How and Why To Add Scripture Memorization to Daily Homeschool Plans

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;...” ~Rev 12:11a 

The words written in the Holy Bible have transformative power. That’s something we have experienced in our lives, witnessed in the lives of those we know and love and believe in when we learn about the work He has done in people throughout time and all over the world. Rev 12:11a says, “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;...”. There’s no better triumph and this promise of building a testimony of our own starts with memorizing scripture. That is why we believe memorizing His words needs to have a pivotal place in every homeschool plan. Add our ideas of regular practice into your daily plans and watch God work in the lives of you and your family!

It’s exciting stuff and we're grateful to be able to share how we added scripture memorization activities to our daily homeschool plans. We know they will bless your days, as well!

Read: To make the best connection and deepen understanding, find out the context in which the verse(s) was written and read the rest of the paragraph. We made it a habit to do this work as the first lesson and highly recommended starting the day with His daily bread.

Write: I have difficulty remembering names of people I meet until I write it down and that applies with writing scripture, too.  Not only does this add in another learning style but it also allows for more time to linger on each word. Bring out the special pens, markers and colored pencils to amp up the fun. Beginners can trace just the first letter of each word in the verse. We wrote verses on index cards and filled a file box with them using the handy system by Simply Charlotte Mason. Go to their website to get free downloads of the divider tabs and verse pack ideas. 

~Our Scripture Memory Box we used daily and now holds treasured memories.

Draw:  Start with a blank piece of paper, a verse and some art supplies then sit back and marvel at your child’s unique vision of His word. We also used small drawings as prompts on the sides of the index cards and in our Bibles. This helps when memorizing longer, multiple verse or psalms/chapters.

~One of our children' drawings

 Discuss: Talk about how scripture has impacted people’s lives in your family and beyond. In the same way we help our children make connections when reading other books, we can go even deeper, for example, with the Psalms and the life of King David, the persecuted church of today, perhaps your own personal testimony and that of your extended family members’. One of the most powerful resources for us are the short films from I Am Second. Watch these BEFORE deciding if they will work with your kids as there is powerful content that may only work in their mature stages.

Do:  Your kids will enjoy and benefit enormously by shouting out those verses while their bodies are busy doing crafts, art and/or physical activity like jump rope or catch. Also, add in hand motions that match the verses…so fun and a great place to add sign language skills.

Tell: In a group, go around to each person as they say one word of the verse in turn until you get through it.  Integrate the turn taking w/ an activity like playing catch, rolling vehicles or passing stuffed animals to each other. More fun ways to incorporate these ideas from Focus On The Family.

 "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-8

Use interactive tools to mix it up and help them further connect the verses in their minds:

• Dwell Tattoos: We are wild about this resource and the company in itself not just because the tools they create are beautiful but, because of the way the owners have allowed God to work through them! Check out their website, get their free resources, join their Facebook community, listen to their podcast and the one of ours on which they had a guest spot AND keep your eyes on our emails and social media as we love to give away their family packs and more!
• Videos. There’s no lack of high-quality resources in this arena. The problem is weeding through them to find the ones that fit for your family. We loved The Gospel Project, What’s In the Bible w/ Buck Denver and free resources like from Hillsong Kids. An oldie but a goodie.
• Songs. Any internet search will be chock full of results with fun ways to get your kids singing His Word. Use them, they work! One of the things our kids memorized was the order of the books of the Bible using the songs in our YouTube playlist. In fact, this helps us as moms to know the books by heart! Give us a follow on our channel while you're there as new content is added regularly.

A few more ideas to make scripture memorization part of your daily routine:

• Encourage your co-op, children's/youth groups to create challenges. Competition can motivate some kids even when there’s no tangible prize. We also know firsthand that it holds no interest and/or stresses other children out to the point where they quit before they start. In that case, consider doing a family competition where the kids try to beat the parents and who can memorize scripture first. Or have them try a self-challenge where they track their own improvements.
• Use rewards. Our kids would do great things for candy, much less for stickers but, the best reward is the deepening of our relationships with Jesus…be sure to communicate that and keep it in mind as the tangible rewards are earned. 

“Post them in the doorways” to us partly means to keep a tangible record that is easily seen throughout the day and upon reflection when it's all said and done. Here’s how:

• Keep those sticky notes in stock
• Keep lists to see at a glance all the verses they’ve learned
• Collect drawings in a binder, 
• Use special journals set aside just for scripture memory verses.
• Go digital with your storage in posts, highlights, stories, messages, emails, Bible apps, etc.

Whatever process you choose, do it on a regular basis and pray for and with them that your child will hold onto these words of His. You’re planting seeds in the beautiful field that is the creation God gave to you. Before you know it, they will be off into the world like ours are now and it’s a blessed reassurance for us to know we sent them with what we pray will bloom into their testimony someday…by the Blood of the Lamb. Amen! 

We are praying for God's word to come alive in your family, mama! We provide planning help with our classes and coaching, and our community will lift you up. For other ideas and encouragement, join us or contact us!