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tips for helping your kids memorize scripture

Most of us know the importance of hiding God’s word in our hearts. We have heard that so many times, how could we forget! Yet I find so many forget their role in helping their children with this task. Did you know that young children have the capacity to memorize scripture as well? In fact, kid’s memories are often better than adults! There is no reason your child can’t start memorizing short scriptures not long after they are confidently speaking, and build on from there. I strongly believe that God’s word will never return void and we will never regret time spent discipling our children in this way. Let me share with you some of my favourite tips for helping your kids memorize scripture.

Pick a passage

What passage you pick will be dependant on the age of your children. You can start with something simple for young children like “all have sinned” from Romans 3:23. A 2 year old could memorize that!

Don’t shy away from larger passages over a period of time. Last summer we memorized Psalm 23 together as a family and my daughters were 4 and 6 at the time. We worked at it over a couple of months and they both have fully retained it even now!

You’ll want to look at different versions of that passage and pick one that is easy to understand and easy to memorize. When you are just starting out you may want to steer away from words your child will struggle to pronounce. Don’t feel like you have to avoid words they may not understand, this can be an excellent teaching opportunity for you to explain God’s word. Look through the passage and see if you can come up with some fun actions for the words in it.

Catch them while you can

Once you have settled on a passage it is time to begin! I find the easiest time to practice scripture memory work is while we are sitting at the table for meals or colouring or anything else. They are already sitting still. They are already in my presence. I have their ears and their attention.

I would begin the first day by reading the whole passage to them and giving them the general idea of what it is about and what it means. You could maybe even talk about why you chose this particular passage if that information is pertinent.

take your time

Expect this to take time. You’ll want to chunk the verse into small parts, maybe even sentences.

For instance when we did Psalm 23 last year our first chunk was “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want”. We practiced that for a couple days. So when we were having breakfast I would say:

“Ok girls let’s practice Psalm 23. Say it with me now. ‘The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.’ Ok let’s say that again. Can you say it without me? Do you know why we call the Lord our shepherd? (explain) What does it mean here when it says that we shall not want? (explain). Ok let’s say it together again.”

And then I would probably say it with them another time later in the day when they were at the table again. Keep it super casual.

Once you can tell they know that part, introduce the next chunk. I would do this the next day by adding it on to the current part and reciting it all together a few times.

make it fun

Even as adults we know that anytime we enjoy learning something, we retain it far easier. So the more fun you can make this for your kiddos, the more they will enjoy and retain! For example, if you are teaching them the books of the Bible you can teach them the song. Or you can set your verse to a song OR find it already set to a song by a company such as Seeds Family Worship . Another great resource is the Corner Room on Spotify which has Psalms set to music. I use this often as background music when we are working.

Actions are a great way to help kids remember verses and also helps you cue them without having to say the word if they are stuck. For instance, the second chunk we learned of Pslam 23 we learned was “He makes us lie down in green pastures”. So we put our hands together and laid our heads on them when we said the word lie.

Girls with their heads on their folded hands while reciting Psalm 23 "He makes me lie down in green pastures"

Or later on in the passage when we learned the chunk “you annoint my head with oil” we would hold up one hand over our head and pretend to be pouring something over our heads while we said that line. You do not need an action for every word but toss them in when you can find one that naturally fits.

Another way we make it fun is making a puzzle out of it. This is so easily done by writing the verse on a piece of construction paper and cutting it up into chunks. There is so much you can do with this. You can have the kids put the puzzle together. You can have it facing up and have them read it a few times and then turn one chunk over and see if they can still read through the verse (knowing the flipped over part off by heart).

Romans 3:23 in puzzle form to help kids learn.

