“Memory Master” is an honor bestowed on a Foundations student who has mastered all of the memory work from the current year. To receive this honor, a student must recite all the information from history, geography, English grammar, Latin, math, and science first to their parents, then to another adult, then to their Foundations Tutor, and finally to their community’s Licensed Director.
What It Means to Be a Memory Master
At Classical Conversations, we define “mastery” of information as having committed that information to long-term memory. This is different from cramming for a single test and then immediately forgetting that knowledge. We do not focus on test scores, but on what is really in a student’s head to stay for the long term.
In this post, we’ll tackle some common questions about pursuing the title of Memory Master and then cover several practical tips to help your Foundations student achieve that goal.
What Do Memory Masters Need to Memorize?
The amount of information we ask Foundations students wishing to strive toward the title of Memory Master is lengthy. In total, a Memory Master should recite:
- the entire timeline of 160 events from creation to modern times;
- 24 sentences about history;
- 24 science questions and answers;
- multiplication tables through the 15s plus squares and cubes, conversions, and math laws;
- continents, countries, states, capitals, and physical features from around the world;
- 24 definitions or lists from English grammar;
- Latin vocabulary lists, conjugations, declensions, and John 1:1–7 in Latin;
- and the 46 U.S. presidents.
Some of the information, like the history timeline and math facts, is repeated every year in Foundations. Other subject areas, such as history, geography, science, Latin, and English, rotate their focus on a three-year cycle. Cycle 1 explores ancient world history and related geography, biology and earth science, and Latin noun declensions. Cycle 2 highlights medieval world history and related geography; ecology, astronomy, and physical science; and Latin verb conjugations. Cycle 3 introduces U.S. history and geography, anatomy and chemistry, Latin vocabulary lists, and John 1:1-7 in Latin. To read more about what’s covered in each of the three cycles, visit the Foundations program webpage.
What Ages Can Students Participate in Memory Master?
We recommend all students ages 11- and 12-years-old strive to achieve Memory Master. If your student is around these ages but is in their first year of Foundations, it still doable for them to achieve Memory Master if you and your student are motivated, although it will take serious effort and practice.
Many Classical Conversations families encourage their students to participate in Memory Master during their final three years in Foundations — generally speaking, the years when the students are also in the Essentials program — so that they will have mastered the information from all three cycles before graduating on to Challenge A.
What About Younger Students?
Perhaps surprisingly, many six year olds in Foundations have been known to be entirely capable of reciting all the memory work confidently. If your student is ten-years-old or younger and is motivated to memorize the entire year’s worth of information, don’t hold them back!
If you and your student are willing to put in the time and effort, it is certainly possible for them to participate in Memory Master and there is definitely no rule against it. After all, with Classical Conversations, you remain your child’s first teacher. Whatever works to best educate your child, do it. Your Tutor or Director will not stand in your way.
What Is National Memory Master?
Students who receive the title of Memory Master are then invited to compete in the National Memory Master competition. This is an opportunity for Memory Masters to compete with their peers from Classical Conversations communities around the nation for a grand prize of $10,000. This year’s championship is coming up soon, taking place on April 28 during our National Conference events in Southern Pines, NC. In the video below, Trevor Dolden, winner of the 2021 National Memory Master competition, and his family describe their journey as they all worked on helping Trevor become a Memory Master. And if your student is interested in competing in our National Memory Master competition next year, consider reading our blog post Why Our Families Love National Memory Master.
10 Tips for Helping Your Child Become a Memory Master
Leigh Bortins has a simple formula for committing information to long-term memory — repetition over time.
If you and your student have been reciting new memory work three times a day as soon as it is introduced while also reviewing all the past memory work starting with week one, your student will probably already have mastered most of the year’s information. Just add a little more repetition over a little more time, and the end result will be mastery. Here are a few practical tips to secure the repetition your student needs and to make the journey toward Memory Master all the more effective, fun, and rewarding:
1. Use the Foundations Memory Work Apps
Did you know that there are Classical Conversations apps for each of the three Foundations cycles? Available on iPhones and iPads, each app adds the fun of a touch screen and the ability to take your memory practice wherever you learn, whether on a long road trip or at your local park. Another helpful feature is the ability to scroll through the memory work by week, either by subject or all items together.
