(upbeat music) - Welcome friends to this episode of the "Everyday Educator" podcast. I'm your host, Lisa Bailey, and I'm excited to spend some time with you today as we encourage one another, learn together, and ponder the delights and challenges that make homeschooling the adventure of a lifetime. Whether you're just considering this homeschooling possibility or deep into the daily delight of family learning, I believe you'll enjoy thinking along with us.

But don't forget, although this online community is awesome, you'll find even closer support in a local CC community. So go to classicalconversations.com and find a community near you today. Well, listeners, I'm happy to welcome you to this episode. We are gonna talk about Memory Master. Those of you who may be new to classical conversations and the foundations program may have, as the fall wears on, has worn on, you guys may have started hearing the words, the phrase Memory Master bandied about in your foundations community day.

And maybe some of the students in your child's foundations group have already started working on Memory Master. And you're wondering what in the world is Memory Master and why should I care? And should I press my student to do that? And what does it look like? Now, some of you have been in foundations communities long enough to know what Memory Master is, but maybe you've never stuck your toe in the water, or you're just wondering, "Mm, it's a lot of pressure." I mean, is it a lot of pressure?

Does my child want to do that? Do I want to do that? I have got somebody here who can answer all of your questions. And she loves Memory Master, but more than loving Memory Master, she loves children and families, and she loves equipping them to learn together. So welcome Kelly Wilt today.

Kelly, thank you so much for sharing your Memory Master magic with us. - Oh, friend, it is a rainy, gray November day here where I am, but it is pure sunshine to talk to you. - Oh, that's so sweet. - But I have something near and dear to my heart.

So I am excited to be here today and to discuss these things with you at what could be a critical time for a lot of families who are trying to make that decision about is Memory Master for us this year or not? So it's good for us to have this conversation because hopefully it will encourage families who are on the fence, and also maybe give a new perspective about the purpose of Memory Master and what it can mean for them and their families.

- That's really good. You guys, Kelly knows all about Memory Master. You might recognize her voice, well, maybe from podcasts or other recordings, but also if you have been to the National Memory Master competition before, Kelly Wilt serves as the emcee. So she knows all the ins and outs of Memory Master on the grand stage.

But I'm here to tell you, that's not all there is. You do not have to commit to being part of the National Memory Master competition, which is like Memory Master on steroids, in order for you and your family to benefit from learning together and practicing Memory Master at the community level.

So that's most of what we're gonna talk about today. If you came on this podcast thinking, oh, I'm gonna learn all the tips and tricks for National Memory Master, you need to wait. We're gonna do that episode in a little bit. But today, this is just about families who might be sticking their toe into the water of National Memory Master.

So Kelly, I wanna start out just, and this is actually good for everybody to consider. This first question I wanna ask you, how can I inspire my child to want to do Memory Master? And the question a lot of us as parents are asking right now, is it too late for this cycle?

So two part question. - Two part question, and I'm gonna answer it in reverse. It's definitely not too late for this cycle, but I will say this, the sooner that you have a conversation with your child, and you make it a priority for your family for this cycle, the more time you will have to practice.

And we like to say, practice makes progress. And one of the keys to achieving Memory Master is understanding that a large portion of this is mastery, not perfection. We don't expect as parents perfection from ourselves, and we can't expect it from our children, but we can expect them to take steps toward mastering difficult things.

And so, I think it is key to inspire our children to want to do Memory Master by first of all, being honest with them, having a conversation about, you know what, this is gonna be a challenging thing, but I have confidence in you. We can do this together. And that togetherness, as a parent communicating that to your child is key, because then immediately your child knows that he or she has a support base for accomplishing this challenging thing.

And so, I think part of inspiration is honesty. I think part of inspiration is also being a ready source of encouragement for your child. - You know, I think about some of the long-term goals that I've tried to achieve in my life in the past, and at some point it is very likely that you might hit a plateau, or you just might be burned out with reaching an end goal.

