All Kinds of Minds > Resources

From the moment that initial classroom bell or buzzer sounds off jarringly in the morning until their homework is finally completed, children and adolescents are stressing and straining their memory muscles. So much of schoolwork is memory work. One part of memory is especially under the gun, namely a kid's long-term memory. This is the chamber in which a student stores and later on tries to find information and skills to take a test or demonstrate what he knows on a homework assignment or else in a class discussion. And students seem to vary greatly in the ease and precision with which they can operate their long-term memory system.

There are numerous modes of long-term memory. These include memory for facts (so called declarative memory), memory for how to do things (known as procedural memory), visual memory, verbal memory, sequential memory, and many other somewhat overlapping processes. A child may have superb visual memory but have to struggle to store and recall verbal material. A student may have difficulty in math because he can't remember facts readily and has never been able to get the multiplication tables on automatic pilot. Meanwhile, getting help from the same math tutor is a kid who can remember the facts but has trouble applying the procedures. He keeps lamenting, "I forget how to do this."; Writing imposes some of the heaviest memory burdens, as a budding young author or reporter has to recall simultaneously and very quickly spelling, punctuation, capitalization, good grammar, facts, specific vocabulary, and letter formations. Kids with long-term memory dysfunctions most often can't tolerate writing assignments, and every one is stymied by the differences between their interesting ideas they offer in a discussion and the drastically less sophisticated and interesting thoughts they are able to get down on paper. That's because the memory strain of writing in some cases takes up all of a child's brain resources leaving little or no energy for constructing good ideas. Finally, kids with unreliable long-term memory may have trouble showing what they know on a test. It may be hard for them to memorize and even harder for them to recall what they need from long-term memory on the spot during the test.

Students need to be systematic and resourceful in deciding how best to retain what they are trying to learn. They should be aware that the best way to remember something is to change it in some way. They can elaborate on the information, forming associations or links between what they have learned and experiences they’ve had or knowledge they’ve acquired previously. Parents can help by serving as audiences as children talk about what they are filing away. Recoding of information is another useful tactic. This is where you change the packaging of information from the one in which it was delivered. So, if something is presented verbally, you make a graphic – a diagram of it. If there is something visual to learn, you put it into words. Active learners understand the need to somehow make some changes in what they are learning. They make tables, drawings, and bulleted lists. The very act of creating these recoded information packets helps consolidate the information in memory. Also, your diagrams, lists, and other byproducts are convenient to study from.

There are many students out there who can benefit from plain old drill to drive facts and skills into memory. This regimented form of practice most often has to take place at home. It is best achieved right before a child puts his head on the pillow to doze off at night. That’s when information seems to have a direct path to long-term memory – with little or no interference. It’s been shown that what you study right before going to sleep actually gets replayed several times while you are asleep. That certainly makes it easier to recall on the quiz the next day – and maybe forever after. The kind of nocturnal drill I just described even can be fun. Keeping score, using timed trials, and offering rewards all boost motivation, which, in turn, energizes memory.