Education
Improving your Child’s Working Memory Working memory is the part of the brain that stores information so it can use it again. Children use this all the time: to remember what they read in the previous paragraph of a book, when doing mental maths and to follow directions with lots of steps. The good news is that, if your child’s working memory seems poor, it can be improved with practice. Here are some ideas that might help:
Encourage questions To learn and remember, a child needs to fully understand a topic. By asking questions, children actively participate in learning, helping them develop a deeper understanding of the subject.
Let your child be the teacher Only when you fully understand something can you truly explain it. To check your child’s understanding, get them to tell you what they know. ‘Teaching you’ knowledge they just learned is more likely to make it stick.
Discuss a topic and ask your child’s opinion Learning is much more fun if you can discuss topics and exchange opinions. If your child is expecting a discussion, they are more likely to retain the information for at least the amount of time required to answer questions about it. Once an engaging discussion has happened, they are more likely to remember the subject matter.
Visualisation and flashcards Get your child to picture something in their mind and then describe it. Initially they may need to draw the picture first, but,
with practice, they may no longer need to do this. Flashcards with words or pictures can also be used to practice spellings or the meanings of words.
Use the senses Your child will develop a better relationship with what they are learning if they engage with it in lots of ways. Get your child to talk, act out using props, read and listen to audio or podcasts.
Encourage active reading Active reading involves underlining or highlighting text or making notes on stickers. This helps your child keep the information in mind. Pair with asking questions or discussing a topic as described above!
Break information down Smaller amounts of information are easier to remember. Build up from there. Encourage your child to organise the information into lists with headings and use different colours to make certain parts stand out.
Fun Ways to Improve Working Memory Games and cards
There are lots of matching games like Memory that can help. Playing card games that require players to remember what cards have already been played are also helpful. Games like ‘I went to the shops and I bought….’ (just google it!) where players have to remember a long list of items also work out the memory muscle.
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Rhymes and songs
Funny rhymes and tunes help children recall facts and figures because our brains like remembering music and patterns. That’s why television shows like Horrible Histories have transformed children’s recollection of historical facts!
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Check out facts and take trips
Look up interesting facts online or borrow books and audio visual material from the library. Visit places that help your child understand a topic better eg an historic building or a museum. This will associate a particular topic with an interesting event in your child’s mind making it much easier to remember the learning.
Use Mnemonics
These are great for remembering how to spell tricky words or remember things like the colours of the rainbow – you simply take the first letter of each of the words your child wants to spell and use them to make a fun phrase. For example, BECAUSE: Big elephants can always understand small elephants!
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