And it's always wonderful to have that one person in your life who looks you eye to eye in those moments and says, you know what, this is tough, but I have confidence in you. You can do it. Keep going, keep pressing forward, and you will accomplish this. And as parents, we have to be that for our children when they are taking steps to achieve a goal, a long-term goal like Memory Master.

- That's really good. I love, love, love what you said. As parents, maybe the best inspiration for our child is to be their chief cheerleader. I like this. Be honest, be encouraging, and be available. That will inspire your child. Because you're right, our children need us to be honest with them.

This may not be the easiest thing you do this year. This may be hard. This may be sometimes discouraging if you get to that set of math facts that for some reason, you just can't make them stick in your head. Or if there's a history sentence, the wording of which keeps tripping your tongue up.

But that encouragement that you can do it, you can do hard things, keep going, that's really good. I like that. I like that. Do you think it's encouraging to children to think that they might have a partner and a parent? - You know, I know for me, in difficult tasks, it always is encouraging to know that there's someone else there.

And I think, especially in homeschooling, for our children to see that we are right alongside them, and that we are not going to basically throw this off on them to accomplish this hard thing by themselves, and then be incredibly disappointed when they don't accomplish it. - Yes. - That's not a good relationship builder.

I think that is a discouragement to children. I know a lot of parents really take this to heart, and they actually commit themselves to learning all of our foundation's memory work, which I think is fantastic. - Man. - We've had some parents who in the past have joked that we need to have a parent national memory master.

They want to model that dedication for their children. And you know, that's not for everyone. - Right. - I think as parents, we can commit to demonstrating for our children that we also are willing to do hard things alongside them. - Yes, yes. - And complete the way. - And I think, you know, for the parents who have bitten that off and are chewing on it with their child, I think it can be very eye-opening for children to see that we as parents also struggle, and that in some ways, our kids are sometimes quote-unquote better at it than we are.

I remember memorizing the timeline with my girls years ago, and I was keeping pace with them. I was feeling pretty darn good about myself for like the first five weeks. And then after we got up and we had bukus of cards, they were way faster than I am. Now, my husband and I, who are now grandparents, okay, and our grandchildren are not old enough to do foundations yet, but we are preparing ourselves.

So we have decided that we are gonna start working on the timeline cards now. - Love it. - So that when our grandson is ready to tackle that, we'll be able to keep up. So, wish us luck. - Thank you. - Wish us luck. All right, so listen, why is Memory Master important?

Would you say that Memory Master is important for foundation students? And if you think it is important for those students, why is it so important? - That's a really great question. Yes, I would say it is important, but for reasons, different reasons than what might be typically thought of.

- Okay, awesome. - So in our family's homeschooling journey, we have graduated two of our three children through Challenge Four. And looking back, I think when they were in foundations, I didn't recognize how important committing information to memory would be for their future success. I think I sort of had a view that Memory Master was a cool thing that they could do and they could achieve.

And we could look at that as a recognition of what a great job we were doing as foundations families. - Right, in those early years, we did this great thing. - Yes, and truly Lisa, now looking back, I don't think I realized that that foundation's memory work is truly foundational.

- Yes. - Not only in giving children the memory pegs that they'll later use to hang information on through their years in challenge. - Yes. - But also, we are basically doing brain training. - Yes, absolutely. - Brain training, even in the youngest of foundation students. And so, as we, I can say if I went to the gym and someone handed me a 200-pound barbell and said, "Lisa's brain," I can assure you that would not be happening.

But-- - Let me tell you, there are not 200-pound barbells. But maybe a 200-pound deadlift bar or something. - There you go, there you go. Ooh, yeah, that's true, that's true. But you know, if I took time to lift weights bit by bit and increase my strength, it would be much more likely that I would be able to lift that heavy weight with more ease without injuring myself, maybe.

- Yes, yes, absolutely, you're right. - Yeah, and it's kind of that way, I think, for our foundation students who, in these younger years, are getting a taste of that brain training as they commit all of these facts to memory, as they commit these geographical locations to memory, or timeline events, they are essentially starting to lift those smaller weights and then heavier weights so that when they are in challenge and beyond, their memory is outstanding, that they commit to memory more than just facts and information, but stories and poems and build up a library of the mind.

