Education in Singapore is a very serious business. You may feel that getting the best tutor or providing tuition sessions during the weekends will help your child excel. They may help, but that isn’t all they need.
Children are bombarded with information day after day. Every minute they are awake, they are learning something new. It could be from television, books, nature, or school. These may be educative, but it may also get too much.
Too much information can be distracting. Your children may start to forget what they need to know because of some other interesting thing they have learned. This is where memory techniques come in handy.
Memory techniques are tools that help your children retain what they have studied. These techniques will help them excel in school. They are also useful in other, extra-curricular activities, such as quizzes.
Write Down Important Points
‘I will remember without writing down’ is one of the biggest lies ever told. More often than not, you always forget what that thing is because you didn’t write it down. Many children don’t see the importance of jotting down points.
As parents, you should tutor them on this. Teach them how to jot. It is not the same thing as taking down notes. Jotting involves making short notes in jotters or exercise books kept for this purpose. Teach them how to take down points. They should use only important words.
Before they start, they should have written the subject and the topic. So, for example, the topic is ‘Verbs’. The teacher says ‘a verb is an action word o doing word’. The student’s jotting will look something like this:
Topic: Verbs
– An action or doing word.
This helps them remember what the tuition was about, and it will help them remember what they learned better.
Use Visual Images
There are some subjects that need visuals when teaching. In Singapore, technology is used in education a great deal. This will also help with the students’ ability to remember.
When teaching subjects like Science, for instance, project a picture for the students. Showing the position of Earth in relation to the Sun and Jupiter would be grasped easier with a picture. The visual image they have will stay longer than just words and figures.
As they recall that image, their brains proceed to bring up the figures and words associated with it. Encourage them to create mental images as you tutor them.
Read Aloud to Each Other
Reading aloud sometimes helps you to understand a topic better. If they are having trouble understanding something, they should read it out. It makes more sense to them, and it helps the topic stick in their heads longer.
Relate Topics to Current Events
This is probably one of the best ways to help with memory retention. Children remember when you relate a topic to a commonplace happening.
Geography is yet another good example of a subject to relate to countries they have visited. History can also be explained using examples the children can relate to, such as the history of Singapore. General Sciences and Math can also be explained this way. It would be much easier for them to understand when you link what they learning with something happening around them.
Present To Your Friends
Create a learning session for your kids and their friends. Everyone present will have their books open to the lesson for the day. Your child will teach, or present the lesson. All the other children will take turns doing this.
Just as with reading aloud, your kids will remember what they presented to their friends.
Use Your Notes As Bedtime Stories
Instead of the usual fictional stories, you can use your kids’ notes as bedtime stories. Go through their notes with them, one topic for each night. Add imagery and other storytelling techniques to make it more fun and memorable. Encourage them to read instead of cramming. Cramming will just lead to forgetfulness the next day.
Write Down Mathematical Equations
Many children have problems with Math. This is not an isolated problem, and it is easily solved. Hiring a tutor to give them tuition is just part of the solution. The child has to practice those Math problems on their own as well.
Encourage them to work out Math problems without calculators. They should write down each step of the Math equation. They should even do sums and multiply on paper as well. This will outline the process, making it easier to understand and remember.
Use Humor
There are subjects that depend heavily on your child’s ability to remember. Learning the planets in our solar system, the Periodic Table or even the continents of the world can be a problem. Turn these into a humorous learning session. Create funny acronyms for the elements in the Periodic Table. This will help the children remember easily.
Exercise To Release Stress
Exercise is as important for your brains as it is for your bodies. When your kids are stressed or tense, it affects their brains’ ability to work well. Exercise helps to reduce stress and tension, helping the brain to work optimally. Exercise increases the oxygen flow to the brain as well. This may lead to less memory loss.
Don’t Forget to Sleep
Sleep is just as important as exercise and a balanced diet. Encourage your children to have healthy sleeping patterns. They should go to bed early and wake up early. Studies show that sleep is important for good memory. Good sleep also enhances brain performance.
We can’t emphasize this enough – Don’t forget to sleep!
These 10 memory techniques will help your kids excel in their studies. Cramming is not the way to go, and neither is staying up late to read. Teach them these techniques to boost their memory and thinking abilities. Show them how to visualize images as they learn certain topics. Teach them how to organize their jottings for easy reading. Educational excellence won’t be far from them with these techniques.
For more informative and interesting articles, you can go to these:
Maximize Your Potential by Understanding Learning Styles
Singaporean Parents: Help your Child Learn English at Home
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