Variety vs. Routine in Scripture Memory (Summer of Psalms Update)

So, here we are one month into the three-month Summer of Psalms family challenge, so I wanted to check in with how we're doing.  I didn't get as far as I had wanted (we've mastered about 4 verses so far), but I realized that we're still on track to finish our 14-verse psalm in three months.  

Here's what I've done to encourage us along the way:

• printed out the whole psalm with a memory grid at the bottom to show first letters of each word. I put these in the road trip binders of the oldest two. I have it posted on our white board, but it's more for my own reference, since it's written small.
• listened to the psalm song a bunch! Verse 14 is the one we know the best because it's the chorus of the song by The Corner Room.
• hit verses 1-3 this week by reciting or singing them every day. I wrote them in big print on our white board.
• discussed the meaning of the verses. I had to think a bit myself about them.

My original plan was to listen to the song every day, which brings me to my dilemma of variety vs. routine.  I find myself waffling back and forth between the two, both in Scripture memory and in homeschooling.  The discipline and routine of listening to the song every day wasn't working for my 4-year-old.  He now complains when I turn on the song again. 

Here's the beauty of a disciplined routine (such as reciting a verse every night at dinner or listening to a verse song when you first get into the car):

• it becomes an established habit. I'm less likely to forget about reviewing our verses if it's ingrained as a daily habit, tied to another activity (also known as "habit stacking").
• the recitations and reviews add up over time (instead of trying to cram in a less frequent, larger block of time)
• kids just become used to it.  They're less likely to argue if they know that "this is just what we do"

And here's the beauty of variety (such as reviewing in a silly voice or by going around the table supplying one word at a time):

• novelty triggers something different in the brain
• it's less "boring"
• we become connected to our verses in different ways, creating different pathways to remember them

As with anything, balance is key.  Although songs are my primary way of memorizing Scripture, it's good to switch things up occasionally, especially when memorizing as a family.  I have to remind myself that just because something works for me doesn't mean it will work for all of us in the same way.  So, in July, we'll keep singing, but we'll also maybe make a game of it and recite dramatically and add some hand motions.  And we still need to decide together our family reward when we finish!  I'm thinking ice cream is always a good motivator for this bunch!