So, you know, this is kind of the foundation's memory master is kind of the mental strength equivalent of, you know, looking at picture books with your child and having them recite back that picture book. - That is so true. - Yeah, and so as they grow, their ability to remember should also grow.

- Mm-hmm, I will tell you a little short story, an anecdote that really showed me that this was true. My older daughter only did two years of foundations 'cause we didn't find CC in our early days of homeschooling, but she was a great, she did memory master both of the years that she was in foundations.

She had a great memory that just got better. But when she was in college, she had one class, it was some kind of political science class, and she had to memorize. It was like the top, for 15 countries, she had to memorize their gross national product, in order, and several other categories.

And I was just, it was just a bunch of numbers and percentages, and it just seemed horrifying to me. And she was like, "Oh no, I'm done with that part." And I'm like, "How in the world?" And she said, "It's like way easier "than memory master, Mom." She said, and she told me all the tricks that she had learned about cycling the information, about grouping it, about how to practice and when to practice, and mind palaces, and tricks that she had learned, that she had held on to as a college student from her foundations days.

And the one thing that impressed me the most, not that she could memorize it all, 'cause I knew she had a sharp mind, what impressed me the most was her confidence that that would not be a stumbling block at all. And so I love what you said, it does build brain muscle, but it also builds confidence, confidence.

- Okay, so we have decided that our family's gonna do memory master. Yep, it's a good thing, it'll be good for us, eat your spinach, it's gonna be good for us, we're gonna do it. So what should my expectations be as a parent, both for me as the parent and for my child as the hopefully eventual memory master?

- So I think how we said, how do I inspire my child to want to do memory master? We need to be honest. We need to be honest with ourselves about our expectations. I am guilty of in the past expecting my children to review memory work and letting them be on their own and expecting it to happen and for all of it to sink in through osmosis.

And obviously, I don't even have to tell you the end of that story. I would come in the room and both of my boys would have created Lego lightsabers and they would be doing other things aside from listening to the memory work. So I think as a parent, one of your expectations must be that you will be hands-on.

You have to be. Now, that's not to say that there won't be opportunities to be hands-off, for instance. If you play the memory work when you're in your minivan, driving to the grocery store or since we're approaching the holidays, if you're on your way to pick out a Christmas tree or driving to a Thanksgiving meal at a family member's house and you put on the CD, there are plenty of opportunities for review where you are not hands-on at.

However, as a parent, you have to be willing to commit the time daily, if not almost daily, to reviewing a portion of the memory work because when we think about this type of information, saturating our children's mind, they're like sponges. If you dump a big bucket of water on a sponge, it's not going to soak in as deeply as if you pour a little bit by little bit over time.

- That's true, that's a great analogy, awesome. - So I think as parents, we have to be willing to give time. We also, one of our other expectations is that we need to not allow ourselves to be frustrated because one of the delights of parenting is the fact that we are helping to refine our children's sinful little natures.

- Yes, yes, oh my goodness. - And so there will be times when your child will want to go and build Lego lightsabers. - Yes. - And you know what, at that moment in time, as you weigh the situation, you weigh what has transpired in your household for that day, that might be exactly what they need to do.

They might need it from time away. But I think also we have to be willing to sit down with our children and say, it is now time. I have given you time for these other things and now we are focused and we are here to do this together and to bring them into that time where you are working together.

So I think, you know, our expectations, we have to be honest with ourselves. We also have to recognize that there will be times where we as parents may be frustrated and we need to figure out ways to work around that for the benefit not only of ourselves, but also of our children.

And, you know, I think I had really high expectations. - Yeah, yeah. - All three of mine, when they were coming through Memory Master, I expected to say it once and they would retain it forever. - Right, like we could do that. - Exactly. So our expectations for our children cannot be, they cannot exceed the expectations we have for ourselves.

