in language development, and builds mental discipline.

We have memorized a lot of poetry, much in thanks to a product from Andrew Pudewa called Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization. That is a very long title for a program that just has kids memorizing classic poems. If you read the introduction to this product, the note from Andrew Pudewa on memorizing is very compelling! (You can read this introduction for free on the link posted.)

3. Memorization helps us start our day!

When we begin our school day, memorization is one of the first things we do. It is included in our morning routine, which some might call Circle time. I don’t know about you, but I need to start off our homeschool day with something GOOD that will help me feel like we’ve accomplished something right off the bat. We pray together, we read a devotion and we recite Scripture and poems!! Quite honestly, if the rest of the day falls apart, I feel like we have done what is most important already!!

4. Memorizing Scripture with my children has blessed me spiritually as a mom, in ways I can’t even begin to describe to you.

When I memorize Scripture with my children, I often pray a silent prayer that these verses will take root deep in their hearts. As we memorize, I am asking God to take His very words and imprint them deep into their souls. These verses we memorize give words to my prayers for my children. I absolutely love thinking about God using these verses in their lives many years down the road. In a moment of temptation, in a moment of despair, in a moment of doubt…I pray God will remind them of these words we have memorized together. What a gift to this momma to know God is faithful and will use these verses ~ as He will ~ in their lives!!

Now that I’ve shared some of the WHY behind our memorization, I’d like to share some of the tools we use! I hope these will help and inspire you to memorize as much as you can with your children while they are still in your home!

Tools for Memory Work

• Seeds Worship albums ~ Seeds of Courage 1 ~ we love these songs and it helps us memorize without even trying. 🙂
• Andrew Pudewa’s Poetry Memorization Program ~ read the sample and introduction to this product to learn why Andrew Pudewa believes memorization is so important.
• Memorization Helps Pinterest Board

Favorite Scripture Passages to Memorize

• Psalm 8
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 100
• Psalm 139
• James Ch. 1
• 10 Commandments
• The Lord’s Prayer
• The Beatitudes
• Philippians 3-4

I hope and pray that this post has encouraged you to dig in and commit God’s Word to heart with your children. I know you will not regret any time spent hiding God’s Word in your heart and the hearts of your children! Remember, Isaiah tells us that His Word does NOT return void!! Praise Him!

I want to leave you with the sweet voices of 2 of my children reciting God’s Word. This first video is from 4-5 years ago and the girls are reciting Psalm 100. We usually review this Psalm every year around Thanksgiving time. The second video is from 2010 and the girls memorized a poem about Christopher Columbus (again, around Thanksgiving time) and the first half of Psalm 139. I love to try and take videos at least once a year of my children reciting poetry and Scripture. These are so precious to me, as a mom, to go back and watch! Every time I recite Scriptures with my children I pray that the words are penetrating their little hearts and God will meet them in His very words someday when they need them most!

Psalm 100 from Candace Crabtree on Vimeo.

Memory Work ~ October 2010 from Candace Crabtree on Vimeo.

Candace is just a messed up mama in need of God’s fresh, new mercies daily. She lives with her husband and three children in beautiful East Tennessee where she blogs about faith, homeschooling, good books and encouragement for those struggling with depression. She blogs at www.mercyisnew.com