Memorization is key to helping kids learn the faith and know their faith. In a world filled with information, facts and proof’s for everything we need to help students retain the material covered in the religious education classes.
I am not recommending a strickly Baltimore Catechism style of learning but memorization has a very important place. Today’s classroom needs to form, inform and transform students. Each component is essential to the learning and conversion process.
Diane Fitzpatrick has a good article on helping kids memorize at http://catholicism.suite101.com/article.cfm/memorization_helps.
Catechesis in the Third Millennium 
December 31, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Memorization is important, of course. What is important for high school and above is to understand how students think and build from there. See “Teaching and Helping Students Think and Do Better” on amazon.
December 31, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Dr. Sanford, I think it is both – helping students know their faith by finding ways to commit it to memory as well as helping them think and build from there through developing high school studnets critical thinking skills.