Read Kate’s latest for The Tablet – Learning by Heart
When was the last time you learned something off by heart?
It’s something we have to do as children in school, with vocabulary lists, spelling and times tables, but we also absorb rhymes, poems and song lyrics without even working at it, just by familiarity and repetition. No one sits down to memorise nursery rhymes, but they take up residence in our heads; with early prayers, you learn them even before you can read, so it’s all about repetition and rhythm. With small children, you can use body language to help, and this is how you learn Heads, shoulders, knees and toes; and we learn the Sign of the Cross in exactly the same way.
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