I once heard someone compare classical education to the Christian practice of Lectio Divina. She also pointed out: this isn’t a new comparison. Medieval monks and educators said the same thing. Just like Lectio Divina, education is a process that takes us from surface knowledge to contemplation.

We’ve seen this first-hand through our use of Memoria Press student guides. In fact, my kids ASK me to get student guides for them!

Narration, questions with written answers, and questions with oral answers all build different skills; so it’s important to use all three approaches, rather than using one to the exclusion of the others.

Still, we need to understand what each approach really means so we can use each one well.

Boxed curriculums are a mixed blessing. Those pre-assembled packages and lesson plans make it so easy to choose each year’s materials. But they also bring out the grade level monster. If a book is in the 4th grade package, and we use it in 6th grade, we assume our child is behind.

Here’s how we make Memoria Press for work us when it comes to homeschool grade levels!

In all my years of schooling I never figured out the meaning of two little words: review and study. I ignored assignments with those words because I had no idea what they meant. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t figure it out until my own kids were floundering and a friend/mentor reached out with an article on how memory works. Ever since, I’ve been gathering engaging study tips to help build memory.

Here’s what to do when it’s time to study!