Updated Horatius & Hints/Tips for Memorizing?

[ShaunaN]

I received the student guide to Horatius in the 7M core, which I ordered last February. From what I see on the website, it looks like the book has been updated to three books (the poem, the student guide, the teacher's guide), and the set also includes the medal and pin for memorizing the poem. Should I order that set if my student plans to memorize the poem?

Can anyone whose child successfully memorized all 70 stanzas share your experience? Are there tips or tricks to make this doable? So far, he is reading and listening to the poem every day, and he writes out the stanzas he's working on twice a week. I know people who have memorized huge chunks of information that used the memory palace technique. Does anyone have experience with that?

[tanya]

Hi, Shauna.

Don't order the medal and lapel pin. If your student recites Horatius and you record it and send it to me, I will present him with those awards along with the Winston Churchill certificate!

I hope some homeschoolers give you their tips. I can only speak from a classroom perspective. Our teachers require the students to come up with their own schedule for getting the poem memorized by the due date (which is their recitation day). This is generally the end of Feb. so they have to divide up the weeks they have and see how many stanzas they need to memorize each week to keep them on task. This is not only a huge feat in memorization, but it is also a lesson in responsibility for time on task. You can set your recitation day to be whenever you want it to be (since you have the flexibility of not having to fit it into a school events calendar). Then have your student make his schedule and give you a copy of it. Each week, you would need to check in and make sure he is on target. This will be easier for you because you only have to deal with one student and will be the one listening to the recitation as he works.

Before our students begin memorizing, we teach the entire poem, using the study guide. So when students begin the independent work of memorizing, they thoroughly understand the poem, know what's happening, who the characters are, where the places are on a map, etc. It is so helpful for them to have this information because it brings the poem alive and makes it easier to memorize since they are familiar with the order of events and have studied it thoroughly.

Tanya

[ShaunaN]

Thanks, tanya! He has put together a plan for memorizing the poem by our week 24. He writes this in his planner every week and checks it off as he does it. He's taking the Vita Beata discussion class that is for FMOG (and includes discussing Horatius), and they are a little farther along in the poem discussion than he is in the memorization, so that's helpful for understanding what he's memorizing.

I would love to hear about others' experiences! Please share if your student has done this and if they used any particular methods to help with the memorization. I've watched a few of the videos posted on the MP page and some kids use some hand motions in places. Any other tips out there?

[Erica Mentele]

My 7th grade son is working on Horatius. I play a YouTube video of the poem recited by Miles Wilcox. My kids enjoy his accent and the gestures that he makes. My seven year old has even memorized the first few stanzas from listening in with us. I play it everyday for new/recent material we are learning and once to two times a week for memorized material.

[VAmom]

I’m following along since I’ll have a seventh grader next year.

[ShaunaN]

Erica Mentele Thanks, I’ll definitely look up that video!