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My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Porcupines. It’s a silly sentence, but it can help your child easily recall the order of the planets from the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, etc.). Creating a sentence using the first letter of things you want to remember is only one example of a mnemonic. These memory tricks can help to ensure your child doesn’t draw a blank at test time. A rhyme in time saves nine (or at least a few questions your child might otherwise miss). Rhymes and rhythmic language in general are easier to commit to memory than everyday prose. Generations have learned spelling demons by reciting “I before e, except after c.” Short rhyming phrases, such as “friend to the end,” can help teach the spelling of troublesome words. Repetition can have the same effect. Have your child say “A squared plus B squared equals C squared” twenty times before going to bed, and odds are the next morning and forever thereafter he or she will remember the formula for right triangles. Or, try writing the formula several times. Writing is a powerful kinesthetic (hands-on) way to reinforce a concept. Learning lines to a play or poem also requires repetition, but with feedback. First, help your child reread the whole passage until the meaning is understood. Then tell your child to take it line by line, repeating and/or recopying until he or she is ready to try it “off the page.” Tell them to recite facing the mirror, then, as confidence grows, to a friend. When your child makes a mistake, you will see that he will often correct himself before the listener does: a sure sign that things are sinking in. Don’t expect a miracle with this technique; it may require more than one session to master the material. Consistent practice and supportive feedback are the keys. Dates or vocabulary are often best acquired through the use of flash cards. Going through notes and making the cards is an activity that initiates the reinforcement process. Encourage your child to carry these cards around in a book bag and shuffle through them when he or she has down time during the day, such as on the bus or during a break in class. Remember to work from definition to word as well as word to definition. Your child will be surprised how much studying can be done during spare moments. Association is another excellent memory enhancing technique, involving visualizing an image which you associate with the concept or idea you want to remember. For example, three causes of the Renaissance (rise of a merchant class, increased exploration and the printing press) could be rolled into one easy-to-remember picture in your mind: Christopher Columbus standing on the deck of his ship reading a book with a bag of gold at his side. With practice, this technique can be quite powerful. As with flashcards, simply “creating” the association is a beneficial first step that requires review and synthesis of previously learned material. Some people believe we’re either born with a good memory or we aren’t. In fact, memorization is a skill that can be learned and practiced. Next time the teacher announces a quiz on Chapter 3, have your child study using these tips and he will remember that “A” for a long time to come. By Emmet Rosenfeld |
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