Stone wall do not a prison make

Nor iron bars a cage." That is the start of a quote by R. Lovelace and a small but significant part of my homeschooling. Every week the kids have a quote to memorize. Some weeks it is a full poem, sometimes a Bible verse, but without fail they are memorizing different thoughts from different people. This year I have added a twist, on Wednesdays they write the quote down in a notebook and add their thoughts on it.  We've often discussed the quotes but this insures that actual thinking goes on. They have had to consider Ethel Barrymore's comment on the need to be able to laugh at oneself, they have seen more of Victor Hugo than the lines for "Hunchback of Notre Dame" that they are memorizing for HTT. We enjoyed the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper so much more after memorizing the poem and then anticipating the next part of the story. Memorizing quotes, writing them and reciting them takes very little time but has a long term, significant impact on how my kids think and see the world.To finish R. Lovelace's quote..."If I have freedom in my love and in my soul am free, angels alone that soar above enjoy such liberty." I want my kids to always have freedom in their hearts and minds, training them to think and filling their minds with the resources to do that is a very important part of why I homeschool.