Everyday Educator - Memory Masters are Made, not Born!
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Welcome friends to this episode
00:00:06.560 | of the "Everyday Educator" podcast.
00:00:09.240 | I'm your host, Lisa Bailey,
00:00:11.120 | and I'm excited to spend some time with you today
00:00:14.280 | as we encourage one another, learn together,
00:00:17.740 | and ponder the delights and challenges
00:00:20.660 | that make homeschooling the adventure of a lifetime.
00:00:24.040 | Whether you're just considering
00:00:26.400 | this homeschooling possibility
00:00:28.640 | or deep into the daily delight of family learning,
00:00:32.320 | I believe you'll enjoy thinking along with us.
00:00:36.000 | But don't forget,
00:00:37.320 | although this online community is awesome,
00:00:41.020 | you'll find even closer support in a local CC community.
00:00:46.020 | So go to classicalconversations.com
00:00:50.640 | and find a community near you today.
00:00:55.600 | Well, listeners, I'm excited today about our topic.
00:01:00.200 | Our foundations year has drawn to a close,
00:01:03.780 | our challenge year is quickly coming to an end,
00:01:06.880 | and all the fun end of the year specials
00:01:10.480 | are running through our community.
00:01:12.720 | I want us to talk today for a few minutes
00:01:16.760 | about memory masters.
00:01:18.740 | Many of you have kids who are in the middle
00:01:22.600 | of the memory master proofing process,
00:01:26.160 | but a lot of you are in community
00:01:29.320 | with these memory master people,
00:01:31.520 | and you don't really know what the big deal is.
00:01:34.120 | Or maybe your child has heard about Memory Master,
00:01:38.000 | and they wonder if it's something they want to do.
00:01:41.640 | And they ask you about it,
00:01:43.060 | and you think, I don't really know a lot about this.
00:01:45.800 | I don't know if it's for our family.
00:01:47.480 | I'm not sure how you get started.
00:01:49.320 | I don't know if it's too late.
00:01:50.880 | How would I go about finding more information?
00:01:54.320 | So today, I have two great guests with us.
00:01:58.480 | I have Kelly Wilt with us today.
00:02:00.840 | She has been immersed in the memory master world
00:02:04.640 | for a long time.
00:02:06.360 | You may know her voice and her face
00:02:09.960 | as the emcee of the National Memory Master Competition.
00:02:14.960 | So Kelly is gonna talk to us a little bit
00:02:17.400 | about memory master in general,
00:02:19.520 | and some of her experiences with National Memory Master.
00:02:23.800 | But I have a real treat today.
00:02:26.600 | I'm gonna get Kelly to introduce
00:02:29.240 | the new National Memory Master Liaison,
00:02:34.240 | Elise DeYoung.
00:02:35.520 | And you're gonna get to know Elise,
00:02:37.600 | and we're gonna answer all of your questions, maybe.
00:02:41.960 | We're going to just encourage you,
00:02:46.120 | mamas and daddies and grandmas and students
00:02:49.200 | to realize that memory masters are made, not born.
00:02:54.200 | So everybody has the opportunity to become a memory master.
00:03:00.640 | Kelly, I'm so glad to have you today.
00:03:02.840 | Thank you for coming to share your expertise with us.
00:03:06.440 | - Oh, friend, you know I love foundations
00:03:08.640 | and discussing anything foundations.
00:03:11.080 | And memory master is simply a celebration
00:03:15.800 | of what our students have learned
00:03:18.040 | and what a delight to celebrate these good things.
00:03:22.320 | And it is a very good thing also
00:03:25.040 | that I get to introduce you to my new friend,
00:03:27.640 | Elise DeYoung today.
00:03:29.720 | Elise is our new liaison
00:03:32.160 | for the National Memory Master Competition.
00:03:35.320 | And Elise has an advantage over me, Lisa.
00:03:38.440 | I am merely the mother of a memory master,
00:03:42.960 | but Elise actually graduated through Challenge 4
00:03:46.840 | and in her foundation's years,
00:03:49.240 | she was a memory master herself.
00:03:52.160 | - Oh, that is so cool.
00:03:53.960 | - So I am excited to introduce her to you here today
00:03:57.760 | and to our listeners so that they can meet her
00:04:00.360 | and they can hear her perspective
00:04:01.720 | on the National Memory Master Competition.
00:04:04.080 | - That is so exciting.
00:04:05.760 | Elise, let me ask you this.
00:04:07.400 | Do you remember anything
00:04:09.320 | about your memory master competition?
00:04:11.880 | - Thank you for asking, thank you for having me on.
00:04:14.920 | I really appreciate it.
00:04:15.920 | I'm really glad.
00:04:17.760 | - I was thinking back through this week
00:04:19.880 | as I was preparing for this episode
00:04:22.480 | and things definitely started to come back.
00:04:25.520 | But the thing that really stuck with me all these years
00:04:28.280 | was the time that I spent with my mom.
00:04:30.960 | And I want to encourage families
00:04:33.160 | who are thinking about doing this
00:04:34.280 | because it is so worth it.
00:04:35.360 | Just for that fact,
00:04:36.640 | I can remember us going through all the songs
00:04:40.240 | and the facts in the car, at the grocery store.
00:04:43.560 | We used to drive and spend a lot of time at my dad's office
00:04:47.400 | and that was always lots and lots of fun.
00:04:49.520 | So just our whole family together working on this.
00:04:51.880 | And that is truly what I took away the most
00:04:55.400 | and what I would like to encourage parents with also.
