From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
TRUSSVILLE — Eighteen students, ages 7-12, achieved Memory Master status this month after memorizing more than 500 facts and completing four separate oral testing events with 100-percent accuracy.
Elementary-age students in the home school program Classical Conversations (CC) may choose to complete an end-of-year oral exam and recite every piece of memory work learned for the year. The process includes two memory recitations to parents or other adults, a recitation for the student’s tutor, and a spot-check exam by the director of the CC community. Each oral exam takes between 45 and 90 minutes, depending upon the age of the child and their ability to quickly and accurately recite the information.
“The purpose of Memory Master is to encourage and reward demonstrations of excellence in subject memorization and recitation, which are two skills that will serve students well along their educational journey,” said Jessica Lancaster, Foundations director for the CC of Trussville community. “Many of our students enjoy the challenge, but only a few are able to complete the entire process successfully.”
Material recited includes: a chronological timeline of 161 events and people from history, 120 locations and geographic features of the United States, 24 U.S. history sentences, 24 science facts, Latin vocabulary and rules, English grammar definitions and irregular verb conjugations, multiplication tables to the 15s, common squares and cubes, basic geometry formulas, unit conversions, and all 45 US presidents.
Classical Conversations students from the Trussville community who successfully completed the Memory Master testing and earned the title of Memory Master include: Asher Tharp, 11, Jackson Krause, 12, Delaney Krause, 10, Moriah McSweeney, 12, Brookelyn Gardner, 11, Lydia Burnett, 11, Madison Sharit, 11, Lucas Jackson, 11, Juniper Self, 10, Ladan Tharp, 8, Alexis Lancaster, 9, Tristan Self, 8, Hunter Morris, 10, Caleb Lippert, 10, Graci Sharit, 9, Lindsey Key, 7, Madeline Lippert, 7, and Caleb Hughes,9.
The Classical Conversations community of Trussville meets once a week for 24-30 weeks, depending upon the program. The Foundations program is for ages 4-12 and focuses on the basics of history, science, English grammar, geography, Latin and math. Students also engage in weekly science projects, fine arts and oral presentations. The Challenge programs for junior and senior high-aged students focus on all the required subjects, plus the skills of argumentation and persuasion. Challenge helps students develop the character traits of leadership, discipline, decision-making, freedom, ownership, and an understanding of choices and consequences.
Classical Conversations is a classical education resource used by homeschoolers in all 50 states and 22 foreign countries. CC now has more than 117,000 students enrolled in its tutoring programs, which are provided by more than 2,500 CC communities. CC provides resources, guidance and a community for a Christian homeschool curriculum using classical education in three developmental stages: grammar, dialectic and rhetoric.
For more information, visit www.classicalconversations.com.