improving memory of children
...o do this is through integrating as many senses as possible such as “color, touch, sound and verbal processing.” (Mooney) Jonathan Mooney, the executive director of Project Eye-to-Eye which is a nationally acclaimed mentoring program for children, expands on how to incorporate the senses into learning. With color Mooney writes that integrating color through the use of “colored flash cards, colored pencils, or a rainbow of highlighters” will help the child in identifying. Continuing with the visual senses of images and colors, incorporating visuals in the forms of maps or shapes can help in retaining information. Further, when memorizing terms or concepts, if the child draws a picture of it, it will help reinforce yet again. (Mooney) The sense of speaking is a very important strategy. Talking about new information as it is learned will reinforce the memorizing and help it stick. For this reason it is a good idea for children to talk out loud and read out loud as much. The dual effect of reading mentally and saying it out loud so the child hears it and it sticks more will help a lot. Another helpful tool in memorizing is using an idea Mooney calls “mnemonics” where the child comes up with a mnemonic device to remember something. Examples of mnemonic devices include acronyms. For example, if the child has to remember the directions on a compass, he may learn “Never Eat Soggy Waffles” to remember that it goes North, East, South West or HOMES to represent the 5 Great Lakes. (KIPAWA) Integrating touch is also very important. Mooney writes that there is a memory known as the “tactile or kinesthetic” memory in which touch and movement stimulate memory. Thus, working in an area where materials can be laid out and the child can move around will help. Items such as concept maps or shooting hoops while memorizing a multiplication chart can help because of the repetitiveness of the action and memorizing reinforcing one another. (Mooney) Applying information memorized is also very important. Memorizing a multiplication chart means little if when given a story problem a child cannot do anything. Thus, after memorizing it is very important for the child to use that information in a useful manner. For this reason, homework, reviews and practice exams are very helpful. (Mooney) Another example is if a child is memorizing the different food products, allowing that child to go into a kitchen and organize the kitchen according to what he learned will help reinforce what was memorized. (KIPAWA) When it comes to what the instructor can do, there are many suggestions. The most basic is to keep sentences simple and short and to only offer one instruction at a time. Giving multiple instructions at one time may confuse the child. If the instruction given is too c...