If you’re interested in downloading these apps, here are links to them on iOS:
- Foundations Memory Work C1: Apple App Store
- Foundations Memory Work C2: Apple App Store
- Foundations Memory Work C3: Apple App Store
2. Make a Rebus for Tricky Dates or Lists
A rebus is a picture, image, or puzzle that represents words. Using this technique, your student can create silly pictures that remind them of the words or the sounds of the words. For example, a rebus for “Neil Armstrong” might be a drawing of a nail, an arm, and a really strong man.
3. Make a Memory Route
Flash cards are a common yet effective way to incorporate memory repetition. But there is no reason why your family can’t get more creative and combine flash cards with an interactive game.
For example, one Classical Conversations family made enormous flash cards on construction paper and taped them in a route around the house. The students would journey along this “memory route,” practicing the memory work at each flash card. When they recited it later in front of judges, the students could mentally revisit each stop along their memory route, helping them to recall the memory item from that location.
4. Call Out the Questions at Bedtime
Several research studies have found that studying information immediately before a good night’s sleep can significantly improve memory retention. So, why not harness the power of this finding to better help your child achieve Memory Master? Right before bedtime, ask some of the memory work questions and have your child recite the answers back to you. Obviously, you don’t want to overwhelm your child right before bed, so just stick to just a few simple questions.
5. Design Colorful Memory Posters
Leigh Bortins once taped Latin charts to the bathroom mirror so her boys could study while they brushed their teeth. In a similar way, your child can create colorful, attention-grabbing posters of the memory work and place them around the house so that they are consistently reminded of those memory items.
6. Invent Songs, Chants, and Hand Motions
While we have our own songs at Classical Conversations to help your child memorize Foundations information, there’s no one stopping your family from writing your own songs! Inventing hand motions to go along with your song will also reinforce the information for your student.
7. Recite While Active
A fun way to practice memory work while also getting in some exercise is to incorporate your memorization practice into physical activities, like jumping on the trampoline, swinging, or throwing a frisbee or football. As any parent of a little learner knows, they need to move! So, why not learn while moving?
8. Reward Milestones for Each Subject Mastered
Set milestones for the memory work in each subject with rewards so that your student will stay motivated. These rewards can be anything — going out for ice cream or dinner, spending more time outside or playing video or board games, or watching a movie. Also, make sure to keep track of the milestones reached so that you and your student can see their progress on the journey toward Memory Master.
9. Occasionally Borrow Time From Other Subjects
Some weeks may require more time doing memorization practice than other weeks. For example, the week right before Memory Master testing starts, you might choose to do one math lesson and spend the majority of the day on memory work, taking breaks to read or play outside. The Foundations program only lasts 24 weeks, so your family has plenty of time to resume other studies after the last week if needed.
10. Make a Mini-Memory Master Goal
This is similar to the tip about rewarding milestones. Especially if this is your first year in Classical Conversations, you may need to focus more of your time on reading and writing needs rather than memory work. So, just choose one or two subjects as a mini-Memory Master goal, and reward your student when that goal is reached.
Becoming a “Memory Master” Is Worth the Hard Work!
Throughout their journey to become a Memory Master, your student will learn to work hard, to memorize a lot of information using different methods, and to experience the well-earned reward of achieving a difficult goal. What’s more, they will firmly cement all the information into their long-term memory to draw upon throughout the Challenge levels, whether in writing a research paper, engaging in conversation during a seminar, or delivering a presentation or debate. Working to become a Memory Master is a great gift you can give your child and the time you spend working together will bring you closer together, too.
Whether your student is participating in Memory Master or not, reach out to your community’s Licensed Director to see when you can visit and observe the participants reciting their memory work to the judges. This is truly a joy to watch and is a true testament to the effectiveness of the classical model of education!
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