00:04:58.640 | - That is the most beautiful thing.
00:05:00.720 | I love that.
00:05:02.120 | And I really think, Elise,
00:05:05.120 | that's a big encouragement to all of the families
00:05:07.920 | that are listening.
00:05:09.400 | National Memory Master is, like Kelly said,
00:05:11.840 | a celebration of all the things
00:05:13.600 | that our students have learned.
00:05:15.240 | But Elise, you've just reminded us
00:05:17.440 | that all of what we do as homeschoolers
00:05:20.320 | is a celebration of the relationships
00:05:23.200 | that God has led us to develop more deeply
00:05:26.360 | with our children and children with their parents
00:05:30.560 | as we become learners together.
00:05:32.320 | So I really appreciate that.
00:05:34.200 | Thank you for sharing it.
00:05:35.760 | All right, Kelly,
00:05:36.600 | let's get all the grammar of Memory Master laid out
00:05:40.800 | 'cause I suspect we may have some listeners
00:05:43.920 | who don't really know what Memory Master is all about.
00:05:47.320 | And I wanna be sure that we all are talking
00:05:49.880 | about the same things.
00:05:51.560 | And so we want to give people a short definition
00:05:57.760 | so that as we continue our conversation,
00:06:00.720 | people can follow it and not think,
00:06:02.480 | now, wait, what is that?
00:06:04.240 | Okay.
00:06:05.560 | Let's start at the very beginning.
00:06:06.800 | What do we mean by memorize?
00:06:10.920 | Okay, so if you say to me
00:06:13.680 | that a Memory Master has to memorize
00:06:16.200 | all of the foundation's memory work from this year,
00:06:20.600 | do you mean like word for word, verbatim,
00:06:24.200 | or kind of paraphrased or with help?
00:06:27.080 | Or what does memorize mean?
00:06:29.520 | I think this is a really great question
00:06:31.080 | because it can mean different things to different people.
00:06:34.400 | And it can mean different things outside of this context
00:06:38.200 | as far as recalling information.
00:06:42.120 | So for our Memory Masters in community,
00:06:45.880 | when we say memorize,
00:06:47.880 | basically what we're saying is
00:06:49.280 | they need to be able to recite effortlessly the information
00:06:53.760 | because we have seven different subjects of memory work
00:06:57.440 | and they are asked to recite these subjects
00:07:00.920 | in different ways to demonstrate
00:07:03.560 | their mastery over the content.
00:07:05.760 | So I would say that probably would be the best definition
00:07:09.640 | that I could give,
00:07:10.760 | that they could recite in a way that is effortless,
00:07:15.720 | that is easy, that they recall easily
00:07:19.920 | those facts that they've put to mind.
00:07:21.880 | That is awesome.
00:07:24.400 | Okay, now you did say that we,
00:07:28.120 | that they are able to recall
00:07:31.480 | and recite that information in different ways
00:07:35.520 | depending on the area.
00:07:37.640 | So like, what about maps?
00:07:39.360 | In Memory Master, are they drawing a map
00:07:42.280 | while you sit there and watch them?
00:07:43.920 | Are they pointing to stuff on a drawn map?
00:07:47.360 | Are they naming locations?
00:07:50.040 | What about that?
00:07:51.040 | Yeah, it's interesting to think through
00:07:53.880 | the different subjects
00:07:55.160 | and how do we express mastery in geography
00:07:58.320 | as opposed to reciting a fact.
00:08:01.640 | So in geography, when a student is proofed,
00:08:06.640 | they will be asked to show me,
00:08:10.040 | the person would, proofing them would say,
00:08:12.160 | "Show me this location."
00:08:14.600 | So example, an example would be,
00:08:16.680 | "Show me the Atlantic Ocean."
00:08:18.680 | And so the student would look at the map
00:08:20.560 | and they would put their finger down
00:08:21.920 | where they feel they,
00:08:23.280 | where they have memorized the location
00:08:25.360 | of the Atlantic Ocean,
00:08:26.960 | as opposed to mixing up the response
00:08:31.960 | by also saying, "Tell me where,
00:08:37.320 | tell me what this is."
00:08:39.360 | And the director or the tutor
00:08:41.240 | or the parent or another adult,
00:08:43.640 | these are the four people
00:08:44.920 | who would be proofing this Memory Master
00:08:47.680 | through the process.
00:08:49.080 | They would say, "Tell me what this is."
00:08:51.160 | And then the student would look at
00:08:52.360 | where their finger was pointing
00:08:54.680 | and would say, "Oh, that's the Atlantic Ocean."
00:08:57.400 | So demonstrating memory with geography
00:09:00.040 | is slightly different than perhaps
00:09:01.800 | with some of our other subjects of memory work,
00:09:04.680 | like history or English grammar,
00:09:07.960 | where the person who is doing the proofing
00:09:11.080 | might just simply ask the student,
00:09:13.320 | "Tell me about Charlemagne."
00:09:15.360 | Or, "Tell me about, you know,
00:09:18.600 | William the Conqueror."
00:09:19.840 | And a student would recite that information
00:09:23.120 | that they had memorized on that particular week
00:09:25.640 | in that cycle.
00:09:27.160 | So for geography, it is a little different.
00:09:28.960 | Another subject that is slightly different is math.
00:09:32.200 | So just like with geography,
00:09:34.160 | we have a map for students
00:09:36.280 | to be able to utilize in math.
