Let\u2019s quit knocking the idea of repetition and memorization\nas a valid teaching tool. It is still one of the best ways to \u201ccement\u201d any\nconcept or information into the human brain. Scientists practice \u201cprogramming\u201d\nthe brain through repetition and most claim that the brain thrives on it. \nEverything we learn as a child revolves around repetition, from walking and\ntalking to learning our own name and brushing our teeth. The astounding success\nof the AWANA program is based on repetition of verses, pledges, and songs. Is\nit any wonder that so many young people who attend church regularly and hear\nthe Gospel over and over get saved at a young age? The new \u201cphilosophers\u201d taunt\nChristians that this repetitive teaching is brainwashing. Of course it is; it\nis the foundation of most learning. Because the disciples never ceased teaching\nand preaching (Acts 5:42), many were saved. God has repeated Himself throughout\nthe heavens and the earth (Romans 1:20) so that no one is without knowledge of\nGod. Every society and philosophy survives on brainwashing. The basic precepts\nare recited; the grasp of concepts follows as the person matures. It\u2019s just a\nmatter of which philosophy you want your child\u2019s brain washed with!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m quite baffled that education \u201cexperts\u201d have thrown out\nmemorization and repetition as a learning tool. Why does a musician repeat\nscales and play his recital piece over and over? Why not just wait until the\nday of the performance and play it then? Why does an athlete repeat and\npractice his race time and time again? Shouldn\u2019t he save his energy and just\nrun on the day of the event? Should the actor not strut and fret his hour on\nthe stage? The audience can just suffer while the director reads every cue to\nhim. Every expertise, whether mental, verbal, or hands-on, is learned by\nrepetition. Yet the teacher who asks students to memorize dates for a history\nclass or the Preamble to the Constitution is beset upon by unhappy parents who\nthink this is too harsh or not good teaching. Ask that parent what procedures,\nprocesses, calculations, or manual repetitions he has to remember or perform on\nhis job. How does he remember his phone number or his address, or his social\nsecurity number? Obviously, he remembers by either the repetition of recitation\nor by use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We repeat the same exercises in our daily lives without any\nhesitation and most of us like it that way. We even get aggravated when some of\nthat repetition is interrupted-like when the garbage truck fails to pick up on\nits appointed day, or the key you turn in the car ignition fails to do what it\nhas done over and over for many years. How much of our lives depends on\nmachinery and items that repeat a performance thousands of times? If my\ncomputer keys fail to enter the letters I have always used in their familiar\nplaces and it suddenly decides that the keys will be entered in a different\norder, I\u2019ll be unhappy and you\u2019ll be confused! What\u2019s so wrong with repetition\nand memorization?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[126],"tags":[167,143],"class_list":["post-7874","eutychus-article","type-eutychus-article","status-publish","hentry","category-eutychus","tag-christian-living-cross-discipleship","tag-church"],"yoast_head":"\n