Poetry Memorizing for Children

Have you ever memorized a scripture? Maybe later you recalled it in a time of need or were able to share it with a friend to lift you both. Maybe you use it as a mantra. Does having something powerful memorized lift your mind and heart? Today I have a suggestion for you to share this power with your children. Scripture is great and I might do a post on some great scriptures to memorize but for this one I want to talk about the power and benefits of children memorizing poetry.

Why memorize poetry?

Fill their minds and hearts with what is good and beautiful. There is so much filthy, vulgarity, and light mindedness. We need to combat that with meaningful, heart softening, and sincere works.
Whenever they are 'bored' or have nothing much to do, they will at least have 'friends' to keep them company. They will have powerful thoughts to ponder. People do not THINK anymore. We are so bombarded with screens and the need to be entertained that we simply do not use our brains anymore. I do not want my children to become silent sheep led to the slaughter. I do not want them pacified. I want them to think for themselves and question the status quo.
There is the saying Garbage in, Garbage out. And a dear mentor of mine changed it to Good in, Good out. So what are we putting into our children? Memorizing poems puts in some of the best ideas, literary devices (such as alliteration, illusions, imagery, metaphors), and vocabulary. Memorizing poems creates a vast store of understanding and great ability to use English syntax. With these great works floating around in their heads what do you think will come out? Their writing and speech will be elevated. They will have a better grasp of the English language and be able to write with greater rhythm and beauty. Want them to write better? Memorize more poems. (And read great books. Good in good out still works there too)
I mentioned vocabulary. Why not just read books to gain a better vocabulary? Or write out definitions? So fun and effective right? The benefit to having poems memorized is that they will have those rich words stored and understood from pondering and discussing. They are more a part of them and not likely to be forgotten but eagerly used. Also, having an abundance of vocabulary allows them to better understand more difficult and complex literature in the great books they will read later. Because we are always reading and trying to get better, right!
Speaking of reading books. I greater grasp of language and a familiarity with pondering meaning and ideas, children will better understand and gain from the books they are currently reading. Maybe a passage will remind them of a poem. Or even just a literary device will cause a pause in reading to stop and ponder the meaning or idea and allow greater influence on the heart and person.

Thoughts before you get started

First off, consider the age of the child(ren) you are working with. Three and under I would stick to nursery rhymes or very short and clear poems. The nice thing about nursery rhythm is that most are set to a tune that helps in memorizing as well as makes them more appealing to young children. They are not intimidating. They also get your children used to memorizing, rhythm, and structure of a poem.
Ages 3-6, you could start with longer ones. Robert Louis Stevenson has some great ones that talk about animals or nature that help the children to see what they are talking about and aren't ones with lots of symbolism that might be confusing. Poems that tell stories are also good because they are easier to memorize too because they know what comes next in the story which helps them think about how it was said.
Ages 6-10 you can get into Shakespeare and more abstract or complex poems. I suggest though that if you or they are not used to memorizing poems, that the more complex the subject matter or vocabulary, the shorter the poem until you get more comfortable and familiar with the rhythm and what not. Also, if not used to poetry and memorizing, start with the familiar. There might be some push back if you start with some crazy obscure Shakespeare if they have never heard any poetry. But if it is a subject that they enjoy or an excerpt from a story they like, or if you can find it in picture book form then it become more friendly and enjoyable.
I will be posting later some of our favorite poems or other poems you might want to use for you poetry memorizing.

Ways to encourage poetry memorization is to let them see you memorizing too.

• Let them hear you practice while you cook or clean.
• Let them hear you share how excited you are that you finished memorizing a stanza.
• Let them see you writing down some favorite poems in your notebook (or create a poetry notebook of just the best poems)
• Then see if they want to create their own book of poems. Add drawings, pictures, stickers. Anything to get them comfortable and familiar with poetry.
• Share your current memory work at lunch or dinner. Go around and share what everyone is working on.
• Then when everyone is comfortable maybe make a special poetry tea time to recite and share thoughts that came to you.
• Share how the poem means more to you now that you have pondered it and have it in your heart.
• Share how you pulled on a poem you have previously memorized to get you through a tough time.
• Share Share Share! The more they see you doing it the more normal and natural it is for them to do it.