The ESV Memory Madness overview booklet is now available for download! You can grab it right now from the additional materials page.
A while back I mentioned that our kids are involved in a memorization program. It's a very simple homegrown program that we use in church called Memory Madness. The basic idea is that people learn a verse a week for 10 weeks. Each week they get quizzed on their verse, and get reviewed on one of their past verses. They earn points accordingly, which can later be spent at a toy store. At the end of the ten weeks they get a chance to say all ten verses at once to double their points and to get a certificate. Each set of ten verses is called a “mission” and we go through about three missions a year. Between the ages of five to twelve kids will learn 250 verses and will know them well!
One of the reasons I like this program is because of the amount of review it involves. People get reviewed on verses weekly, at the end of each mission, and also at the end of each succeeding mission. Memorization is pretty simple. More review leads to better retention, so my hope is that many of these verses will stick with people for the rest of their lives.
Another reason I think this is a good program is that it involves the whole family instead of just the kids. We’ve got parents learning verses right alongside kids, and in our church we have more adults involved than we do children. In fact, over 50% of our church is involved, spanning from little toddlers who can barely put a sentence together to grandparents who don’t want to be outdone by their grandkids.
While the program is pretty simple, it is still hard to explain adequately without writing much more than you would want to read. So, if you’re really interested, I’d encourage you to check out some of the links below.
If you would like to find out more about the Memory Madness program we are doing at Summitview you should can start by printing off the seminar handout (Word/PDF), and then listening to the seminar.
If you would just like to see what verses we are covering you can look at the overview booklet (Word/PDF).
If after listening to the seminar and looking at the material you would like a packet of information to help start a similar program in your church, just send me an e-mail through the contact page. Please include your mailing address.
