Happy “By Heart” Day! Learning things by heart can be good for you and your brain

Here is a New Holiday to Celebrate!

What do these four passages have in common? *
1.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here to
Watch his woods fill up with snow.
 . . .   “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
            Robert Frost
2.
I play it cool, And dig all jive.
That’s the reason I stay alive.
My motto, as I live and learn,
Is dig and be dug in return.
            “Motto”
            Langston Hughes
3.
I have a secret place to go.
Not anyone may know.
And sometimes when the wind is rough
I cannot get there fast enough.
And sometimes when my mother
Is scolding my big brother
My secret place, it seems to me,
Is quite the place to be.
            “Keziah”
            Gwendolyn Brooks
4.
Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
                                    Big Mac jingle
                                    McDonald’s
*Answer
It’s no surprise that you would not see the link at first. These are all passages that have held special meaning in MY life, but I am also able to say or write them fully by memory. They are special to me. That is why I say I know them BY HEART. The notion of learning by heart probably goes back to the Ancient Greeks who saw the heart, not the brain, was the center for learning, memory, and emotion. Other passages and ideas may have spent time in my memory bank, but were learned by rote and don’t seem to have stuck very well. “By heart” does indicate caring.


There are other things like addresses, phone numbers -- ESPECIALLY songs and their lyrics--that most of us can share by heart.

How about YOU?
Today is a good day to join us at The Museum of Teaching and Learning and celebrate
“BY HEART” DAY.
All you need to do is share what’s in your BY HEART reserve. If you have someone to share with that would be a good idea, but you can also make yourself happy just by recalling those things that you savor and remember perfectly.

ENJOY!
P.S. Learning things by heart can be good for you and your brain. To think of memorization as outmoded may not be very wise. The Forbes article shared here can give you something to think about.


Submitted by Greta Nagel
MOTAL President and CEO