Day 79 / 101 - Rote Memorization

I've mentioned before that, because of the ages of my children, I educate them using quite a bit of rote memorization.  As they age, and their brains develop, I will begin to unpackage and dig deeper into some of the information they've memorized.  But for now, we memorize.  And, we memorize all sorts of information...states and capitals, multiplication tables, history sentences, science facts, etc. We make it fun.  We sing.  We chant.  We play games.  We stand on our heads.  We talk in weird voices.  And more.

Sometimes I do wonder if my children will forget the information as they age, like Calvin states above.  However, Saturday night, I was encouraged by how long we can retain information in our brains.  My husband and I attended the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in downtown Cleveland.  (OK, perhaps this post is just to state that we went to the ceremony).  The Beastie Boys were an inductee into the Rock Hall this year.  As they were being introduced, the presenter launched the audience into a brief rendition of Paul Revere.  I do have to say that this song was a favorite of mine in junior high school, and I listened to it religiously in 1986.  However, I don't think I've listened to the song once in the last 20+ years.  Instantly the words came back to me.  Every single one.  I was surprised.  And a little impressed.  I leaned over to my husband and said, "If I can remember every single word to this song, our children will be able to skip count the 8's to Happy and You Know It for a lifetime!"