If it takes us multiple repetitions in order to master something and continue to remember it, of course it's gonna be that way for our children. Now, Lisa, you're right. They are better than us. Every year at National Memory Master. - I'm amazed. - I am reminded how these children can not only memorize, but they can manipulate facts in their minds, which is outstanding.

But, you know, we also need to give them that confidence that you were speaking about earlier by repeating. Repeating, you know, over a long period of time and that we also need to have intensity by presenting the memory work in ways that they can easily remember. So we typically will say it has to be practiced with duration, repetition, intensity in order for it to stick.

- Yeah, yeah. So what should be the expectations that we have of our child? 'Cause I believe you and I do agree that we need to keep our expectations realistic. - Yes. - And that's our job for our, we need to be realistic. But what are those realistic expectations?

- Right. Well, you know, sometimes I think we look at our children and we make the assumption that they're going to perform to the highest level. We look at our four-year-old and say, oh, he's gonna be, or she's gonna be a memory master this year. And we make that assumption.

And either through life experiences, you know, things that are going on within your household during that particular cycle, it just may not be a reality. And so I think we have to look at what is going on in our lives. Did we move this year? Did our children go through, you know, a big move?

Are we changing communities? Was there a family member who was sick that, you know, maybe mom or dad didn't have time to practice, to commit themselves to practicing? I think we have to be realistic with what is achievable based on the life circumstances that we've gone through for that year.

And also we need to look at our children and think, okay, what is my child's capability? Maybe your four-year-old came into foundations this year and is sitting on community day, you know, doing all the fun new grammar, you know, practice and jumping around and having lots of fun, but maybe memory master just is not on your family's radar this year.

You're new to this whole classical education thing and the classical conversations. It might just be time for you to sit back and watch and take in and learn more about what classical home education is all about. And that's okay, that is okay. - And you know, one thing that I was thinking, Kelly, that I always counsel young parents to consider is that your expectations for each of your children need to be individual.

You can't have a blanket, this is what we expect of memory masters in our house. No, you got to consider what is the grow, what's the grow goal for this child this year? Because like you said, if you have a child who really struggled at the beginning of the year to even make eye contact with other people in their class, then complete mastery of memory master might be too much of a stretch.

So you have to consider where each of your children is in the given year and what would be, it's never bad for us to encourage our children to stretch, but what would stretch one child might break another. - Oh, that's so true. I think, you know, we have to, you're right, each child needs to be considered as an individual and each year needs to be considered individually.

It's a dangerous thing for a parent to say, in this family, every single child is a memory master every single year. - Right, yes. - And to not give that consideration, both to life and to the children that are entrusted to your care, because not only are you growing their minds, stretching their minds, you're shepherding their souls.

And so you're very right, you know, what might be achievable for one child, even within the same family, might be too much of a stretch to the point of breaking another. So as parents, you know, we are our children's best, first and best teachers, and we know them best.

And we really have to be honest with ourselves and consider not only the student, but also the life circumstances and the ability for that goal to be accomplished in that year. - That's so wise, so rich. Okay, so we have gotten ourselves straight. We've had a stern talk with ourselves.

We've decided to do it. Our child is excited. We have committed to being realistic about our expectations of ourselves and of our child. We are all in, what do I do first? - Oh, so good. Okay, so first steps. If you have had a, well, the very first step, if you haven't already had a conversation with your child, be honest, sit down and say, you know what?

I'm thinking this would be a good goal for you, and this is why. And also, you know, looking through the memory work, it also is something to consider that maybe the goal for your child for that year might need to be tailored from being a memory master of all subjects to being a memory master of two subjects or three subjects, or even just one subject based on what you've observed, like we were saying, that, you know, honest dialogue with yourself, and then communicating that to your child and saying, okay, I wanna look with you, you know, at the memory work, and I wanna talk through what is this gonna look like?

Have that conversation with your child and say, okay, I think we can do this by practicing 15 minutes a day, if it's a small goal, or 30 minutes a day. Now, I would strongly recommend that you not take hours and hours every day. - Yes, yes. - Like with being our gym analogy that we had before with my 200 pound barbell.