This can also be done on a dry erase board where you write out the verse, read it over out loud a few times and then start erasing one word at a time. As you erase a word you then read it through again and see if the child can still read it without the erased word. You do this until all words are erased and then they know the verse! Don’t forget to learn the reference as well!

repeat repeat repeat

Don’t expect them to learn it in the first shot. Some will, but many wont. Practice, practice, practice. Say the verse over and over to them. Do this over a course of many days instead of frustrating them in one day. Make it fun and praise them on their memory and hard work. And be sure you are learning it along with them!

Do you feel ready to give this a try?

I am going to start memorizing Psalm 100 with my kids this week. Now that Awana is over and they aren’t memorizing scripture for that, I want to do more passages as a family. I am going to use the version from their own personal Bibles (NIrV) and would love to have you join along if you would like! I will post the version below and also on my instagram. If you aren’t following me on instagram (@from_kristin) go do it! I will post live clips of us practicing over the next few weeks.

This is a bit hard to see because you can see through to the writing on the other side of the page. Check my insta for a better photo or just look it up yourself!

So this is the passage we will be working on for the next while if you’d like to join us. If you do I would love to see you post about it on instagram and hashtag #fromkristinscripturememorization so I can see who is joining! Psalm 23 was also a great one if you think that would be easier to start with!

Let me know if you try any of these tips for helping your kids memorize scripture.

I know so many of you do scripture memorization with your kids so please leave your tips in the comments for everyone to read!

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About Me

Hi I am Kristin Stewart. I consider myself so lucky to be a homeschool mommy! Before I was a mother, I was a teacher in both public and Christian boards and I loved teaching so much. However, once my first daughter was born I knew God was calling me to be at home with her. So when it was time for her to start school, homeschooling was a natural fit for us. Read More…

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Kristin Stewart
Talking about the books I got for my girls (8 and Talking about the books I got for my girls (8 and 6) for our upcoming 10 day road trip in my stories today if you need ideas.
We love using our big 100 floor chart for math. Us We love using our big 100 floor chart for math. Used it for adding 10 for grade 1 math and now skip counting review visual for grade 3 math.
Thank you so much for joining me here in the is li Thank you so much for joining me here in the is little space and joining me in the conversation about homeschool, faith and intentionally raising our kids.  I am so thankful for the friendships and the love you’ve shown me and my family this year.  See you in 2021! Happy new year!
Walking and seeing the hoarfrost never gets old. D Walking and seeing the hoarfrost never gets old.
Due to lots of upheaval over the next few months, I’m starting a slow launch with math tomorrow. We can’t get behind in math as I don’t want to school through the summer!! 

(I know..behind isn’t a thing in homeschool but I have certain goals for math I like to reach!)
Read this for the first time tonight and it might Read this for the first time tonight and it might be my fave ever
Sophie and I loved this book but be warned, it’s Sophie and I loved this book but be warned, it’s like 30 pages and the pages are covered in text. We started for bedtime last night without knowing how long it was so had to finish it this morning. 
A heart warming story about an orphan girl, a doll no one wants and a kind police man and his wife. Beautiful photos and endearing story.
Such a heart warming story about a boy who gives a Such a heart warming story about a boy who gives a sweater to a man who needs it and then at the end all his family comes through for him as well. I don’t want to give the story away but we love this one! It’s a longer one, but such a beautiful story! 