00:09:39.200 | Our parents, if our students are under the age of nine,
00:09:43.080 | when they go through the proofing process,
00:09:45.920 | they are able to skip count
00:09:48.720 | or recite the products of the multiplication tables
00:09:53.240 | that they're memorizing.
00:09:54.680 | But once they get to the age of 10,
00:09:56.600 | they actually use a pack of multiplication flashcards,
00:10:01.080 | and they will look at the multiplication problem,
00:10:03.520 | they'll recite it, and the answer.
00:10:05.880 | So it's slightly different for a couple of our subjects.
00:10:09.960 | For the most part,
00:10:11.640 | it will involve the person who is doing the proofing
00:10:14.640 | simply asking the student the proof,
00:10:17.480 | which is part of the memory work,
00:10:18.760 | and then having them respond.
00:10:21.440 | - That's good.
00:10:22.280 | That seems pretty clear.
00:10:23.800 | And I think it's really good.
00:10:25.840 | We recognize that different subjects
00:10:28.800 | may need to be proofed in different ways
00:10:32.920 | in order for the student to really establish their mastery.
00:10:37.480 | So that's really good.
00:10:39.240 | I know, now my girls came through foundations
00:10:43.480 | and memory master a really long time ago, okay?
00:10:47.440 | And so I know years ago in our community,
00:10:52.440 | especially for really young children,
00:10:56.040 | there were subject matter masters
00:11:01.040 | instead of full memory masters.
00:11:04.400 | Have you ever heard of that?
00:11:06.280 | - I have.
00:11:07.120 | And I think it's a natural tendency
00:11:09.160 | to gravitate toward what we love first.
00:11:12.720 | So as children, your child may listen to the memory work
00:11:17.320 | and he or she may be drawn into those history songs
00:11:21.880 | or the timeline song.
00:11:23.640 | And that may be the thing that they love
00:11:26.440 | that they want to sing at Thanksgiving dinner
00:11:28.920 | for the entire family.
00:11:31.520 | And so perhaps some of the other memory work
00:11:35.240 | isn't fully cemented yet into their memory.
00:11:39.440 | But that one particular subject for sure is
00:11:42.800 | because they delight in it
00:11:44.800 | and they want to share what they've memorized.
00:11:48.400 | And so a subject master would be a student
00:11:52.240 | who perhaps had mastered some of the subjects,
00:11:54.800 | but not all of them, as opposed to a memory master,
00:11:58.640 | which would be a foundation student
00:12:00.840 | who could effortlessly recite
00:12:03.000 | the entire cycles worth of memory work.
00:12:05.840 | - Lovely, lovely, okay.
00:12:09.900 | So Elise, what's the difference between a memory master
00:12:14.900 | and a national memory master?
00:12:19.060 | - Yeah, that is a great question.
00:12:22.340 | One of the major differences is that memory master
00:12:26.420 | takes each cycle on its own
00:12:28.740 | and students are mastering cycles one, two,
00:12:31.460 | and three individually.
00:12:32.900 | And a national memory master,
00:12:35.980 | students actually pull information from all three cycles,
00:12:40.980 | all at once during this competition.
00:12:43.660 | And so they have worked for years and years and years
00:12:47.220 | to cement, like Kelly said,
00:12:49.860 | all of that information together.
00:12:52.460 | So it's kind of triple the work,
00:12:54.940 | but it's triple the fun also, I think.
00:12:57.260 | It has a large diversity from ancient civilizations
00:13:01.020 | to medieval all the way up to our present day
00:13:03.540 | in American history.
00:13:05.260 | But that allows students to really get the full scope
00:13:07.860 | of our memory work into one competition.
00:13:11.260 | - Man, that is like, seriously, y'all,
00:13:14.460 | that is very impressive.
00:13:18.380 | I know when our family first found out
00:13:21.220 | about Classical Conversations,
00:13:22.700 | and we started, I think we started,
00:13:25.140 | the year that we got involved, we were in cycle two.
00:13:28.660 | And I looked at all of this information
00:13:30.900 | that my children were gonna learn in that year,
00:13:33.620 | and I was kind of blown away.
00:13:34.940 | And I thought, yeah, well, we'll see.
00:13:36.740 | And they did it, and I was so amazed, absolutely amazed.
00:13:40.980 | But you're telling me that National Memory Masters,
00:13:44.620 | every year, they pull from all three cycles,
00:13:49.620 | not just the cycle that they've studied
00:13:52.340 | in community that year.
00:13:54.780 | - Yes, that is the real trick with this.
00:13:57.580 | It is amazing what these kids know.
00:13:59.740 | Because when I share with other parents
00:14:02.300 | about National Memory Master,
00:14:04.220 | they're just simply blown away
00:14:05.660 | by the timeline song every time.
00:14:07.820 | And then as soon as you start to expand
00:14:11.140 | and talk about English and Latin endings
00:14:13.740 | and all the history and the math,
00:14:16.140 | it just, it absolutely floors them every time.
00:14:18.180 | And it's amazing to see these kids,
00:14:20.420 | they really have mastered it.
00:14:21.980 | And it is a testament to the amazing brains
00:14:26.180 | that these young people have.
00:14:28.220 | - And it is beautiful to think that they're able
00:14:30.780 | to sew all those facts together into a beautiful whole.
00:14:35.780 | That's really amazing.
00:14:37.140 | Okay, y'all have talked several times.
00:14:39.140 | Both of you have said things about proofing.
00:14:41.740 | And Kelly, you mentioned like four different people
00:14:44.860 | that the student would proof with.