(laughs) - Too much of a good thing is not too good, it's just too much. - Exactly, and so very quickly, your child will weary of this. And unfortunately, in some cases, come to resent practicing memory work, which is definitely something we don't want to do. So I think it's good to first have that conversation with your child, lay down expectations, and think through, you know, how will we give each other accountability for this?

Maybe you tack on that daily habit of reviewing memory work onto something that you already regularly do. For instance, maybe right after lunch, as soon as we, you know, clean up the dishes from the table, we're gonna come right back and do our practice. That makes it easier because you're attaching that to something that you already do regularly.

And so there won't be the battle of, okay, your children have run off to their rooms, they've hidden under their beds. Don't do it. - It'll just become a natural routine, and nobody resents a routine, it just is. It's not something that's been put on them. - Exactly. - Cool, I like that.

I like that. - Exactly. When it comes to community and first steps in community, one of the very first things you need to do is let your foundations director know. Let her know or him know, this is a priority for our family this year. Right now, you know, maybe our stretch goal is to memory master in three subjects.

But our realistic goal is that we're going to at least try to daily practice our memory work for one or two. Or maybe, you know, you look at your director and say, "Hey, this is the year." - Right, right. - You know, and so have that conversation because your director is planning more than likely to have an interest meeting to gather other parents who are also interested in memory master.

And some directors even taking it upon themselves to plan fun things like memory master clubs or having a review party over Christmas where you all get together or a review day in the park where everyone can run and then come back together and practice some more. So letting your director know is a very hospitable way to also help him or her to be able to plan and also to gain support for this goal that you're trying to achieve as a family.

- Yeah, oh, that's really good. Okay, I know 'cause I've read the catalog and other things that memory master is supposed to be child led, not parent pushed. And I know that none of us good parents who are listening to this call would ever be pushy, at least not at the beginning with our intentions.

But sometimes, man, it is so easy for a parent to get pushy when a child's energy or interest starts to wane like what do I do? What do I do, Kelly, if my child's attention or tenacity wanes during the process? Do we just give up? - Oh, okay, first of all, you have a parent on the call right now with you who is guilty of being a pusher.

- Oh my gosh, I so can slip into that without even noticing. - Well, and for me, just being completely honest, it was a point of pride for me. I wanted to be able to say my child was a memory master as long as that, because that's a goal that's centered on myself, not on my children, not on their eternal benefit.

It was all about me. And the Lord quickly drew my attention to the fact that my vision was wrong. Because the one year I did push, I completely stole my son's joy out of the memory master process. Stole the joy. I might as well have been cracking a whip 'cause I was just unkind and not the mom that he needed at that moment.

And so, I think I would say, first of all, keep the fact that this is child-led, not parent-pushed in your mind. And when you feel like you are moving to that side where you're a pusher and not a leader, you need to take a moment to regroup as a parent and really examine, okay, are we doing this at a great time of day when our children get up in the morning?

It is not good. You know, it's not kind as soon as their eyes pop open for us to say, all right, here's the timeline song, here we go. I mean, that just, I think that would build resentment. - Yes. - Examine. - That's so good. - Yeah, examine when you're doing it.

- Your kid's natural rhythm. - Right. - Yeah. - You know, examine when you were reviewing. Is there something that you can improve that will make it more natural? Is there a point in the day where it's just basically simpler for you to do this thing together? And I think also, you know, when our children's attention wanes, or their tenacity.

- Yes. - You know, we also, as parents, need to be willing to inspect what we expect. - Ooh. - So it may be time for an honest conversation with your child and to say, you know what, in, you know, at the beginning of the year, or, you know, even as now, right before we get into the holidays, maybe you sit down with your child and say, you know what, when we first started doing this, I noticed that you were really excited.

And you came to the couch and you were, you had the book and the CD and you were ready to go. - Right. - Now, you know, when I call you to do this, you don't come right away, or I'll find you doing other things. And that what that says to me is, you're not excited about this anymore.

