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| 10 Memory Tricks that WORK |
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1. Understand what is to be learnt Why is it easier to learn a song in one’s own language than a foreign one? Because we know what the words mean and this makes it easier to recall. In the same manner, when children understand something well, it makes it a lot easier to remember. To check that your child understands what he or she is learning, ask questions that test meaning and application, not just factual recall. 2. Be interested in what they are learning Why is your six-year-old able to rattle off the names of all the Autobots and Decepticons in the Transformers series without missing a beat? Because he or she is interested. In the same manner, get your children interested in what they are learning. If simple reading and looking at pictures doesn’t engage them, try looking for related videos or real-life examples in their environment, especially for Science-related topics. 3. Draw Mind Maps Our brains organize and store information like branches of a tree. Learning to draw mind maps is a useful tool that will help your child organize related facts, processes and ideas not just for schoolwork, but for planning projects and events as well. Get hold of a book or trawl the Internet - various sites provide details on how to draw a mind map. 4. Cover one unit at a time It is easier to recall the key points of a topic if all the relevant details were learnt as one complete, connected picture, rather than disjointed facts and sentences. Even if time is short, resist the temptation to just skim over the key facts and jump to the next chapter. Learning in this manner might help a student recall individual details here and there, but not have the ability to apply them – which is usually where most marks lie. 5. Turn facts into music We are more inclined to remember facts and figures if we weave them together into music! For example, to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down: “Red and yellow make orange, make orange, make orange.” 6. Take ‘mental snapshots’ Get your child to visualize images that go with certain groups of details. For example, take a ‘mental picture’ of an entire plant and use this to visualize how the different parts of the plant relate to one another, rather than try to remember how each part of the plant looks like. 7. Restate, re-interpret Get your child to explain something to you without referring to the textbook and notes, or to restate the answer in a different way. This helps to strengthen factual recall and your child’s understanding of the key facts and concepts. 8. Make picture triggers For many children, relating a process, idea or detail to picture or graphical format makes it easier for them to remember. For example, applying the image of water droplets on the outside of a glass of cold water to recall the process of condensation. 9. Make use of word associations Just like how music can help us remember a related sequence of words, you can use word associations to help link the points we need to remember or meanings of words. For example, these word pairs can help a person remember characteristics of an object e.g. burning flame, solid ice. 10. Re-organise the information to be learnt The way information is presented in a textbook or hand-me-down notes may not always be the most conducive to helping a student learn. Sometimes, reorganizing the information in another way can make it easier for students to learn e.g. creating lists of facts to recall, interpreting data into charts etc. However, this should not be done at the expense of not having enough time to study in the first place.
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So much to remember and apply, and so little time to study! Is this a common complaint from your schoolgoing children? Help them to work smart by applying these 10 memory tricks. 