00:14:47.020 | Okay, what is a proof, and who would my child proof with,
00:14:51.100 | and when, and how much is proofed,
00:14:54.060 | and how do I navigate that as a parent?
00:14:56.780 | - This is quite the process.
00:14:59.820 | So I'm glad you asked me that question.
00:15:01.980 | And it's designed that way on purpose
00:15:04.580 | to celebrate our students, but also to protect them
00:15:08.300 | and to protect our families from any situations
00:15:12.100 | which might cause hurt, especially for our younger students
00:15:16.620 | who we want to love the act of memorizing.
00:15:19.980 | We don't want them to dread it
00:15:21.540 | or to see it as something negative.
00:15:24.220 | We wanna celebrate all they've accomplished.
00:15:26.780 | So a proof in a particular cycle has four parts.
00:15:31.580 | The first part is proofing with a parent,
00:15:34.700 | which for a child, of course,
00:15:36.980 | is going to be the most comfortable.
00:15:38.500 | They're sitting with mom and dad, maybe on a sofa,
00:15:41.780 | and they're reciting all of their memory work
00:15:44.500 | from the entire cycle.
00:15:46.180 | And during that proof, they actually are allowed
00:15:49.260 | three or fewer misses per subject.
00:15:52.980 | So when we think about memorizing and perfection,
00:15:57.420 | they're not expected to be perfect with the parent proof.
00:16:01.260 | They're expected to demonstrate for their parent
00:16:04.300 | the amount of knowledge that they've gleaned.
00:16:08.100 | And truthfully, as a parent at that point,
00:16:10.980 | based on what you observe,
00:16:12.460 | you need to make a judgment call about,
00:16:15.460 | are we ready to do this with another adult
00:16:19.420 | who would be the second proof?
00:16:21.300 | And then also followed by the tutor
00:16:25.060 | of that particular child.
00:16:26.540 | And then finally, the director.
00:16:28.820 | So as a parent, you have an obligation
00:16:31.380 | to look at your child and say,
00:16:33.180 | am I comfortable moving forward in this process?
00:16:35.620 | Or do I need to ask myself some hard questions about,
00:16:38.740 | do we need to delay this one more year
00:16:41.660 | and just wait for a little more maturity
00:16:44.380 | or a little more understanding
00:16:46.380 | or whatever you perceive to be the need in the situation?
00:16:50.380 | If your child goes through that first process at home
00:16:54.060 | with flying colors,
00:16:55.780 | and you are assured they're ready to move forward,
00:16:58.420 | the second proof is with another adult.
00:17:01.340 | So we're distancing away from the parent,
00:17:04.500 | maybe putting the child in a situation
00:17:06.740 | where there would be a little less personal comfort
00:17:10.660 | so that they're relying on their memory
00:17:12.940 | in a different environment.
00:17:14.780 | And during that proof,
00:17:17.420 | they will also again,
00:17:18.700 | proof 100% of the memory work from that particular cycle.
00:17:22.860 | But in that proof,
00:17:23.700 | they're only allowed one miss per subject.
00:17:26.500 | So again, we're emphasizing mastery
00:17:29.500 | over perfection at this point.
00:17:31.980 | Still trying to build to that place
00:17:33.980 | where we know that they have completely memorized
00:17:38.300 | the information.
00:17:39.220 | Now again, at this point,
00:17:40.780 | a parent should look at this proof and say,
00:17:43.980 | okay, we're doing well,
00:17:46.860 | or maybe we need to wait.
00:17:48.580 | If they fly through that proof
00:17:50.580 | and they do an outstanding job,
00:17:52.500 | the third proof is with the student's tutor.
00:17:56.180 | And again, that's 100% of the information
00:17:58.940 | for that particular cycle.
00:18:00.780 | But in that proof with the tutor
00:18:02.780 | who has built a relationship with that student
00:18:05.220 | over the course of the year in community,
00:18:07.860 | they are allowed no misses at all.
00:18:11.460 | So at this point in this proof with the tutor,
00:18:14.060 | they are expected to have perfection,
00:18:17.860 | perfect memory over the content of that particular cycle.
00:18:22.540 | And if a student passes that tutor proof,
00:18:25.700 | which could take two to three hours
00:18:28.300 | based on the amount of information proofed
00:18:31.140 | over the course of an entire cycle,
00:18:34.140 | the student would then be passed
00:18:36.060 | to the director of the community.
00:18:38.660 | And the director proof is different in several ways.
00:18:43.900 | One of those being that
00:18:45.660 | the student is not proofing 100% of the content.
00:18:49.020 | The director-
00:18:49.860 | - 'Cause they've already done that.
00:18:50.700 | They've already done that. - Exactly.
00:18:51.860 | They've done it three times.
00:18:53.500 | So by the time they get to the director,
00:18:55.740 | it really is a celebratory proof
00:18:59.260 | where the director selects 25% of the content at random
00:19:03.660 | from that particular cycle and proofs the student,
00:19:06.420 | obviously with no misses.
00:19:08.540 | And if a student passes that proof with no misses,
00:19:12.420 | then he or she is declared a memory master in community
00:19:15.940 | for that particular cycle.
00:19:17.540 | But you can see, Lisa,
00:19:18.700 | how each proof is protecting the heart and mind of the student
00:19:22.980 | which is one of the things that I think is so valuable
00:19:26.380 | for our students that we are encouraging a spirit of grace
00:19:30.980 | over this process that hopefully will encourage them
00:19:34.460 | if they do not pass a particular proof
00:19:38.020 | that they'll wanna try again.