And as parents, you know, sometimes we have to look at our children and say, I need to dig a little deeper to find what is the reason? Did we set too large of a goal? Are you discouraged? Are you just brain tired? And you need a little bit of time away, and then can come back to this with renewed energy, because I know I've been there.

- Right. - But we have to be willing to have that conversation with our children. Now, if your children are really young, it might just be as a parent, your opportunity to say, okay, I reached too far. The goal is too big, we're stretching too far, and then you-- - We're stretching too thin, we're just too thin, yeah.

- You just need to intentionally tailor the goal to something that is manageable. And that's okay, that's okay. It is far better for you to intentionally tailor a goal, than for you to aim for something and then stop trying. - Right, and be miserable about both things, that you stopped and that it was too much.

- For sure. - I like that. I love that the reminder that we need to explore the why of the waning interest and respond appropriately. So do we need to scale the goal? Do we need to take a break? Do we just gently remind our student that, well, we knew it was gonna be hard.

- Right. - Stretching is sometimes uncomfortable, but it does allow us to do things with ease after we stretch. So sometimes our students just need to be given a break and then encouraged to come back. But sometimes, like you said, we've set a goal that was unrealistic. And maybe we didn't realize it was unrealistic.

- Right. - And a lot of how our children will feel about amending a goal will come from us. So if we act like, well, the best, let's just do the best we can. I guess this is the best we can do. Then that seems like a loser mentality.

- Yes. - But if you are like, oh my goodness, we are having so much fun with this history sentences. Let's put all our time there because that is bringing us so much joy. That is a joyous way to tailor. And this is embracing the strength. I love that.

- For sure. - I love that. - I will also add, for goodness sakes, don't do what I did and compare your children to one another or to their community. Do not look at your child and say, well, Tommy's mom never has to call him. - Yes. - Don't do that.

Because again, that builds resentment. It's not motivational. I mean, my goodness. If I were lifting weights, like we alluded to earlier. - Yes. - You looked at me and said, well, your friend, whomever is lifting this, I'm not motivated for that. - What's the matter you? - That's right.

That's right. You know, part of that encouragement is finding your child's emotional currency. What will build them up to the point where they can come at this again, that with renewed interest and vigor. And you know, I really do think the holidays are a great time for us to be able to do that.

To have, you know, refreshed vision, fresh eyes, to come back again, you know, at that goal with energy and excitement. Because, you know, realistically, sometimes we do need a little bit of time away in order to come back and completely be able to achieve what we're wanting to do over the longterm.

So I agree with you, Lisa. The conversation and how it's framed to your child is of critical importance for them wanting to continue forward and chase that goal. - Yes. That's great. That is really great. Those are good thinking points for us. So this kind of goes along with it.

Some of us on the call might be thinking, okay, this sounds really good. I just joined in to see what in the world this Memory Master thing is, and we're not really gonna do it. I don't think it's the right goal for our family this year. But are there some ways that we could stretch toward this goal for the future?

- So good. I think that we've alluded to this a little bit already. Just by dipping your toe in the water and saying to your child, well, I think we're going to do this one subject this year. And then, you know, say, okay, next cycle, we're gonna make it our goal to do this subject and one other, and continue stretching.

Obviously, with kindness toward your family and toward your student and consideration for what they're able to do. And also, I think, assess each year, okay, this was when it got tough. - Right, right. - This is when, you know, when we got to week 16 out of 24, that was when it started to feel heavy.

And anticipate those things as you move forward. You know, I think also, just thinking about this being a stretch goal, a lot of parents will try to get their children to commit to memory the subjects of memory work that repeat from cycle to cycle. So maybe they'll start out, you know, working on the timeline song, because timeline repeats in cycle one, two, and three, or math, which can be difficult for some students to remember those numbers.

And when our children are young, skip counting is a little easier because of the song. But when they're 10 years old and up, you know, committing those facts to memory is incredibly helpful for our students moving forward in their math studies. So, you know, potentially starting with a subject that would be repeated and having them focus on that and try to master that, helps you to continue to build forward because they've already mastered that subject in one cycle.

