Have you been looking for a method of memorizing the Bible for your family? When memorizing God's Word, our goal should be memorizing for life. Cramming verses into our short term memory is not going to work if we desire to have God's word hidden in our hearts for a lifetime. In other words, successful Bible memory is dependent on a strong and regular review process.
That's why our Bible Memory system is based on something called Spaced Repetition, the evidence-based findings of Hermann Ebbinghaus and Sebastian Leitner. Ebbinghaus suggested that information loss over time follows something called a forgetting curve, but that forgetting could be reset with regular repetition. Later on, a German science journalist, Sebastian Leitner came up with the Leitner System, a simple implementation principle based on Ebbinghaus’s Spaced Repetition. Leitner’s system used flashcards where correctly answered cards are advanced to the next less frequently reviewed box. This is the system our Verily Verses Bible Memory system is based on.
The first collection, Familiar Verses no. 1, includes 12 verse cards, with the passage on one side and First Letter mnemonics on the other side. First-letter mnemonics are, as their name suggests, a memory strategy that uses the first letters of each word in the passage as and aid to remembering. This can be an effective technique because initial letters are helpful retrieval cues.
In addition to the verse cards, the Verily Verses system also includes corresponding copywork pages. There is the Menu format to use in menu covers with dry erase markers, and the Book format option.
THE DAILY ROUTINE
Choose a verse card to start memorizing and place it in the "daily verse" tab.
Let’s say today is January 1. We will work on memorizing our daily verse. Next are the "every other day" verses. It is an ODD day (January 1) so next we will review the card in the “odd” tab. Since it is the 1st, we will then review the card “1” in the monthly review section. Next we would be ready to review a verse from the yearly review section since it is the 1st of the month. It might work best to pick the first day of the month to do the yearly review verses but do what works best for your family. So on this day you will have went over 4 verses/passages. (The one you are currently memorizing, and 3 review verses.) On the other days of the month you will only be going over 3 verses. As time goes on, you will accumulate more verses in the yearly review section, so your first day of the month will gradually get a little longer. But don’t worry, this is a slow process that your children will grow into. Hiding God’s word in your heart is not a race, its an intentional habit to be cultivated.
WHAT ABOUT SHORTER MONTHS?
For months containing less than 31 days, just skip the “missing” days and move right on ahead.
WHAT ABOUT NEW STUDENTS? DO WE START OVER?
There is no need to start over with each new student. They should eventually catch up. This method is intended to be simple and done together as a family. You can also customize the verse rotation to your famiy's needs. Our family reviews our Bible Memory on week days and take a break on the weekend, so I skip putting verses in the "Saturday and Sunday" tabs. You can do this for any sections/dividers to meet your family's routine.
The verse box rotation system can also be used with any other 4x6 cards. You could even use 4x6 index cards and make your own verses! You don't even need to be a homeschool family to use this method. Simply take the verses your family/children already know and write them down on index cards and place them in the box. If your children attend a private school where they are doing Bible Memory, take the passages they are memorizing and stick them into the rotation. This will help develpe memory retention if your school doesnt have a strong review process.
If you use our Verily Verses Bible Memory system I'd love to hear how you like it in the comments!