How to Help Your Child Easily and Quickly Remember What They Learn
Simple Tips to Boost Your Child's Memory and Learning Skills
Ensuring students retain the knowledge they acquire is a crucial aspect of effective education. Research in this area has pointed to several techniques that can help students remember information. Spacing out the study of a topic, self-testing, and other exercises that retrieve information in small chunks are among the most effective strategies.
Why Do Children Forget What They Have Learned?
Understanding why students forget can help educators develop strategies to combat forgetfulness. Here are some common reasons:
Insufficient Learning: If a topic isn't learned well enough to be stored in long-term memory, it will be forgotten. Effective teaching methods are essential to ensure deep learning and retention.
Interference: New topics can sometimes interfere with old ones, leading to confusion. For example, students might mix up the rules for adding and multiplying fractions because both involve fractions but require different approaches.
Lack of Use: We often forget information that we don't regularly use. Even a well-understood topic can be forgotten if not revisited periodically. Regular use and review help maintain knowledge in long-term memory.
Lack of Motivation: Students need to want to remember what they've learned. A positive mindset and effort to recall information are crucial, even for those who feel they have a poor memory.
Effective Methods to Help Students Remember
Implementing the following strategies can significantly enhance students' ability to remember what they've learned:
Practice Testing: Self-testing or taking practice tests on the material covered can reinforce learning and improve recall.
Distributed Practice: Spreading out study sessions over time, rather than cramming, helps with long-term retention.
Elaborative Interrogation: Asking students to explain why a fact or concept is true helps deepen their understanding and memory.
Self-Explanation: Encouraging students to explain how new information relates to what they already know, or to explain the steps taken during problem-solving, can strengthen connections in the brain.
Summarization: Writing summaries of what has been learned helps consolidate information.
Highlighting/Underlining: Marking important portions of the material can help students focus on key points, though it should be used selectively.
Keyword Mnemonic: Using keywords and mental imagery to associate verbal materials can aid memory.
Imagery for Text: Forming mental images of text materials while reading or listening can enhance recall.
Rereading: Reviewing text material after an initial reading can reinforce understanding and memory.
Conclusion
Helping students remember what they have learned requires a combination of effective teaching strategies and student effort. By understanding the reasons behind forgetfulness and implementing proven techniques, educators can significantly improve students' ability to retain and recall information.