- Right. - It's just review in the next cycle, and then add on one more subject. So that by the time that you've done this for a couple of years, your child is starting to feel more confident because they're seeing things they're familiar with. And then at that point, it becomes easier to retain the information because they've seen it more than once, they've experienced it more than once.

You know, their bodies have grown, their minds have grown, there's more familiarity with what we do in community and then also what you do at home. You know, if you're building good habits and you're using good rhythms on a daily basis, and that confidence makes them think, "Well, yes, I can do this, I can do this." It also helps if you're asking your child to continue to stretch, to encourage the other students in the community who have talked, who have done this, to talk to your child and to say like, "What was this like for you?" And have conversations with other people, other families who have stretched for these goals and glean wisdom from other people in your community, as well as from your child's tutor and director about ways that you can continue to tailor, always stretching toward the future, always looking for it with a growth mindset, but yet also tempering that with the understanding that at some point, you may need to continue to tailor.

Sometimes it may look like three steps forward and two steps back, but you're still making progress. And that is what I think. - That is so good. And that's very encouraging, Kelly. It's not, Memory Master is absolutely not an all or nothing proposition. I think that's what I want families to take from this call more than anything else.

It is not all or nothing. And you can, parents, even give your students incremental rewards at home that you determine. So it's not, you'll get a brand new bike if you become a Memory Master. It might be that you earn a Bailey book for every fact you memorize. And so then you are in control of how much you quote unquote earn.

- Right. - So, all right, we're getting into the slow slide to the holiday season where everybody's regular routine and all our well oiled rhythms kind of unravel. So Christmas is coming up. What can I do to make sure that memory work is not forgotten over the break? What can I do over the holidays?

- So good. First things first, do not relegate your curriculum to a spot on your bookshelf and let it get dusty over Christmas break. Keep it out on the countertop safely away from all of the Christmas and holiday baking that you're going to do. But keep it handy. If you have any other resources like flashcards, during the holidays, we're on the go.

Take those flashcards in your car, put on the memory work. As you travel from place to place, who knows your children may even want to serenade a neighbor by caroling the history book. - You never, my kids used to do weird stuff like that. (laughing) - I think the first tip I would say is keep your resources handy.

That means that you might need to put them in a bag and take them from place to place. So that way you're still continuing to work on reviewing memory work little bit by little bit. I know a lot of families who have that stretch goal of memory mastering for every subject will often take time during the holidays to review the memory work that comes at the end of the cycle.

And to go ahead and read those things, recite those things with their children so that they have a little bit of familiarity before they get to the end of the cycle. Because obviously we don't have as long to practice the facts on weeks 22, 23, and 24, as we do the facts that came way back on weeks one, two, and three.

So I do know some families will take advantage of that opportunity just to not necessarily master those facts, but to at least introduce. - Yeah, that's such a good idea. - I think one of the easiest ways to not forget memory work over the break is to integrate it into your preparations for the holiday.

I have distinct memories of my children singing into rolling pins as we rolled out Christmas cookies and we recited memory work. Or if we're measuring ingredients for cookies, that they're reciting their metric measurements. So I would look for little ways like that to integrate the practice into what we were doing at home during that time.

And I would also say, Lisa, you were spot on. A lot of times over the holidays, our homeschool routines just fly out the window. And it's good to attach that memory work review to something you still continue to do regularly over the holidays. Like for example, we were talking about eating lunch and then memory work.

Obviously you're still going to eat lunch over the holidays. So it's a good thing to attach that habit to something you're going to continue to do that won't be upset by the fact that you may be taking a break from other subjects over the holiday break. So I think those are two good things.

- Yeah. - And giving your children opportunities to play. I know that there is a brilliant CC mom who has figured out that the flashcards that we have for each of our cycles actually correspond to the color spots on the board for the game candy land. - Yes, that's hilarious.

- So if you have fun games, or there are things that your children have done in community for grammar review, I mean, while you have a little more ease at home, that's a great time to just say, hey, what game do you want to play that we played on community day?

