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Scripture Memory
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I just have to say a BIG thank you, Sonya, for sharing your Scripture memory system here at SCM. I had printed it out earlier this year, got the file all set up, and then finally gotten started right before my dad passed away in October. I dusted it off ::blush:: and decided we were going to memorize Luke 2:1-20. I didn’t care if we got it done by Christmas, but I thought it would be a good passage for the dc to focus on right now. The first week of December we only memorized the first verse, but this week we’ve gotten the next three and are working on v. 5 which makes four!!! It just snowballs! I do hand motions to help them–it is so cute to watch the 3 yods try to keep up with us! 🙂
I always had a hard time coming up with a system to keep reviewing, and yours is perfect!
Thank you again!
Trisch
How wonderful, Trisch! I’m so glad your family is memorizing (and remembering!) Scripture together, and that the system is helping you. Thanks for the encouragement!
I was so excited to find our memory system. Thanks for explaining it! I just set up my file box and have several verses ready to go. I have a question, though. How much do you require of the family on this? Should they be able to recite a verse if given the reference? Or, do you start reading the day’s verses and expect them to be able to finish it? Basically, when you pull out your four verses each day, how do you get them started? Did I make sense? Thanks!
Absolutely makes sense! First, let me warn you that I’m about to mount my soapbox 😉
(ahem) In my mind, learning the Scripture reference is very important. It irks me when people can identify movie and scene when you give them a quote, but they can’t at least give book of the Bible when you give them a verse. I think it says a lot about priorities when Christians consider it normal to discuss Scripture with, “Doesn’t it (the Bible) say somewhere . . .?” (climbing off my soapbox now)
Therefore, I try to couple together the reference with the text of the verse every time. So here’s how we do it:
- Person with the box pulls out the card and says the reference aloud
- Everyone repeats/recites the reference together
- Everyone recites the verse(s) together
- Everyone recites the reference again at the end
Now, are there some days when our minds go blank after repeating the reference the first time, and we sit there looking at the person with the box to get the verse started for us? Yep. But that’s OK. We have another opportunity to connect the verse with the reference at the end of the recitation.
To be honest, I wondered how effective this method was in making that connection between reference and verse. But the other day, one of my daughters came to me and asked about a verse that said something like such-and-such. I started quoting the verse, she joined in, and we both remembered the reference when we got to the end. Woohoo!
So all that to say, make the reference a consistent part of the recitation process and you’ll be surprised at how those references start to stick too.
PS: Just as a side note, once you get your Days 1-31 slots all full of cards, you can start putting more than one card behind each. Those Days 1-31 slots are the cards’ final destinations. Eventually, you may have five or six cards just behind each of those dividers. We have close to that back there now, so we do . . . let’s see . . . probably 8 to 10 cards each day. (Just wanted to clarify for those readers who might be trying to figure out what “your four verses each day” means 🙂 . )
Thanks! I was hoping my children could learn the reference for the very reason you said. I try to avoid the “someplace in the Bible…” statement, too. I just wasn’t sure how to make it stick in their minds. It makes sense to say the reference first, then the verse, and then end with the reference.
I was in an adult discipleship class in which we had to memorize a lot of scripture. But in that case, they tagged each verse with a key phrase like “Assurance of Salvation,” etc. It helps me to draw on an appropriate verse. Perhaps I can come up with a memory jog like that to help too. I’ll have to think about that.
Thanks for your explanation on such a great method. I’m looking forward to starting this with my family!
We have almost memorized Luke 2:1-20 this way! I know it’s a bit late for Christmas <BG> but, who cares? It will be well cemented by that time this year!!! We’ve added a new verse every few days, but for the last 5 or so have had to take it more slowly. So I’m dividing it into thirds and putting a third each behind “odd” and “even” with the newest 5 verses as our “current” since they need the most help!
The dc don’t know each exact verse (for example, if you said, “Say verse 4” they wouldn’t know which one for sure!), but they DO know it’s Luke 2:1-20 as a passage. What have you done for longer passages? Do you have them memorize each individual verse’s reference, or is the “whole” okay? I don’t mind it this way, but can see benefits both ways, I guess.
Just curious what you do with longer passages like this. We add hand motions, so it’s been a lot of fun! (Sometimes gets a bit silly!!!)
Thank you again for this wonderful method! It really WORKS!
Trisch
Hurrah! I’m so glad you’re memorizing longer passages, Trisch! We also do longer passages regularly, and I approach them the same way I do the individual verses: read the passage one time through from beginning to end then put it away for the day. When I was younger, I was taught to memorize one verse at a time, then add the next, then add the next, etc. But when I did it that way, I always knew the first verses better than the ending ones because I had heard them and repeated them more often in the process. So now we treat the passage as a whole rather than piecemeal. Hearing the whole thing every day helps us grip the flow and cadence better.
But however you approach the memorizing itself, I don’t worry about knowing each individual verse’s number within the passage. I figure those chapter and verse numbers were added to help people locate the passages. If I know the passage’s location and context, I’m fine. For example, we recited Matthew 6:9-13 yesterday. Most people can recite that passage (the Lord’s Prayer) but don’t know that it’s Matthew 6:9-13. So my main concern, I guess, is knowing the location.
Oh, one exception just came to mind: I did break down the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) by commandment. I wanted the girls to know which one was the Fifth Commandment or the Third Commandment, for example, because they are often referred to by their commandment number. So that passage we do over several days by asking, What is the First Commandment? Then we give the passage and reference for that commandment. The next day we do the next one. Other than that, we treat the longer passages as whole entities.
Hope this helps!
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