Designed to Imitate

Education begins in imitation. We speak to a child so they can listen and imitate our words. We show them how to sound out words so that they can, too. We model how to deal with conflict and temptation and pray they follow our successes and not our failures. Their simple imitation slowly leads to understanding, which they can later apply to new situations and problems.

Children thrive this way. As adults, we are often shocked at how quickly a child picks up a little jingle or phrase they heard only once or twice. Children are ready to absorb any interesting thing you put before them. They are filling their memory bank with all the language and ideas they can get, so we need to provide them with the best things to do so.

At Clermont Christian School, we begin by filling the students’ memory banks with Scripture and hymns so that they are grounded in Biblical truth. Then, we memorize poetry and traditional songs so that the students become comfortable with beautiful (and sometimes humorous) language. All the time, we are making sure that understanding of these things is also being developed by explaining and discussing the new ideas that such passages introduce. To that end, we memorize facts in the context of studying the great stories and ideas that those facts summarize.

With this sort of memory bank in place, students are prepared to advance to the next stages in their education as well as enjoy the life God has given them. Though they may go on to forget many things, the delight of knowing God’s word and the joys of the English language can remain with them throughout their years.