Memory

Every week the kids draw a poem out of our past memory work to polish and perform for me. I decided to use my new Flip Camera to record them. They were happy to both have chosen short poems this week! :-)

More memory song (how to)

For those who asked how I added the song to my blog, I followed the directions here. I already had Movie-maker on my computer, so I didn't even have to download that program.

Memory Song Test

OK, I'm trying something new on the blog. I put some of memorization recommendations in The Well Trained Mind to a tune. I feel the need to apologize for the cheesy lyrics and the poor sound quality. I'm trying to make due with some of the programs my computer already has on it.


Wars of the Middle Ages (tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic)
The Wars of the Middle Ages start with the Crusades
The Muslims and the Christians, the Holy land did raid
They battled for 200 years before they were all done
From 1095 to 1291.

The first ten ninety-six to ninety-nine
A Wild mob surrounded Palestine.
The second in 1187
They thought if they fought they would go to heaven.

In 1191 the Lionheart took the lead
He couldn’t win, but he had them sign a treaty
The 4th Crusade in 1202 to 1204
They looted Constantinople till there was no more!

The tried to send the children in 1212
The Children’s Crusade was not good for their health.
The fifth and 6th didn’t get much done.
And finally in 1291 Egypt won

The Hundred Years War fought with England and France.
They both wanted Kingdoms so they thought they’d take the chance.
The start in 1377 and all the years between
Don’t add up to 100, but 116.

Joan of Arc of Arc, a very young girl
Led the people into battle
Many bloody battles were lost and found
And in the end, neither side had gained much ground.

The Wars of the Roses wasn’t like a flower
The Yorks and the Lancasters both wanted power
From 1455 to 1485
Until a Lancastor took a York for a wife

The final war that we will relate
Went from 1562 to 1598
The Catholics and the Protestants were fighting for the rule.
The French Wars of Religion just weren’t cool!

Week 19 Memory Work

This week on our memory CD (daily):

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
Skip Counting 13's song
Phillipians 2
Athropod song (from Science Jukebox)

Review Work (Said only once):
My Shadow by Robert Lewis Stevens
There Was an Old Person Whose Habits by Edward Lear
Jonathan Bing by Beatrice Curtis Brown
Whole Duty of Children by Robert Louis Stevenson
After the Party by William Wise
Singing Time by Roberts Louis Steveson
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson
The Yak by Hilare Belloc
The Ingenious Little Old Man by John Bennett
Godfrey Gordan Gustavus Gore by William brighty Rands
My Gift by Christina Rosetti
The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson
Persevere
Sanctus
The Doxology (Latin)
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

About out Memory CD

I received a few questions about our Memory CD, so I thought I would post my response here.

Most of the things we are working on for memory work are from CDs from other programs. So, I have them all ripped onto my computer and each week or two, I change the playlist and burn it on my re-writable CD.

Once they have mastered a poem (or song) I take it off the CD and put it into our review notebook. Our review notebook is broken down into 31 sections (one for each day) and I divide the learned stuff evenly over the days. Then, after we do our CD we review the 2-3 things that are on that day's review list. (On Friday we do the review for Saturday and Sunday also.) I will also add poems or songs back onto the CD if the kids are forgetting something and need more review.

I put in the CD first thing after Bible time and the kids work on memorizing the things on it. They like it because they can color, jump on the mini-trampoline, or something else while they are doing it as long as I can hear them saying the memory work. They feel like they are "putting off school" so they always want me to add things to their CD. And, they don't know that I am thrilled that we are getting to memory work. It has made all the difference in the world for us actually getting around to it!!

There are some things that are not on CD's (like some of the Bible passages we are learning) and so I plug my mic into my computer and use a basic program to record my voice and save it on the computer. The free program I use is on my computer. It is under "programs" then "accessories" then "entertainment" then "sound recorder." I stumbled on this by accident one time, so check to see if you have this option. It only records for 60 seconds, but it has been fine for me so far.

I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions.

What's on our Memory CD right now?

Romans 12
The Spider and the Fly (poem from Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization)
President Song (from Broadway Kids sing America)
Ten Commandments song (from Classical Conversations CD)
Jonathon Bing (poem from Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization)
Charge of the Light Brigade (poem from Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization)
Adestel Fidelis (from Lingua Angelica)
Skip counting-cubes (from Classical Conversations CD)