Past Principal Points
Scripture
Memory Program Changes, 2003
Since 1987 AKCS has used a school wide Scripture
Memory Program which required students to learn large passages of Scripture on
a monthly basis culminating in recitation of the entire year’s verses in May or
June (for those who could). Historically, we have had many students (sometimes
even 50%) say the entire year’s verses with ten or fewer mistakes at the end of
the year, so the
program has been very successful in assisting children in hiding God’s Word in
their hearts.
At the same time, however, it has also been a
source of frustration for parents and students who struggle with memory work in
general. This frustration came to a head when we tackled the very difficult to
memorize book of 1John last year. It has never been our desire to make the
memory program so onerous that it caused children to develop an aversion to the
Bible, but that was what we were seeing happen. While all
school work requires effort and some discipline, there is clearly a balance,
and we had slipped beyond the line of “reasonable” in this regard.
Thus, we asked several teachers to review the
program and make recommendations for the changes which we are implementing this
year.
1.
First, we have decided to replace the current 12-year cycle of
passages with a 6-year cycle. This will allow students
who attend AKCS for 12 years to repeat and review the passages, making deeper
application as they enter junior high and high school.
2.
Second, we have slightly reduced the
number of verses per month to ensure routine success as students progress through the
year. This slight decrease in the number of verses per month will allow for a
couple of improvements:
a)
increased time for instruction / discussion of the passages' meaning
b)
increased time for instruction / memorization of a few additional verses pertaining to the
Bible themes taught at specific grade levels. (One
suggestion had been to make all Bible memory work related to the themes in the
Bible program at each grade. The advantage of this is that the passages have more direct
application for students, but the disadvantage is that it makes reviewing the
verses much harder for families. In the end, the staff felt that keeping the
school wide program but reducing the number of verses, and focusing more on
classic passages would increase the understanding for all students and still
make reviewing at home relatively easy.)
3.
Third, we will no longer specify complete
books of the Bible for memorization, but will focus on increasing the number of “Classic Passages” that students will acquire over a six year
cycle. Some of those passages may include entire chapters from books that we
used to include in their entirety, but this change will ensure that we are
making the memory work as relevant and understandable as possible for all our
students.
4.
Fourth, the total number of verses
for the year has been reduced so that new verses will be learned only until
the end of April. The entire month of May
will thus be designated for year-end review.
5.
Finally, teachers have agreed to a common set
of modifications and evaluation standards for students who simply cannot say an
entire month’s verses in one setting. In light of the above changes, we do not expect to
have many students requiring further modifications, but teachers now have some
agreed upon standards if this should be required.
We
can already see that these changes have been a significant improvement for our
students and families. (Thank you for the positive feedback we have received so
far.) Please don’t hesitate to contact your teachers or me if you have any
other concerns or ideas that will make this part of our Bible program even
better.
Principal,
Copyright © 2003/2004 Airdrie Koinonia Christian
School Last modified: October 06, 2003