"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built upon the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think. Whereas, if the child is left to himself, he will think more and better, if less showily. Let him go and come freely, let him touch real things and combine his impressions for himself, instead of sitting indoors at a little round table, while a sweet-voiced teacher suggests that he build a stone wall with his wooden blocks, or make a rainbow out of strips of coloured paper, or plant straw trees in bead flower-pots. Such teaching fills the mind with artificial associations that must be got rid of, before the child can develop independent ideas out of actual experience." -- Anne Sullivan

Monday, March 7, 2011

Bible Memory

Growing up I was blessed to attend a church that had a great AWANA program. There were hundreds of kids and so many dedicated, enthusiastic volunteers, I looked forward to it every week. We played crazy games and earned dollars to spend at the Trading Post. But most importantly, we memorized Scripture. I attended AWANA from Cubbies to Chums and memorized hundreds of verses over the years. And I still have them hidden in my heart.

So when I realized my kids were not memorizing Scripture, I felt pretty ashamed. We read the Bible every night before bed and study the Bible as part of our homeschool curriculum, but we've never made a point of memorizing Bible verses. We don't have an AWANA program to fall back on, so if my kids are going to memorize Scripture, it's up to me.

The first thing I did was go to the AWANA website to order the books. But guess what? You can't order them! You can only order with a church account. Then I tried to log in as a church Why?! Why don't they want people to buy the books? I don't know. But it sent me on a mission to find our own Scripture memory program.

I realize I could just open the Bible and write a verse on an index card, but I wanted something a little more fun and crafty. So I did some google-ing and will share with you the links I found useful.

AWANA verses
This site is cool because it lists the AWANA Cubbies and Sparks verses and includes print-outs with cute pictures and a word-scramble game.


easy Bible verses
This one had some cute coloring pages.


childrens chapel
Here's a long list of verses with coloring pages.


Scrapbooking Bible verses
This site had some really cute printouts, but I felt the verses were a little long for my kids. This would be a great resource for older kids.

I also checked out the "Hide 'em in Your Heart" CDs by Steve Green. I was a little worried there would be excessive cheesiness, since it's from the 90's (80's?) and it's Steve Green, but when I listened to the sample I realized I knew most of the songs, I guess from school. Then I felt all nostalgic and decided to download the MP3 at Amazon. You can too.

cheestastic Scripture memory songs you know you love

I personally am going to start with the AWANA verses and use the other sites when they correlate with our curriculum or the seasons. I plan on using file folders to glue the verses into so the kids can make "books"(I know Caleb particularly will like this.) Then we'll put them into binders so they can go back and review them. We're starting tonight, so I'll post pictures of how they turn out at the end of the week!
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1 comment:

  1. MeganMarch 7, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    Great ideas, Colleen! It's amazing how many verses I still remember from when I was little (as opposed to the ones in high school I just used to cram for before the quizzes). ;o)

    In our house, I painted a wall in my kitchen with chalkboard paint, and each week I choose a different verse to memorize and write it on the wall. (Ok...sometimes it turns out to be a verse every month.) Someday I have lofty visions of going to the wall after dinner and saying the verse together as a family. Then I thought we would erase a few words each night and then maybe reward the kids with dessert on Friday or Saturday night when they memorize it. (I'm still a few years away from that though.) ;o)

    Looking forward to seeing how your little books turn out!

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