What's different about classical? Day#2

31 Days of Channeling the Passion of Classical Education Before and After School

Memorization.
Exercising the brain. That's what it's all about around here. While we eat our cereal we listen to Cycle 1 Classical Conversations CD, memory work. There are 24 weeks for the cycle, but we just listen straight through. We then practice our selected* choices, singing the 10 Commandments using the memory song from the CD. During Bible study we have been in the book of Judges, and last week we studied Samson. We noted that the 10 commandments indicated marriage was sacred and important to remain faithful to one's spouse ('do not commit adultery'). Samson seemed to struggle with this. Alot. But helping them 'hammer the peg'  in one more time, reminding them of the 10 Commandments and it's significance to God's people is the plan. Exercising the connections, hammering the peg.
Pegs. There's alot of talk about 'pegs' and hammering them in one more time is common in Classical Education.  It is the concept of creating pegs in one's mind to organize the thoughts one brings into the mind. For instance, another time we mentioned the 10 Commandments was when we read a Psalm (46) that mentioned Jacob ('the God of Jacob'). We referred to our memory song of 'Jacob's 12 son's' and our 'Our Spiritual Heritage' memory work that show's Jacob's 12 son's as the family of promise who received the 10 Commandments. We can put about 4 thoughts on that same peg, if we mention that Abraham was promised 2 babies: Jacob & Christ who would bless all men.
Repetition. Intensity. Frequency. We have been using all of this material for, well since they were born. The repetition of a fact will ensure it is never forgotten. But the frequency will ensure the availability of it's use in the mind. The intensity is another factor in the retention of the detail/fact. Singing is one of the most valuable methods of remembering anything. Think - commercial jingle. Catchy tune, brief fact. It's there for life. Can you sing the McDonald's big mac song? What nursery rhyme can you remember? Nursery rhymes are a beautiful way to introduce children to the beauty of rhyme, song, and memory. Children love to memorize & sing the jingle or say the rhyme. What would you rather them immortalize in their minds? A useful noble fact, say, a history sentence about our first president, or a random comic character.... say Sponge Bob Square Pants? Harmless maybe, useful for later. Not really. Noble? There's nothing noble to me about Sponge Bob. But that's for another day, what's worth memorizing.... Content.
Back to intensity. Do you remember the nursery rhyme, 'ride a little pony, go to town, ride a little pony, don't fall down!' and perhaps pretending to 'fall off' the horse? There is that intense moment that is coming in the rhyme that the child anticipates. Perhaps you remember 'ring around the rosie' for the same reason. Everyone's going to crash at the end to the ground. Well the same idea can be applied to saying a memory fact about anything. One of my favorite memories is of Henry in the bathtub watching race-cars go down the slope of the tub while reciting 'some parts of the skeleton'. Over and over he said the rhyme completely unaware of the lack of connection between the cars and the content of the memory work. But the activity we'd chosen to do the skeleton, repeated frequently with an intense activity involved in the effort to memorize it.  The intensity can be just a movement pointing to the skeletal part.  Just like one can 'say' the lyrics to a song, he can say the memory work now with out the hand motions.  Now. If I never bring that memory work back up again, he may remember it in a highschool anatomy class, but if I bring it back to the surface in a methodical way, with a normal routine of memory work, he'll have a leg up with grammar that has already made him confident in the area of Biology & Anatomy. But most of all it has given him the experience of how to learn. His brain at this age is geared to --Memorize. -- Memorize. Memorize.
*I realized something. Fearless Inventory remember? I am not currently working on all of the memory work I might have when we homeschooled. I am limited to a very busy start of the year schedule. Jack plays football 3 nights a week. 1.5 hours a night. Again, a compromise in our family. But one I work with. November will come, seasons change. But being aware and having reasonable expectations is my plan.
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Content and Is it important to do memory work connected to their school work? I think I'll talk about these tomorrow. 31 Days with the Nester is freeing. Knowing I only have 31 Days makes it doable. Visit other Nesters at this link to see what other folks are concentrating on for 31 days of October.  
Come back and visit me tomorrow for-
31 Days of Channeling the Passion of Classical Education Before and After School