I know I’m slacking! I never wrote my blog post on these. (Sorry Mandy!) Lots has been going on here that I had no control over. I’ll get to it soon!
This is a very silly little interactive book. If y This is a very silly little interactive book. If you’re familiar with the other crayons book you’ll know the humour. This one comes with little paper dolls and built in envelopes and lots of fun extras. A very silly little Christmas story about a box of crayons.
A sweet little book about how Santa got his reinde A sweet little book about how Santa got his reindeer. We really enjoyed it.
One of our favourites! This is a sweet little stor One of our favourites! This is a sweet little story about a mouse who can’t find a house his size so he drags the people out of the nativity to use the manger. But the humans keep setting it back up!  Then he hears the Christmas story and realizes there had been no room for Jesus in the inn so he drags all the statues back into the stable and gives Jesus the manger. Then the mouse ends up finding a gingerbread house to live in. Very cute little story that also reminds us of the reason for the season.
This is the bookshelf in my 8 year olds room. Thes This is the bookshelf in my 8 year olds room. These are all chapter books she’s read on her own. She also frequently goes and grabs books we have used for read aloud from our family shelf (Roald Dahl, Mrs piggle wiggle, etc). She’s going to go on in my stories later today to talk about her faves but this gives you an overview of what’s on her shelves.  She has typical 8 year old interests but reads far above grade level.  I would think most of these would be able to be read by any grade 3 student.  She will show inside some in stories a little later.
Such an adorable book! Perfect kids missing their Such an adorable book! Perfect kids missing their grandparents. A little girl is missing her grandpa and a reindeer flies her to deliver the card and then brings her back. Beautiful illustrations and flaps to open. I flipped through it in my stories.
Such an awesome and unique story from the perspect Such an awesome and unique story from the perspective of a boy who’s father made and sold myrrh and how they ended up selling it to the wise men to bring to Jesus.  I think it shows beautifully how even working diligently at your work behind the scenes brings honour to God
This is just a cute little story about reindeer bu This is just a cute little story about reindeer but it also has cut out, peep through parts on some pages that the kids think are fun. It’s mostly in grey and white but a quick, short, cute read
❤️ ❤️
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I decided to share a book * daily * (when I get to I decided to share a book * daily * (when I get to it) and will put together a blog post as well. 
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Sometimes I wonder if my teacher friends feel like Sometimes I wonder if my teacher friends feel like I’ve lost my mind, or sold out or something. Not that what people think would ever sway what I do, but I do wonder. And I always wish they’d have a conversation with me about it. Because I was extremely anti-homeschool as a teacher, so I guess in that way I’ve changed. But really, I just became educated about homeschooling. My love for, and thoughts about, education never changed. In the classroom I saw each child as an individual and I worked myself to the ground trying to reach each one; trying to figure out the best way for that individual to learn, trying to fill gaps that I hadn’t made, trying to install a love for learning. Trying to be a support for my students. And I know so many other teachers doing that every day. And I still am too. Just at home with my own kids. My ability or desire to educate hasn’t changed. So when you see me saying we made cards instead of math, you don’t have to think I’m tossing aside their learning. They’ll still do all they need to do this year for their grade level, and most likely more.  It takes far less time in a day to properly teach 2 children then to teach 25+. I don’t lose even a single moment sleep wondering about the quality of their education. 
But I also get the beauty of not handing off their character training. I get to mold them and shape them. I get to walk them through their arguments and attitudes and help build their character. I get to teach them daily that you can be kind to someone (your sister) even when they aren’t kind back. I get to teach them to think for themselves and to follow their interests. I can remind them to work diligently at all they do, as working for the Lord not men. And I get to remind them that I care way more about the character they have than they grades they have. 
I’m still pro education! I still feel like I’m working hard along side teachers with the same goal. I’m just obeying Gods calling on how to use my skill, as I trust you are. 
So if you have questions or assumptions about homeschool, ask me! I am not offended, I’m an open book, and I’m extremely confident in what we’re doing here.  Tired yes, but also confident. ❤️
My husband attended a death on his job recently th My husband attended a death on his job recently that left a man in his 80s living alone with no family in town. We decided to bring him a meal tonight. The girls asked who I was cooking for and when I told them, they wanted to make him drawings to “lift his spirits” they said. So instead of math, they made pictures. Some things are just bigger than us and more important than practicing our mental math facts. This afternoon I’m a little teary and just so dang proud to be their mama.  Needed this reminder of the goodness of their hearts amidst all the character training moments lately. ❤️❤️ Dont forget the good inside your kiddos. ❤️
The most recent post on my blog is a review of the The most recent post on my blog is a review of the company CrossTimber gifts who makes these name plaques and these worksheets based around a name
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