Selah Haehnel, 11, left, and Charlotte Nelson, 10, both of Marquette, have achieved Memory Master status. The designation indicates they have memorized hundreds of facts and completed four oral testing events with complete accuracy. (Photo courtesy of Wendy Haehnel)

MARQUETTE — Two local girls, ages 10 and 11, achieved Memory Master status this month after memorizing more than 600 facts and completing four separate oral testing events with 100% accuracy.

Classical Conversations students from the Marquette CC community who successfully completed the Memory Master testing and earned the title of Memory Master include Selah Haehnel, 11, Charlotte Nelson, 10, both Marquette residents.

Elementary-age students in the homeschool program Classical Conversations may choose to complete an end-of-year oral exam and recite every piece of memory work learned for the year.

“The purpose of Memory Master is to encourage and reward demonstrations of excellence in subject memorization and recitation, which are two skills that will serve students well along their educational journey,” said Erica Nelson, Foundations and Essentials director for the Marquette Classical Conversations Community, in a news release. “Many of our students enjoy the challenge, but only a few are able to complete the entire process successfully.”

The four-week process includes two memory recitations to parents or other adults, a recitation for the student’s tutor and a spot-check exam by the director of the CC community.

Each oral exam takes between 45 and 90 minutes, depending upon the age of the child and their ability to quickly and accurately recite the information.

Material recited includes: a chronological timeline of 161 events and people from history, 120 locations and geographic features, 24 history sentences, 24 science facts, Latin noun endings, English grammar definitions, multiplication tables to the 15s, common squares and cubes, basic geometry formulas, unit conversions and all 46 US presidents.

The Upper Peninsula hosts four Classical Conversations communities, which meet once a week for 24 to 30 weeks, depending upon the program.

In an email, Selah, who is homeschooled, discussed her experience.

“I feel proud that I got through it all and I was able to accomplish it,” Selah said. “It’s hard to describe. It kind of feels the same, except people keep saying, ‘Hey! You’re a Memory Master!'”

Selah now knows she can accomplish being a Memory Master again.

“The memory work will help me as I get into the middle and high school levels because we learn more about the topics we memorized,” she said. “Knowing parts of them now will help me dive deeper without having to go back and memorize definitions, dates and events first. And I can do this with all the subjects.”

Selah said she started training around October, and practiced the memory facts every day.

“I had a schedule my mom gave me that told me what to review for that day,” she said. “For most subjects, I used the CC app to review the memory work. For math, I had multiplication flash cards that I did every day, even though some days I didn’t want to.”

Selah said the first proof was the hardest because it was the first time she was going through it all.

“The third proof was the most stressful because I was so close to the finish line and didn’t want to fail,” she said. “This process helped me become more diligent and persevere when I didn’t feel like doing the work — mostly, the math — and my family encouraged me along the way and believed I could do it.”

Charlotte, who also is homeschooled, voiced her thoughts via email.

“I feel proud of myself and also relief that I was able to accomplish it,” she said of being a Memory Master. “It’s also a sense of accomplishment to know I can face big challenges and be successful.”

Charlotte believes earning the Memory Master designation will help in her future education.

“Because I have all these facts memorized I will be able to look back and recall them and add to them,” Charlotte said. “It’s like adding more layers of information and building up my knowledge and comprehension.”

As with Selah, Charlotte practiced daily.

“I was persistent and I used different methods of memorization such as repetition, songs, hand motions, rhythms, flash cards and other ways that I have learned through CC,” she said.

According to Marquette Classical Conversations, the Foundations program is for ages 4 to 12 and focuses on the basics of history, science, English grammar, geography, Latin and math. Students also engage in weekly science projects, fine arts and oral presentations. The Challenge programs for junior and senior high-aged students focus on the required subjects, plus the skills of argumentation and persuasion. Challenge helps students develop the character traits of leadership, discipline, decision-making, freedom, ownership, and an understanding of choices and consequences.

Classical Conversations is a classical education resource used by homeschoolers in all 50 states and 30 foreign countries. CC now has more than 125,000 students enrolled in its tutoring programs, which are provided by more than 2,500 CC communities.

CC provides resources, guidance and a community for a Christian homeschool curriculum using classical education in three developmental stages: grammar, dialectic and rhetoric.

Leigh Bortins started Classical Conversations in 1997. The family-owned company is headquartered in Southern Pines, North Carolina. For more information, visit www.classicalconversations.com.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.