And just to continue to cultivate those memories with them by doing those same things at home. I think there are so many ways that we can have fun with memory work. Children really, their love language for learning when they're young is play. And so if we can tap into that and we can harness that, particularly over the holidays, you're making great memories, but you're also strengthening their memory along the way.

- That's really good. That's really, before, I know I need to let you go, but you said one thing in passing a few minutes ago that I really want to ask you about. You talked about sometimes communities will have like memory work practice days or something about playground days where they run off and play and then they come back and everybody does math facts or something.

What are some fun things that we as parents can encourage our community to do that will help our family stretch toward this memory master goal? - Oh, that's so good. I think if we do have conversations with our directors and they have a really good idea of how many students in a community are stretching toward memory master in different ways, they can work alongside parents to plan fun things together.

I have been in communities in the past where directors would set up a different station in one big room for each portion of memory work. And so the students would rotate through and they would get a stamp or a sticker for their review index card, with each center that they had gone through and they had reviewed memory work and it was motivating for them.

I know other communities have also done color beads. And so as students go through each section of memory work up until that point, as they review it with a different parent, they'll get a different color bead for a bracelet. Those are just fun little things for communities to be able to do that are a little more formal, but you always have the opportunity to call up a friend who also is stretching toward this particular goal and say, hey, you know what?

We're gonna go do this thing today and we'd like to invite you along. We know you're also working on memory master and we were just wondering, could we trade off? And you could ask my child questions and I could ask your child questions just so that you're continuing to practice, but you also have ample opportunities for fellowship during those times.

Never forget that there are people alongside you in the trenches who are doing the same things and community, just knowing you're not alone in the same sense that your child wants to know they're not alone in this memory master process. As a parent, you are not alone either. - Yes.

- Not only are we here at Classical Conversations delighted to support you with any questions that you might have, your local director, your child's tutor are also there to walk alongside you and to give you support. Your friends and community are wanting the same things for their children. So if you reach out to another parent and you say, hey, we would love to review memory work with you.

Do you want to come over for a play date? There is nothing more delightful to that parent than to hear, you know what? I have a friend here who is also doing hard things. Let's do hard things together. - Yes. - Support one another. - I really think that as humans, God made us to be in community.

And I do really, really believe that doing hard things is easier with a friend. - For sure. And it does help to know that we as parents are not alone in this endeavor that we're encouraging our children in. That's really good, Kelly. Thank you. That reminds me of something that I wanted to mention to you guys, you listeners.

You are not alone as you try to become a better and better home educator. And you may think, I really wish I knew how to wield those tools, those skills better. I really want to know more and more about the skills of learning that people keep talking about, but man, I need some encouragement or I need a community.

If that's you, I want to ask you if you've heard about the classical learning cohorts. You can cultivate those new skills and grow in your confidence as you are giving your children that quality education. If you want to check this out, you're invited to experience the classical learning cohort, ask a mentor event, if that's not the longest title for an event ever.

But listen, what it is, is a free, absolutely free, no pressure event that will give you a little bit of firsthand knowledge about the classical learning cohort, where you can learn to wield the skills better with a group of fellow learners. Registration is open now and it closes the beginning of February.

So in the spring, classical learning cohorts begin early in February, okay? If you are interested to do that, you can register at classicalconversations.com/cohort. That's the classical learning cohort and encourage a group of encouragers for parents, just like we as parents are gonna be encouraging our students who are interested in Memory Master.

And Kelly, you have given us so many good suggestions about how to equip ourselves and equip our students to be realistic and be a part of this process. Thank you so much for your wisdom. - Absolutely, friend. And if you're listening to this podcast and you have questions about the Memory Master process, please check out our forums on CC Connected or reach out to our Foundations Academic Advisor at foundations@classicalconversations.com.

We're happy to help in any way that we can to help you be able to stretch toward this goal for your family. - That is awesome. It's a great reminder, Kelly. Thank you. Guys, I will see you next week. Thanks, Kelly, again. Bye-bye. (gentle music) you