This Spring at Home…
Learning by Heart
This is the time at Pilgrim Church when we encourage our church school students to learn grade-level Bible verses by heart. This is a two-step process. The first step is to understand the meanings of the words and the message of the passage. And, second, is committing the passage to memory. It takes both steps to truly “learn by heart.”
Here are the grade-level passages. Use whatever Bible translation you have at home (we give our students the New Revised Standard Version). The exception is The Lord’s Prayer; please learn the version we use in the liturgy (trespasses).
- Grade One: Lord’s Prayer
- Grade Two: 23rd Psalm
- Grade Three: 100th Psalm
- Grade Four: Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17)
- Grade Five: Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10)
- Grade Six: Books of the Hebrew (Old) Testament
- Grade Seven: Books of the New Testament
Review the words. Get out a dictionary. Most adults have trouble with some of the vocabulary. Try to relate unknown words to more familiar ones. For example, “hallowed” and “Halloween.”
Talk about meaning. Try to pose open-ended questions when asking what your child thinks. Use concrete, age-appropriate illustrations. For example, adultery is not being loyal to your loved ones.
Familiarity is repetition, repetition, repetition. Read the passage as a daily table grace or good-night prayer.
Try some of these memorization helpers.
- Clothesline. Print passage on a sheet of paper. Cut into phrases. Clip onto a cord or clothesline. Close eyes. Remove one phrase and place it face down. Read the remaining phrases to determine which is missing. Continue until clothesline is empty.
- Phrase scramble. Print passage on a sheet of cardboard. Cut into phrases. Glue magnetic strip on back of each. Scramble order. Arrange in correct order on magnetic surface like refrigerator.
- Concentration. Print passage twice on two sheets of paper. Cut into phrases. Turn face down. Turn over two cards. If they are a match, set aside; if not, flip them over and continue turning pairs until all are matched.
- Recording. Record your child reading the passage. Listen and at various intervals, push the pause to see if he/she can finish the passage.
- Key words. Pick a key word out of each phrase. See if your child can recall the complete phrase if you provide the key word.
- Memory chain. Write each phrase on a paper strip. As each phrase is learned, add that link to the chain.
- Music and rhythm. Funny how easily we remember song lyrics. Try singing the passage to a familiar tune like “Twinkle, Twinkle” or reciting it to rhythmic clapping.
THE POINT of learning Bible passages by heart is to give our children understanding and instant access to the key texts of our faith. Try to make it fun, not a power struggle. We once had a young man who learned the 100th Psalm by marching to the rhythm of the words. We ran up and down the hallway outside Room 10 while he proudly pounded out the words he’d learned by heart. Whatever it takes.
Corey & Jane
