Now, in 2020, I have a big binder of poetry and prayers for them to look through and choose their own. (That's the reward they get when they memorize something - something else to memorize!) I generally choose the Scripture verses unless a child specifically asks for something. They come from readings we've done, catechism books, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, or just verses I happened to like.
I've written before about how we practice our memory work.
First Son's Sixth Grade Memory Work
Poetry
- Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - This took him more than a year to memorize, but he learned the whole thing. He was able to immediately notice that our favorite picture book version is missing a verse (for no explicable reason) and, four years later, can still recite it from memory.
Memory Verses
- James 1:19-20
- 1 Peter 5:7
- Daniel 3:26-27 - First Son picked these verses.
First Daughter's Third Grade Memory Work
First Daughter loves memory work. She practices multiple times a week, even on days she doesn't work with me.
Poetry
- Yellow Butter by Mary Ann Hoberman from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart
- Bird Talk by Aileen Fisher from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart
- The Little Elf by John Kendrick Bangs from Poems to Learn by Heart
- Dad's cell phone number
- Anima Christi
- Catch a Little Rhyme by Eve Merriam from Poems to Learn by Heart
- I Heard a Bird Sing by Oliver Herferd from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart
- The Kitten by William Wordsworth from Primary Language Lessons
- 1 John 4:18-19
- Hebrews 13:16
- Isaiah 40:31
- 1 Peter 5:7
Poetry
- Toad by the Road by Joanne Ryder from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart
- Catch a Little Rhyme by Eve Merriam from Poems to Learn by Heart
- her birthdate and birth city
- Prayer After Meals
- The Bluebird by Emily Huntington Miller from Primary Language Lessons
- Jeremiah 31:25
- Psalm 31:24
- John 6:35
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