00:19:39.500 | - Exactly.
00:19:40.340 | It's a stretching.
00:19:41.540 | It gives you a stretch goal every year.
00:19:43.940 | I love so many things about this.
00:19:45.860 | Two things, especially.
00:19:47.700 | One, that it does provide a stretch goal
00:19:51.300 | for students and families every year.
00:19:53.740 | And so somebody who says, "I really wanna do this,
00:19:56.340 | "but I'm pretty sure I'm not perfect."
00:19:58.100 | They can still be part of this process.
00:20:00.620 | - Right.
00:20:01.460 | - And then the other thing that I really love
00:20:03.780 | is that parents are in charge.
00:20:05.980 | I mean, CC is a wonderful, wonderful community,
00:20:11.340 | but we exist to support parents, not to supplant parents.
00:20:16.340 | And so I love it that you emphasize
00:20:19.980 | that at every juncture,
00:20:21.820 | at every part of the proofing process,
00:20:25.740 | parents are encouraged to decide
00:20:29.220 | whether they and their child should go on
00:20:33.980 | or whether it doesn't fit your family's mission
00:20:37.580 | for this year to go on.
00:20:38.900 | - Exactly, exactly.
00:20:39.740 | - I love that.
00:20:41.180 | Such a good thing.
00:20:42.580 | Okay, so you were very clear.
00:20:45.900 | You answered a bunch of questions.
00:20:47.780 | You answered the questions of how our students
00:20:50.060 | are prompted to give their responses
00:20:53.980 | and to demonstrate their mastery.
00:20:57.660 | And so that was really good.
00:20:58.860 | And you gave us clear answers
00:21:00.220 | about how many mistakes are allowed,
00:21:03.820 | how much help is allowed at each of those parts of the thing.
00:21:08.900 | And so the goal for a memory master
00:21:13.140 | is 100% mastery recited effortlessly
00:21:18.140 | in all subject areas.
00:21:22.300 | - Yes, that is a great definition.
00:21:24.500 | - I love it, I love it, I love it.
00:21:26.460 | Okay, so I look back and when our family got started,
00:21:31.460 | there was memory master at the local level,
00:21:36.860 | but there was no national memory master.
00:21:40.540 | When did national memory master develop?
00:21:44.860 | - National memory master was developed in 2016.
00:21:48.660 | So we've been in existence for almost a decade now,
00:21:51.660 | which is pretty amazing to think about.
00:21:54.860 | And it was designed to celebrate these students
00:21:58.780 | who delight in the act of memory so much
00:22:02.780 | that they were able to memory master repeatedly.
00:22:06.340 | And so as Elise said, national memory master
00:22:09.740 | is community memory master on steroids
00:22:13.380 | for our children who are supremely gifted
00:22:15.900 | in the art of memory.
00:22:18.500 | And to celebrate what they have learned in foundations
00:22:22.300 | and cement that knowledge before they move forward
00:22:25.540 | into our Challenge A program the following fall.
00:22:29.020 | So it is designed specifically for those students
00:22:31.540 | who are in their final year of foundations
00:22:35.020 | and who have mastered repeatedly
00:22:38.020 | and who are ready to move on literally and figuratively
00:22:41.980 | to the next challenge in their Classical Conversations years.
00:22:46.500 | - Okay, so what if my family just got involved
00:22:51.500 | in Classical Conversations this year
00:22:58.580 | and I have a last year of foundation students
00:23:03.340 | who has really dug in and just this really clicked with them
00:23:08.340 | and they had no trouble memorizing
00:23:11.980 | and they've even gone back and were sad
00:23:14.180 | that they missed other cycles.
00:23:15.620 | And so we've been doing the other cycles.
00:23:17.660 | Could that student try to become a national memory master?
00:23:22.660 | - So one of the requirements for national memory master
00:23:25.660 | is that students have successfully proved
00:23:27.900 | for as a memory master two years,
00:23:32.100 | including the one that they are in,
00:23:35.580 | the one that they're seeking to be a memory
00:23:37.500 | or a national memory master in.
00:23:39.140 | So that student due to that rule
00:23:41.020 | would not be allowed to participate
00:23:42.860 | because there just needs to be at least two years of mastery
00:23:46.540 | prior to the competition.
00:23:49.060 | So that would be just a little disclaimer there,
00:23:51.260 | but yeah, so this competition is definitely something
00:23:54.740 | that students have to really look forward to
00:23:57.740 | and kind of anticipate and prepare for before they go.
00:24:01.460 | - You know what, that's a really,
00:24:04.620 | and that may be a disappointment to some families,
00:24:07.220 | but you know what?
00:24:08.060 | In the spirit of celebrating the growing knowledge
00:24:12.820 | that our children are building through the years,
00:24:15.740 | I think it's a great thing that,
00:24:17.820 | I love what you just said,
00:24:18.980 | that it is something that our students can look forward to.
00:24:23.060 | They look ahead to that
00:24:24.740 | and it becomes their own private stretch goal.
00:24:27.660 | It's like, okay, so now I have three more years
00:24:30.660 | of foundations and so I need to memory master,
00:24:33.780 | I need to memory master,
00:24:34.860 | and then I could be a national memory master.
00:24:37.660 | That's really cool.
00:24:38.500 | - What is so cool about this then is it,
00:24:41.700 | like you've been saying,
00:24:42.620 | it really gives us a chance to celebrate these students.
