by Sarah Major M.Ed.
We’ve probably all taught children who just couldn’t seem to remember what we taught them – or who were not able to learn to begin with. When this happens frequently, it is easy to begin wondering if there is something about the child that is not working well. Is he not listening? Is she lazy? Is she not trying? Is he just super forgetful? Or is it more serious than that? Is he just not able to learn? What REALLY is going on?
Do any of these scenarios ring a sad bell with you?
• Does your child have a hard time remembering how to spell words?
• Is learning math facts a real challenge for her?
• Are math procedures easily forgotten?
• Do you give directions only to receive a blank stare in return?
• Are there times you explain a new concept carefully only to have him say, “I don’t get it”?
These scenarios happen all the time. It’s not just you!
Here are some simple Do’s and Don’ts to guide you when you find yourself in this situation.
1. DO take the time to find out how your child remembers things most easily.
2. DO ask questions and persist in asking until he or she begins to really pay attention to how they remember things they DO remember. Ask: “How did you remember that?” “What kinds of things are easy for you to remember?” or “How did you remember this just now?”
3. DON’T assume the problem lies with your child. Just don’t even go there. Assume your child’s brain is just fine.
4. DO look at the lesson you are teaching and scrutinize it carefully.
a. Is it primarily using symbols? (Example, learning to spell words, learning math facts, learning math procedures? Learning history facts?)
b. Are you teaching it orally? (You talking; him listening). Is she reading about it in a book?
c. Are there ANY hooks for learning, meaning, and remembering at all? Or is it pretty much business as usual: you teach while he or she takes notes or watches or reads about it?
Here’s how learning happens in the brain.
ALL learning begins with sensory input. Teaching and learning can involve talking and listening, but those things are some of the least effective ways to make learning happen.
1. Sensory input – each type of input during a lesson or experience makes neurons fire in the region of the brain that relates to that source. For instance, sight, smell, touch, body movement, story, color, texture, all of these inputs stimulate different areas in the brain. So if a child is doing something that involves several of these stimulants at one time, there will be a corresponding number of areas in the brain in which neurons are firing all at one time. This is so cool and amazing.
2. Neural Nets – all these neurons that are firing all over the brain wire together to form a neural network around the “thing” that your child is learning. That neural net will include anything that was tickling the brain during the lesson. Some elements are more powerful for memory and recall than others. Nevertheless, just keep in mind that the more varied the lesson in terms of sensory input, the stronger the chance that learning will be happening all over the brain and in a very memorable fashion.
3. Total Recall – The amazing, miraculous thing is that once you have set a really good stage, the brain does it all. Learning goes in to various regions in the brain to make neurons fire, when they fire together, they fuse into a neural network, and when one little thing such as a color or jingle or metaphor or pattern is recalled, the whole learning piece comes flooding back intact.
Some inputs are more powerful than others.
Smell is so closely related to setting (context) and memory that it would be worthwhile to experiment using scent on purpose while learning something boring or hard. Then when you want to know what your child remembers, diffuse that scent again and see what happens.
Location is also a great way to anchor learning and make it memorable. Don’t do all your teaching to your child while he or she sits in the same exact place for every lesson. Try mixing it up. How many times have you been trying to remember something you forgot and you say to yourself, “I remember because I was standing right by the back door, I was holding my keys in my hand, and the phone rang just then…” and hopefully as you recall those peripheral stimuli, the thing you were trying to remember comes flooding back.
Stories are some of the most powerful ways to stimulate the child’s brain. This is because when you tell a story that carries learning elements in it, the child’s brain is stimulated in all the places it would be if he were really IN the story doing the action, seeing the sights, moving, feeling emotions, etc. Stories are powerful ways to convey a lot that otherwise would be dry and dusty and impossible to remember. They are also powerful because they explain the why behind dry facts. Remember the old children’s fables like “How the bear got a short tail”? The stories were pretend situations, but they taught unforgettably a detail or two.
Metaphor is extremely effective as a teaching/learning/remembering tool. Very much like stories, they cause the brain to fire in areas that are very effective for recall. Not to mention the fact that metaphors SHOW rather than tell. Choose something that is very familiar to your child, something he or she can see, and use that to explain some new abstract concept that is loosely related. Example, network of roads is like the circulatory system.
Color and Pattern and anything else that is super visual like pictures that show the learning are captured instantly in the brain. What a child sees will stick far more readily and permanently than what he hears. Show, don’t tell.
Context is very important for children who have trouble learning. Never give them an isolated detail and ask him or her to just remember it. Build it into its environment, show how it is part of a pattern. Rather than study something from a book, go to the source as often as possible and give first-hand experience.
BELIEF is the strongest factor in learning. Your belief in your child and his/her belief in their ability to learn. For this reason, it is critical you use your very best teaching tools, learn as quickly as possible what your child’s learning strengths are. He/she must experience success. There is no question about whether or not they can learn.
Honor God in your approach to teaching your child. By this I don’t mean that you should have your school time filled with having your child memorize Bible verses or listen to Bible stories. There is definitely a place for all that, but school hours might not be the time for that. No, by honor God in your teaching approach I simply mean to recognize that God created your child perfectly. He has a very particular and perfect plan for this child and He has gifted your child with very specific skills and abilities.
If this is true, and I believe it is, it is not likely that your child will excel in everything. Look for the beauty of the design God had in mind when he made your child. Look for what he does well and get on the same page with it. Recognize this thing is a gift from God. Pass over what he’s not as good at.
Adults allow for specialization for themselves, but we tend as educators to demand that all children perform equally well in everything. We can see from Biblical accounts that God equipped people with a variety of skills as they worked together on building the temple, for instance. This is God’s plan. Let’s celebrate God’s plan!
