This year I have been working through an in-depth study of Matthew with a group of sisters-in-Christ. As a part of that study, I have been teaching middle and high school aged teenagers lessons from Matthew. Since I have been immersed in Matthew, I have become intrigued with the idea of memorizing a section of the book. It was at this time that I was given an opportunity to review Brookdale House Publishers’ Memorize the Sermon on the Mount curriculum.

Memorize the Sermon on the Mount is a twenty-three week scripture memorization program that is written for teens and adults. This curriculum has the learner memorize all three chapters of the Sermon of the Mount and to prepare to recite these verses orally.  This curriculum is in the form of a consumable workbook for $14.99 or an eBook for $12.99.

The chapters are broken into manageable sections for memorization. For example, the first week’s work has the learner memorizing Matthew 5:1-8. Each day, the learner reads the passage over several times. Below the selected passage on the workbook page, there is space for you to copy the passage. Each day, after copying the passage, you turn the page and fill in a worksheet page with an increasing number of blank spaces to fill in. On day five, your assignment is to write the passage from memory and to orally recite the passage you learned as well as additional passages from past weeks.

I really found this to be a helpful way to learn the Sermon on the Mount. It was good to see where I had trouble filling in the blanks as I completed the days so that I could focus on the parts of memorization that I was weak at. I also enjoyed learning in the King James Version because it flows so lyrically as you are memorizing. There were not any cards or complicated memory verse systems to learn, so I was able to just pull out my book and work for about ten minutes a day as an addition to my quiet time.

I am a poor memorizer, and as I have gotten further along in the curriculum, I have noticed that I have had to slow down and complete just one workbook page on days 2, 3, and 4 of each week, instead of the two pages assigned. This, of course, has slowed down my progress considerably. I have also built more opportunities into my day for orally reciting pieces of the passages to continue to keep them fresh in my memory.

Overall, I think this is a great and simple way to memorize scripture, and I will definitely look into the other books in the Bible Memorization Made Easy series as I finish memorizing the Sermon on the Mount and look for the next piece of the Bible that I would like to memorize.

--Product review by Rebecca Ray, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March, 2016