Spotlight on the Crew ~ Scripture Memorization for Kids

{This week’s Spotlight on the Crew article is brought to you from Samantha, at Sam’s Noggin.}

Have you ever memorized Scripture before? Do you want your children to have a ready recollection of God’s Word?

Scripture memorization is easier than you might think, and those young brains really are adept at keeping all of those Scriptures stored and ready to recite!

The possibilities are really endless with the Bible. You can pick a theme, like the Fruit of the Spirit, or you can pick a portion of Scripture that you really want your children to hide in their heart.

Proverbs is a great place to begin-there are so many wonderful verses to choose from. If you celebrate Christmas you can choose passages dealing with Christ’s birth. Choose Scripture dealing with thankfulness around Thanksgiving–you get the picture.

We have memorized all sorts of Scripture, from Genesis through the New Testament. The system we use has worked really well for our family, and I think it will work well for yours too. Want to know our system?

It’s pretty simple, really-

First we choose a Scripture to memorize. Right now we are using the ones provided in our curriculum’s Bible portion.

Next, I sit down with index cards and Sharpies. I use a different color for each verse we work on. I write a few words on each index card’s unlined side until I have the whole verse broken down. We have six children (ages 4-14) so I try to make eight cards (or at least six, one for each child), even if it is only the verse card. Then, I write the entire verse in pen (so it won’t bleed through) on the card bearing the book, chapter and verse. We like to keep that card long-term for review.

As soon as we finish eating our dinner, my husband pulls the cards out of the drawer in our dining table and we pass them out to each child. Everyone looks to see what their card says (or we read it for our youngest child). We then go around the table with each person reciting their card, one by one. We then read all of the cards together in unison.

For a challenge, we ask if anyone wants to try reciting the verse with no help from cards. You would be surprised how quickly they memorize them!

Sometimes we offer a little treat as reward; my husband has been known to tuck Hershey’s Kisses into his drawer to hand out at the end of our time together. This isn’t necessary, but makes for a sweet ending!

We spend as much as a week learning long verses, but we generally have it memorized well before then. We move on when everyone has the verse down, and review periodically.

If you think that your children aren’t old enough to take on this challenge, you might be surprised at how young a child can do it! We started when our youngest was two and the next in line was four. Even our two year-old memorized some of each Scripture, and sometimes the whole thing!

In the end, even if yours are younger than two, you are setting a wonderful example for their Spiritual lives, and you have a chance to share with others who may come in your home.

When we have visitors we don’t skip our time, we hand them a card and let them learn as well!

As you can see, the time factor is minimal for preparation and institution for Scripture memorization. This is something we have always enjoyed, and I am so glad we started it in our home.

 

Samantha is a Christian homeschooling mom of six, married to Rick, her high school sweetheart. Rick was called to be a preacher, Samantha was called to homeschool, she loves blogging about their journey. She is interested in Bible study, photography, exercise, organizing, and sweet tea. You can find Samantha blogging at Sam’s Noggin.