00:24:45.440 | Like in this year's competition,
00:24:47.300 | we have a student who successfully proved
00:24:49.860 | as a memory master eight times up until this point.
00:24:53.180 | (laughs)
00:24:54.020 | - My word.
00:24:55.420 | - Yes, it is just amazing what these kids have done.
00:24:58.220 | So these, they have really been looking forward
00:25:00.820 | to this opportunity for years and years and years
00:25:03.620 | and have spent so much time preparing.
00:25:05.820 | And it really shows.
00:25:07.220 | These kids are absolutely amazing.
00:25:09.340 | And so that's one of the purposes for this competition
00:25:12.500 | is to highlight those students
00:25:13.940 | who have just fallen in love with memory work.
00:25:16.580 | As I was thinking back on my experience,
00:25:20.220 | I was talking to my mom and I was like,
00:25:21.780 | well, when I was in foundations,
00:25:23.580 | I didn't even know national memory master was a thing.
00:25:26.420 | And she goes, oh, I did.
00:25:27.980 | (laughs)
00:25:30.060 | And she was saying how I just didn't have that same desire
00:25:35.420 | and love to really get after it.
00:25:37.620 | And I loved proofing and I really loved Kelly,
00:25:41.500 | what you said before about who is proofing you
00:25:44.780 | and how you already have a relationship.
00:25:46.660 | Because I remember sitting in that room,
00:25:48.580 | scared out of my mind because I'm a big perfectionist.
00:25:51.340 | I really wanted to do it all the way.
00:25:53.220 | But just looking across the table
00:25:54.660 | and knowing this parent, this person, this director
00:25:57.820 | knows me and cares about me and wants me to succeed.
00:26:01.300 | And so I do not regret memory master in any capacity.
00:26:05.220 | It was an amazing experience.
00:26:06.980 | But I know there are a lot of kids out there
00:26:08.860 | who might be like I was, where it was a great experience.
00:26:13.260 | I learned so much.
00:26:14.780 | I learned how to memorize.
00:26:17.380 | But that might be my big success.
00:26:20.420 | That might be their big success.
00:26:21.780 | And that is a big success.
00:26:23.420 | And so National Memory Master specifically
00:26:26.380 | is for those kids who just treasure this experience
00:26:29.100 | and who have that competitive side to them where they just
00:26:32.220 | want to get after it and do their very best.
00:26:35.020 | And that's what's so special about this competition.
00:26:38.380 | I really like that.
00:26:39.820 | I want-- listeners, what I hope that you are hearing,
00:26:44.420 | because this is what I'm hearing,
00:26:46.060 | is that we really want to celebrate these students who
00:26:51.500 | have learned all of this material
00:26:54.900 | and they are able to recite all of this material
00:26:57.620 | and they will blow away your relatives at the family
00:27:00.420 | reunion, OK?
00:27:01.620 | Yes.
00:27:02.120 | It is absolutely fine if your student does not
00:27:07.780 | have that burning desire in the belly
00:27:10.740 | to be a National Memory Master.
00:27:14.420 | In fact, it could be for anyone, but it's not for everyone.
00:27:19.780 | Everybody is not going to love that.
00:27:22.380 | Because what I hear you saying, Elise, and what I've observed,
00:27:28.220 | is that there are other skills involved
00:27:31.500 | in becoming a National Memory Master besides just
00:27:36.380 | the ability to memorize.
00:27:38.300 | You really do have to have that fire in the belly
00:27:40.780 | competitive edge.
00:27:44.140 | And the other thing, y'all, that I have noticed,
00:27:48.180 | these National Memory Master candidates have to be showmen.
00:27:53.140 | I mean, they have to want to perform.
00:27:55.700 | It's not just standing up and reciting all the information.
00:28:00.780 | These kids like to be showmen.
00:28:03.340 | Would you agree with that, having
00:28:04.980 | seen the competition up close?
00:28:08.860 | Yes, so I definitely agree with that.
00:28:12.500 | Here are some-- I'll give you some logistics
00:28:14.660 | of the competition that really showcase
00:28:16.580 | what you're talking about.
00:28:17.980 | The competition is divided up into two rounds.
00:28:20.700 | The first round is in the form of a memory bee,
00:28:24.220 | so very similar to a spelling bee.
00:28:25.740 | And that really is more of the recitation.
00:28:29.100 | Each child goes up to the microphone one at a time
00:28:32.460 | and recites a fact.
00:28:34.260 | And then for round two, we really
00:28:36.500 | get into more of that rhetoric phase, that showmanship
00:28:39.660 | you were talking about, where they get the chance
00:28:43.140 | to draw and label the entire world map, which is amazing.
00:28:47.820 | All in 30 minutes, no less.
00:28:50.220 | And it is insane.
00:28:52.820 | I remember in Challenge A, I also had to do that.
00:28:56.300 | But it took me a lot longer than 30 minutes,
00:28:59.620 | if I'm being completely honest.
00:29:01.620 | So these kids, it blows me away every time I think about it.
00:29:05.620 | But then another thing that they do
00:29:07.820 | is they will end up creating a creative story based off
00:29:14.020 | of a prompt that includes 12 memory facts that will give
00:29:17.340 | them the day of.
00:29:18.580 | And they have 20 minutes to put together
00:29:20.340 | this amazing, exciting story, including all those facts.
00:29:23.540 | And then they turn around and present it to the judges.