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
We’ve probably all taught children who just couldn’t seem to remember what we taught them – or who were not able to learn to begin with. When this happens frequently, it is easy to begin wondering if there is something about the child that is not working well. Is he not listening? Is she lazy? Is she not trying? Is he just super forgetful? Or is it more serious than that? Is he just not able to learn? What REALLY is going on?
Do any of these scenarios ring a sad bell with you?
• Does your child have a hard time remembering how to spell words?
• Is learning math facts a real challenge for her?
• Are math procedures easily forgotten?
• Do you give directions only to receive a blank stare in return?
• Are there times you explain a new concept carefully only to have him say, “I don’t get it”?
These scenarios happen all the time. It’s not just you!
Here are some simple Do’s and Don’ts to guide you when you find yourself in this situation.
1. DO take the time to find out how your child remembers things most easily.
2. DO ask questions and persist in asking until he or she begins to really pay attention to how they remember things they DO remember. Ask: “How did you remember that?” “What kinds of things are easy for you to remember?” or “How did you remember this just now?”
3. DON’T assume the problem lies with your child. Just don’t even go there. Assume your child’s brain is just fine.
4. DO look at the lesson you are teaching and scrutinize it carefully.
a. Is it primarily using symbols? (Example, learning to spell words, learning math facts, learning math procedures? Learning history facts?)
b. Are you teaching it orally? (You talking; him listening). Is she reading about it in a book?
c. Are there ANY hooks for learning, meaning, and remembering at all? Or is it pretty much business as usual: you teach while he or she takes notes or watches or reads about it?
Here’s how learning happens in the brain.
ALL learning begins with sensory input. Teaching and learning can involve talking and listening, but those things are some of the least effective ways to make learning happen.
1. Sensory input – each type of input during a lesson or experience makes neurons fire in the region of the brain that relates to that source. For instance, sight, smell, touch, body movement, story, color, texture, all of these inputs stimulate different areas in the brain. So if a child is doing something that involves several of these stimulants at one time, there will be a corresponding number of areas in the brain in which neurons are firing all at one time. This is so cool and amazing.
2. Neural Nets – all these neurons that are firing all over the brain wire together to form a neural network around the “thing” that your child is learning. That neural net will include anything that was tickling the brain during the lesson. Some elements are more powerful for memory and recall than others. Nevertheless, just keep in mind that the more varied the lesson in terms of sensory input, the stronger the chance that learning will be happening all over the brain and in a very memorable fashion.
3. Total Recall – The amazing, miraculous thing is that once you have set a really good stage, the brain does it all. Learning goes in to various regions in the brain to make neurons fire, when they fire together, they fuse into a neural network, and when one little thing such as a color or jingle or metaphor or pattern is recalled, the whole learning piece comes flooding back intact.
Some inputs are more powerful than others.
Smell is so closely related to setting (context) and memory that it would be worthwhile to experiment using scent on purpose while learning something boring or hard. Then when you want to know what your child remembers, diffuse that scent again and see what happens.
Location is also a great way to anchor learning and make it memorable. Don’t do all your teaching to your child while he or she sits in the same exact place for every lesson. Try mixing it up. How many times have you been trying to remember something you forgot and you say to yourself, “I remember because I was standing right by the back door, I was holding my keys in my hand, and the phone rang just then…” and hopefully as you recall those peripheral stimuli, the thing you were trying to remember comes flooding back.
Stories are some of the most powerful ways to stimulate the child’s brain. This is because when you tell a story that carries learning elements in it, the child’s brain is stimulated in all the places it would be if he were really IN the story doing the action, seeing the sights, moving, feeling emotions, etc. Stories are powerful ways to convey a lot that otherwise would be dry and dusty and impossible to remember. They are also powerful because they explain the why behind dry facts. Remember the old children’s fables like “How the bear got a short tail”? The stories were pretend situations, but they taught unforgettably a detail or two.
Metaphor is extremely effective as a teaching/learning/remembering tool. Very much like stories, they cause the brain to fire in areas that are very effective for recall. Not to mention the fact that metaphors SHOW rather than tell. Choose something that is very familiar to your child, something he or she can see, and use that to explain some new abstract concept that is loosely related. Example, network of roads is like the circulatory system.
Color and Pattern and anything else that is super visual like pictures that show the learning are captured instantly in the brain. What a child sees will stick far more readily and permanently than what he hears. Show, don’t tell.
Context is very important for children who have trouble learning. Never give them an isolated detail and ask him or her to just remember it. Build it into its environment, show how it is part of a pattern. Rather than study something from a book, go to the source as often as possible and give first-hand experience.
BELIEF is the strongest factor in learning. Your belief in your child and his/her belief in their ability to learn. For this reason, it is critical you use your very best teaching tools, learn as quickly as possible what your child’s learning strengths are. He/she must experience success. There is no question about whether or not they can learn.
Honor God in your approach to teaching your child. By this I don’t mean that you should have your school time filled with having your child memorize Bible verses or listen to Bible stories. There is definitely a place for all that, but school hours might not be the time for that. No, by honor God in your teaching approach I simply mean to recognize that God created your child perfectly. He has a very particular and perfect plan for this child and He has gifted your child with very specific skills and abilities.
If this is true, and I believe it is, it is not likely that your child will excel in everything. Look for the beauty of the design God had in mind when he made your child. Look for what he does well and get on the same page with it. Recognize this thing is a gift from God. Pass over what he’s not as good at.
Adults allow for specialization for themselves, but we tend as educators to demand that all children perform equally well in everything. We can see from Biblical accounts that God equipped people with a variety of skills as they worked together on building the temple, for instance. This is God’s plan. Let’s celebrate God’s plan!
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
www.child1st.com
800-881-0912
PO Box 150226
Grand Rapids, MI 49515
