Is Bible memorization tricky for your kids? We know how important it is to hide God’s word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) so the Holy Spirit can come alongside us and remind us when we need to use that verse and wield God’s sword!
One of my strengths in homeschooling is coming up with things spur of the moment.
Years ago I developed a technique one day when we were trying to memorize a scripture verse and it wasn’t going so well.
I can muddle through basic drawing (not nearly as good as my 17 year old) so I decided to draw pictures to go with the words.
We have a book that uses this type of technique for memorizing the books of the bible, so I tried that.
The kids really liked it, and they began to see the pictures in their head that cued them to the words for the scripture.
You still need to be saying the scripture so they are familiar with the words the pictures cue, but it can work well for visual learners and those who love to draw.
Check out my video of Psalm 119:11 referenced above!
I typically use the whiteboard for this technique. The kids have used lined paper, plain paper, fancy paper, or whatever we feel like on that day.
We start by talking about what picture would represent a word or group of words well. It tends to be a group decision as long as I deem it something we can draw.
They watch as I make the drawing on the board. Sometimes they start to follow along and copy the drawing, and sometimes they wait until the picture is complete then draw it on their page.
You do not need to be a good drawer to do this! Even if your drawing results in lots of laughter, wouldn’t that be a great homeschool day? I bet they won’t forget the verse either!
We continue this process for each word or group of words, adding details if necessary to aid in memory.
For example, when my girls drew the verse above, they ended up adding a “v” under the first eye to help them remember the word was, “I’ve”.
We are repeating the verse quite a bit as we figure out what to draw, then start from the beginning to see how our memory is coming along.
We always add the scripture reference at the top or bottom, punch three holes in it and add it to our notebook under the “Bible” tab.
That’s it!
Give it a try and let me know if you want more of these videos for other verses!