Tip #7: At times we had to take breaks from our memory work to help us regain motivation and enthusiasm. If you have a map, you can use that time to review all seven (or eight) subjects, including geography! We practice quite a bit of our memory work in the car listening to CDs. Tip #6: Print an extra map to place in a page protector (or laminate) and store it in your car for when you’re on the road.

(Just ask the memory work question before they take their turn!) Our favorite is this LEGO game, but you can also use games like Candyland, Ants in the Pants, or Don’t Break the Ice. If it gets dull, throw in some review games. Flash cards and File Folder Games for Latin | for English Grammar.Then I lost my pants in France.” (Our second son David made up stories like this for memorizing geography.) I then sailed to the port in Portugal, and met a bullfighter with a pain in Spain. Geography Stories: “I poked my eye in Ireland, and then went to sing for the queen in England.For memorizing multiplication facts, you might try Multiplication Fact Songs through the 15s.Tip #5: Use a variety of memory work techniques. If they are used to always starting at week 1 and proceeding through the memory work in order, it may confuse them if they are told to start the timeline at “Jesus the Messiah.” For extra timeline practice, take a look at Timeline Thumbnails. They’ll need to be able to proof with the director on just a sample of the memory work. Work backwards through the history sentence prompts (Week 24 to 1), or give them a random timeline prompt to see if they can proceed from that point forward. Tip #4: Give your children prompts in different orders. The reward need not be expensive – a special family outing for a dessert at the local McDonald’s can make a child feel special. So… we planned a special trip for our children to reward the effort, and we unveiled it if they didn’t pass a proof (or when they passed the director proof if they make it through the entire process). Tip #3: I always feared what might happen if a child passed the parent proof but didn’t pass a subsequent one. The spaces are big enough for pennies, M&Ms, Skittles, stickers, and other little treats. Because the parent proof can be done in the privacy of your home, you can easily use it to encourage and train your children in the early part of the process! We use this Memory Work Sticker Book, which can be laminated as a set of charts so you can reuse it. Tip #2: I encouraged all my children to at least attempt the parent proof. When proofing rolls around this spring, you’ll be glad you’ve already mastered the last four weeks of material!

Introduce Week 21 this week, Week 22 next week, and so on. Tip #1: Start memorizing Weeks 21-24 over winter break.

For those who participate in the Memory Master process, here are some tips and tricks that helped our children to achieve the official Memory Master award. Although the process of officially becoming a Memory Master did not prove beneficial to our family in the long-run, we still focus on the art of memorization with poetry & speeches, hymns, scriptures, geography, and math facts.

That’s not to say memorization is unimportant. Let me be upfront and mention that after almost a decade of sending our children successfully through the Memory Master process, we found that the end result of those particular efforts was not worth the time we had invested, especially as we moved through the Challenge program. Over the years, I’ve had other families ask about how we review memory work, especially as it relates to Memory Master Proofing each spring.

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