00:29:25.900 | And this is really one of the moments
00:29:27.580 | where we get to see their individual personalities
00:29:31.020 | and what they love.
00:29:32.700 | Because they can really talk about anything,
00:29:34.580 | as long as they include all these facts.
00:29:37.020 | And so some kids might set it up as a podcast like this,
00:29:41.300 | or a sporting event, or something like that.
00:29:44.300 | And you get to see their individual twist on the facts.
00:29:47.700 | And it's just a really cool experience.
00:29:49.660 | And the kids have a lot of fun with it.
00:29:51.260 | Lisa, I'm sitting here as Elise is describing this.
00:29:53.900 | And I'm also thinking about another component
00:29:55.860 | of the Foundations Day, which really
00:29:57.540 | helps feed into skills that are being presented.
00:30:00.860 | And that's weekly presentations in community.
00:30:03.740 | Because this is not something that
00:30:05.780 | is foreign to our Foundation students.
00:30:08.020 | Each cycle, they get 24 opportunities
00:30:10.860 | to present in this same manner within the community space,
00:30:15.140 | in front of their friends, and their parents,
00:30:17.060 | and their tutors.
00:30:18.180 | And so they're naturally getting memory master practice
00:30:22.860 | throughout the weeks of a particular cycle,
00:30:25.620 | simply by completing weekly presentations.
00:30:28.020 | It's so wonderful.
00:30:28.980 | Yeah.
00:30:29.620 | Yes.
00:30:30.740 | So you're right.
00:30:32.060 | It's built into the program.
00:30:33.940 | We stroke these skills every week,
00:30:40.060 | providing opportunities for our children
00:30:43.180 | to grow in those skills.
00:30:45.460 | That's really awesome.
00:30:49.500 | I know that there is a mom or dad who's listening.
00:30:53.580 | And they have been listening to all of the things
00:30:57.700 | that memory masters do, and all of the things
00:31:00.820 | that national memory masters do.
00:31:03.500 | And I know that there are some parents who are thinking,
00:31:06.060 | hmm, I could never do that in a million years.
00:31:09.460 | Is it too much pressure for little kids?
00:31:13.180 | How would you answer that, Kelly?
00:31:14.900 | And then I want your input too, Elyse,
00:31:18.900 | because you have been one of those little kids.
00:31:22.380 | Well, Elyse and I have joked several times
00:31:24.260 | that we know that memory masters are not robots.
00:31:27.060 | They're real children.
00:31:28.860 | And I think this, again, goes back
00:31:32.340 | to what we were saying earlier.
00:31:33.820 | This process is in the hands of the parent.
00:31:37.060 | As a parent, you know your child best.
00:31:39.580 | You know what will help your child to stretch.
00:31:42.860 | And you know what will cause your child to snap.
00:31:45.820 | And so there may be portions of the memory work
00:31:48.740 | which may feel stressful to your child.
00:31:51.220 | And you, as a parent, will have to intervene and assess, OK,
00:31:55.380 | is this going to be a growing opportunity,
00:31:57.300 | a stretching opportunity for our family this year?
00:32:00.620 | Or, as we said earlier in the podcast,
00:32:03.260 | are we going to hit pause--
00:32:04.940 | not stop, but are we going to hit pause on this process--
00:32:08.340 | and celebrate what we have accomplished,
00:32:11.460 | and then perhaps have a discussion or a conversation
00:32:13.980 | before the next cycle about what is our goal?
00:32:17.020 | What's our goal as a family?
00:32:18.220 | Exactly.
00:32:19.860 | Is this something that we want to take on together?
00:32:22.580 | Because I will be honest with you, Elyse,
00:32:24.780 | it is the parents who wholeheartedly embrace
00:32:28.380 | that memory work, and even want to master it themselves,
00:32:33.220 | who often ignite the enthusiasm of their children
00:32:37.260 | to want to compete with them to be
00:32:39.820 | able to master the memory work.
00:32:41.540 | So as a parent, you just never know
00:32:44.660 | how much you're paying forward by going, you know what?
00:32:47.940 | Hey, guys, listen to me recite the multiplication facts,
00:32:50.940 | or I can tell you where this week's memory
00:32:54.940 | work in geography is located on the map.
00:32:57.140 | Come here, let me show you.
00:32:58.540 | And your child will rise to that expectation of enthusiasm
00:33:05.220 | and involvement.
00:33:06.060 | So parents, if you have a question about are
00:33:09.260 | they interested or not, lead the way,
00:33:11.980 | and you'll find out pretty quickly.
00:33:14.660 | My children delighted, absolutely delighted,
00:33:17.620 | in being able to assemble the timeline cards faster than me.
00:33:21.140 | Oh, yes.
00:33:21.660 | And so I totally agree with you.
00:33:25.180 | Elyse, what would you say?
00:33:27.060 | How will we know if it's just too much?
00:33:30.380 | Well, in regards to Memory Master,
00:33:32.820 | I would tell parents, if I did it, your child can, too.
00:33:36.380 | But I love what Kelly said about the assessment process,
00:33:42.780 | because the purpose of Memory Master and National Memory
00:33:45.780 | Master is really just to prepare children to love to learn,
00:33:53.060 | like to teach them to love knowledge and information,
00:33:57.140 | and to teach them to remember it.
00:33:59.620 | I mean, as an adult now, looking back, I'm not in school anymore.
00:34:04.860 | And I often ask myself the question,
00:34:07.220 | how much do I know without Google,
00:34:09.260 | without my cell phone on me?
