Rote learning is a technique which focuses on memorisation and it helps in recalling the basic concepts, facts & figures etc. which helps in building a strong foundation for the children. Moreover, the effective memory skills that you teach your child at home will enhance her academic and co-curricular performance in the school. Although children are born with the inherent capability to memorise things that they see & hear, their ability to remember the concepts taught in school needs to be nurtured, right from their early childhood. This becomes more important because in school, children experience a more formal system of learning wherein they need to learn, understand and memorise different concepts of Mathematics, Science and Social Science etc. So, parents need to work on increasing the concentration power of their children and then train their little ones to sharpen their memory skills.
So, as a parent, teach your child to stay focused without getting distracted from her work. Also, reduce her tendency to get deviated from her task due to boredom and monotony, by making learning fun & interesting for her. Further, you need to increase your child’s memory skills so that she finds it easy to remember the concepts and is able to sustain them in her mind for a longer time. For this, adopt memorization techniques that your child can easily follow. So, go through the following tips given below and help your child improve her memory.
- Use ‘noticeboard’ to help your child memorize – To help your child retain memory for a long time; indulge her in a simple activity called ‘observe the noticeboard’. Write the names of the objects or draw pictures of what she wants to learn by heart on the notice board and place it somewhere easily noticeable, such as the living room or your child’s study area. Now, instruct your child to learn the words written or the pictures drawn on the noticeboard, every time she passes by it. Ask her to do this the whole day, to memorize the words or drawings. By reading or seeing the noticeboard several times, she will be able to memorize the words or drawings easily.
- Ask her to repeat – Instruct your child to repeat what she has learnt & ask her to speak aloud to herself. Ask her to repeat until she is able to thoroughly memorize all the names of objects or concepts that she has learnt. By doing so, your child will be able to learn fast and retain things in her mind for a long time. Once she memorizes the information by repeating, she will be able to recall & repeat it in the future.
- Teach her to memorize in portions – To make sure that your child does not lose interest in what she learns, instruct her to break the study material into manageable portions that she can easily learn and then memorize. During the initial days of learning, divide her study material into small portions and then as she progresses, tell her to do it on her own. For example, if you want to help her memorize a list of 20 fruits & vegetables, then instruct her to memorize 10 names in the morning and the remaining 10 in the evening. This will reduce her burden of memorizing many things together and this activity will ensure that she memorizes all the names.
- Instruct her to write & draw to memorize – Provide your child with sheets of paper and instruct her to write the words that she has learnt and also ask her to practise drawing. Teach her how to write in a colourful and attractive manner, by highlighting the important words or letters. For instance, instruct her to draw a tree and colour it & ask her to write the name of the object i.e. ‘tree’ in a colourful manner, using sketch pen or crayon. This way, she will be able to memorize the spelling of the word ‘tree’ and will also learn & remember how to draw it. Further, tell her that writing and drawing are an integral part of learning and hence, she should practise it daily at home.
- Use music to help her memorize – Associating music with learning makes memorisation easier, quicker and more efficient. So, you can play popular rhymes or poems to teach concepts, names, dates, lists & tables etc. to your child.
- Help her link concepts to retain memory – Encourage your child to link the new concepts to the old ones. For example, tell her that “the colour of the shirt is red and apple is a fruit, which is red in colour”. Similarly, to help her memorize the concept of round shape, provide her with round shaped fruits (orange, peach etc.), round shaped lunchbox etc.This will be beneficial for her in the future, when she will have to learn chapters in an ascending order wherein the new lessons will be linked with the previous lessons. Also, by associating the things or concepts with each other, your child will not only learn new concepts, but also recall what she has already learnt. Moreover, connecting new concepts with the old ones will also increase your child’s level of retention.
- Enhance her retention through ‘Name Chain’ game – To help your child retain the words that she memorizes, involve her in a simple exercise called ‘Name Chain’. To begin with, instruct your child to take a look around the room. Now, say the name of an object in the room, say “vase”. Next, ask your child to say “vase” and then the name of another object present in the room, say “flower”. Thereafter, when it is your turn, say “vase”, “flower” and then the name of the third object, like “table”. Now, pass on the turn to your child and ask her to repeat the names of the previous three objects before saying the name of the fourth object. Continue with the game by taking turns & make the “Name Chain” as long as possible. This will be a fun game for your child to memorize and retain words in her mind, for a long time.
- Use technology to help your child memorize – Expose your child to the concept of E-learning at home. Download some age-specific fun educational games that are available online. Also, get CDs and DVDs of popular rhymes & the alphabet song and the audio books of popular bed time stories, such as Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella etc. Further, show her MS PowerPoint Presentation of the formation of simple words from the Alphabet Song. This way, your child will be able to learn & memorize concepts easily. It will also enhance her natural capacity to remember images for a long time.
- Ask her to explain concepts to someone else – When your child has thoroughly learnt and memorized something, ask her to explain to you about whatever she has learnt so far. To make this exercise interesting for her, assume the role of the student and ask your child to act as the teacher. You may also involve other children of your locality, including the watchman’s children, your maid’s children etc., to join in this teaching-learning exercise. This will be a fun way for your child to increase her level of retention.
- Revise before going to sleep – At the end of the day, sit with your child to revise the things that she has learnt during the entire day. To begin with, first ask her about what all she read and whether she enjoyed learning new concepts or not. Now, after a brief conversation, ask her to name the objects that she has learnt, draw the objects that she has practised during the day and also sing the rhymes that you have taught her. Like this, by inculcating daily learning habit in your child, she will find it easier to take out some time to revise the chapters that she learns every day, in the future.
In the end, maintain a positive attitude and reflect it when you train your child to improve her memory skills. Also, remember that as your child grows, she will gradually adopt different styles of learning. At some point of time, she may easily memorize things by visualizing them while at other times; she may easily learn concepts by heart, if she repeats aloud. Further, in some cases, your child may find it interesting to learn through words that she listens, while in other cases, she may prefer discussing with others or may explain to them. Also, maintain a balanced approach between rote learning methods and activity-based learning which involves critical thinking & creativity so that your child understands the concepts as well.
Therefore, keeping this in mind, mix & match the different learning & memorization techniques for your child. Also, make sure that the methods you choose for her are appropriate for her age, level of development and also her concentration level. This way, if you work towards helping your child to memorize concepts slowly and consistently, she will be able to remember more complicated things, without much effort.
