I hated, despised, deplored memorization when I was in school. My memories involved standardized testing leading to eventual forgetfulness. It seemed so pointless. Why waste so much energy in an endeavor to merely forget all of it days, weeks, months later. Words on index cards faded leaving a gap in my mind.
I never considered studying subjects I loved as memorization. For me, interest led learning was the pathway to knowledge. Therefore, I assigned memorization to the role of relationless lists granting good grades. I didn’t want this for my daughter. I wanted rich, relational learning that grows the heart. As a result, when I started homeschooling, I ran in the opposite direction of memorization’s droning voice. I could handle memorization of poetry and verses, but anything else screamed “pointless”.
How. Wrong. I. Was.
My perception of memorization was limited to short term memory. This semester. This class. This test. Homeschooling is more than a class, it’s outside of a set timeframe. It’s a lifestyle. It weaves itself throughout numerous subjects and follows you on every path you take. It is not compartmentalized. History leads to science. Science leads to art. Life is interwoven in the heart, mind and soul.
Enter memorization. A timeline. States and capitals. Math facts. Map drawings from memory. Taking in the big picture and using living books to enter a new world caused me to see memorization in a new light. It would not be words that fade on an index card, but words that permeate the mind. Facts learned this year will follow us through new cycles in our life. They will not be laid aside to gather dust, but to be expanded upon-days, months and even years from now.
My shift occurred when I saw how my daughter loved to memorize and we joined a Classical Conversations Community. One day a week we meet to practice memory work, but it is more-oh, so such more! Presentation skills, science, art, games! Not a moment of time wasted and full of activity. As a result of this curve in our homeschooling road, our days are now full of Ambleside Online sprinkled with Classical Conversations memory work. I could never leave our Charlotte Mason lifestyle, so I’m scheduling like crazy to make it all work.
So which comes first? The living book or the memory fact? For us, both. Living books have pulled us into facts making them exciting, facts have pulled us into living books making us crave more. It’s about relations. It’s about learning that lingers. It’s about forming connections.
Who knows where this will lead, but for now, we are dipping our toes in the memorization waters and enjoying the view.