I am sitting here early in the morning before my kids wake up, getting some reading in. Suddenly, it popped into my head to share why I went for the title of Memory Master last year.
First of all, my intention is not to convince all of you to do what I did. I just want to share some insights I have collected along the way during the six years we have been a part of Classical Conversations, because I am so passionate about what I am learning!
The reasons I did the Memory Master testing are these:
1) I was reviewing with my children anyway, why not go for it?
2) I wanted my kids to see that I was willing to put in the same work they were. (They were quite entertained and amused that I was testing with them.)
3) I want to be a lifelong learner and homeschooling has provided an amazing opportunity for that!
4) I want to fill in the many gaps that are left after my sixteen years of formal schooling. As my children advance, I want to advance with them. When they enter the Challenge years, I want to become more dialectic and rhetorical, learning to ask questions, not be afraid of questions, and wrestle with information so I can have greater understanding and be a better communicator of truth. Memory work is the necessary stepping stone to get there.
It is so easy as parents to expect things of our children that we are not willing to do ourselves. We are busy! And we are teaching! However, from experience I have found that the willingness to do things my children are doing, or at least seeking to understand the challenge it is for them, has been the most effective teaching I have done.
I cannot explain how my heart swells to think of the joy we can have as parents and teachers who thrive as we are willing to be the student with our child. It does not mean you do every single assignment, or even Memory Master! It is a matter of the heart and a realization of the calling we have to love learning ourselves because all learning is an act of collecting jewels of truth into our treasure chest which can never be too full. We will be collecting jewels our entire lives because we are so much smaller than the infinite God who created it all.
With that said, we have no need to panic when we do not know it all. After a life fully lived, we will have only scratched the surface of the treasure God has for us, but I hope we have had a lot of fun doing so.
So, in case you did not already know, you as a parent can participate in Memory Master testing, but even if you do not, that is totally okay! My heart is to encourage you today to rest in and enjoy the fact that you are a co-learner with your child. Have fun!