00:34:11.100 | And that is such an important question that we, as adults,
00:34:13.700 | should ask ourselves.
00:34:15.060 | And we are training these students
00:34:17.180 | to not have to ask that question,
00:34:19.100 | because they will know how to take in information,
00:34:23.780 | and to really chew on it, and to learn from it,
00:34:26.060 | and then retain it, and be able to share it with others.
00:34:28.660 | And I think that's one of the most special things
00:34:31.900 | about this competition, is those family dinners, where students
00:34:36.820 | can share with grandparents, and cousins, and friends,
00:34:39.780 | and all that, what they've learned.
00:34:41.540 | And that should really be the end goal of these families.
00:34:44.700 | And if that leads them to the Memory Master
00:34:46.860 | title or the National Memory Master title,
00:34:48.980 | then that is an amazing accomplishment.
00:34:51.220 | And we want to celebrate them and give all the glory to God.
00:34:54.780 | But if that just means that they're a subject matter
00:34:57.180 | expert, or if they just get through the year
00:35:00.740 | and are happy with what they've done,
00:35:02.220 | that is a success as well.
00:35:04.100 | And I think that that is the encouragement
00:35:06.420 | that parents should know.
00:35:08.820 | Because it is a competition with National Memory Master,
00:35:13.300 | but it's just mainly just a celebration.
00:35:15.420 | I love that that's been brought up so many times,
00:35:17.860 | because it's so true.
00:35:20.140 | Elyse, you did a great job of summing this up
00:35:25.060 | by really helping us, as parents,
00:35:28.500 | see what the purpose of this is.
00:35:30.580 | And I love it.
00:35:31.820 | It's to teach kids to love knowledge and information,
00:35:36.060 | and to remember it, and then to chew on it, and to connect it,
00:35:41.260 | and then to share it.
00:35:42.940 | I love the way you situated Memory Master as something
00:35:46.500 | that families can do together, whether they
00:35:49.500 | are the child trying to remember all those facts,
00:35:52.980 | or the parent helping the child to remember all those facts.
00:35:56.580 | And how many of us, as parents, know way more than we ever
00:35:59.780 | intended to know, because we had to prove somebody?
00:36:03.180 | We heard it a million times ourselves.
00:36:06.740 | So it is a way of learning as a family.
00:36:10.700 | But the main thing, parents, that we want you to know
00:36:14.380 | is that National Memory Master and Memory Master
00:36:18.340 | within your community is a way of celebrating
00:36:23.100 | what our students have done over this year or over several years
00:36:29.500 | to learn to know God and to make Him known.
00:36:32.620 | Ladies, thank you so much for sharing.
00:36:35.300 | I actually have a few more questions
00:36:38.980 | about how we can decide whether or not--
00:36:43.660 | and if we decide that maybe we're
00:36:46.100 | going to want to try this next year, what are some things
00:36:49.460 | we can do maybe this summer?
00:36:51.420 | Or as the year begins, would you guys
00:36:54.780 | be willing to come back another time soon and talk to me?
00:36:58.060 | Absolutely.
00:37:00.780 | I feel like we left some stones unturned.
00:37:04.100 | And maybe we've gotten some people thinking
00:37:07.300 | who will want to spend the summer laying out
00:37:10.580 | a plan of attack or a plan of family learning
00:37:15.020 | that can be easy and gentle.
00:37:16.540 | So I'm going to get you guys to come back.
00:37:18.420 | And listeners, just look for that podcast
00:37:20.860 | in the next several weeks.
00:37:23.460 | As you go about your week, as you
00:37:26.180 | go about whether or not you're practicing for National Memory
00:37:29.820 | Master or for Community Memory Master--
00:37:32.780 | I know you've got a lot planned this week--
00:37:34.740 | I want to give you a heads up to one thing
00:37:37.660 | you might want to look toward doing on Friday.
00:37:41.460 | I want to let you know about a movie premiere of April 26.
00:37:48.500 | We are making Family Day at the theater.
00:37:51.860 | So there is a movie coming out called Unsung Hero.
00:37:56.300 | It's from the creators of the Jesus Revolution.
00:37:59.740 | Unsung Hero is about somebody that you young moms and dads
00:38:04.940 | might actually know.
00:38:06.500 | It's the Smallbone family.
00:38:08.700 | They are from Australia.
00:38:10.620 | It's about their journey of adventure
00:38:12.460 | from Australia to the US.
00:38:14.460 | They are homeschoolers.
00:38:16.820 | When they come to the United States, they homeschool.
00:38:18.980 | They find church community.
00:38:20.300 | They write songs.
00:38:22.260 | And they become some of the biggest names
00:38:24.820 | in inspirational music--
00:38:27.060 | Rebecca St. James and for King and Country.
00:38:32.300 | If you want to find out the story behind the story,
00:38:35.820 | you look in theaters beginning April 26--
00:38:39.380 | that's this Friday--
00:38:40.900 | for the movie Unsung Hero.
00:38:44.700 | Tickets are on sale now.
00:38:46.220 | You can go to tickets.unsunghero.movie/
00:38:52.580 | and get your tickets now.
00:38:53.740 | So that might be a fun thing--
00:38:55.500 | a fun way to celebrate the end of your academic year.
00:39:00.260 | Families, thank you.
00:39:01.380 | Listeners, thank you for being here.
00:39:03.660 | Kelly, Elise, thank you.
00:39:05.300 | And I'll look forward to talking to you guys again.
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