"Memory work"
The neoclassical program in which our family originally participated is very big on “memory work”. In that venue, the memory work consisted of memorizing facts, mostly, in different areas - math, history, science, English grammar, Latin, and geography. Except for geography, these were largely presented out of any learning context (unless the parent provided it at home), with the expectation that simply knowing them provides “hooks” for learning the context in the future. When the topic of "memory work" comes up in classical circles, this is often what people are talking about.
An entirely different approach to memory work, much more in the Charlotte Mason and traditional classical realms, is that children should memorize things that fall into the categories of “good, true, and beautiful”, which is primarily meaningful poetry, prose, Scriptures, hymns, and the like. This is what I now capitalize on with my children, especially with regard to the Scriptures and hymns. If you are looking for excellent resources for the memorization of Scripture, I suggest the Christian Studies program (books 1 to 3) from Memoria Press and the Awana program, for starters. Ambleside Online has a multi-year rotating schedule of learning one hymn a month that can get you going on that. We also memorize poetry in the context of the literature program we use. Two other excellent resources are Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love by Cindy Rollins and The Harp and Laurel Wreath, by Laura Berquist.
Facts can be memorized, if appropriate, as they are presented in the context of a meaningful lesson. For example, my son studied astronomy in fourth grade, and one of the tasks was to memorize a list of the 15 brightest stars. We figured out how to set it to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle” and he had them memorized in a day. Will he ever need that list? Probably not, but it was a fun challenge in the midst of a meaningful lesson. Could we have skipped that and still have gotten what was needed from the lesson? Of course. Learning multiplication? Absolutely memorize those facts. Studying North America? Memorize the countries and capitals while you do so. But I do not believe that setting a second grader to memorize a slew of out-of-context science facts is an effective use of time and energy - the child’s or yours! (If you do prefer a neoclassical approach to memory work, Invictus Classical Press and Claritas Publishing both do a good job of adding context to the memory work in their curricula.)
Click here to see how to put all this together.
An entirely different approach to memory work, much more in the Charlotte Mason and traditional classical realms, is that children should memorize things that fall into the categories of “good, true, and beautiful”, which is primarily meaningful poetry, prose, Scriptures, hymns, and the like. This is what I now capitalize on with my children, especially with regard to the Scriptures and hymns. If you are looking for excellent resources for the memorization of Scripture, I suggest the Christian Studies program (books 1 to 3) from Memoria Press and the Awana program, for starters. Ambleside Online has a multi-year rotating schedule of learning one hymn a month that can get you going on that. We also memorize poetry in the context of the literature program we use. Two other excellent resources are Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love by Cindy Rollins and The Harp and Laurel Wreath, by Laura Berquist.
Facts can be memorized, if appropriate, as they are presented in the context of a meaningful lesson. For example, my son studied astronomy in fourth grade, and one of the tasks was to memorize a list of the 15 brightest stars. We figured out how to set it to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle” and he had them memorized in a day. Will he ever need that list? Probably not, but it was a fun challenge in the midst of a meaningful lesson. Could we have skipped that and still have gotten what was needed from the lesson? Of course. Learning multiplication? Absolutely memorize those facts. Studying North America? Memorize the countries and capitals while you do so. But I do not believe that setting a second grader to memorize a slew of out-of-context science facts is an effective use of time and energy - the child’s or yours! (If you do prefer a neoclassical approach to memory work, Invictus Classical Press and Claritas Publishing both do a good job of adding context to the memory work in their curricula.)
Click here to see how to put all this together.