Have you read Make it Stick? It's an excellent (and quick) read that might have some of what you're looking for. How Children Succeed is also a good read, but has less easily applicable ideas.

By the way, for those of you who have used other memory palace type books, do you have any to recommend? I need to stock up on summer reading. :) TIA

The intro (complete in the "try it out for free" portion) of the second book mentioned http://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-Hammers-Bows-Antiquity-ebook/dp/B00W42OLBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-1&keywords=desiree+scarambone explains a bit of how and why it works. The jist is that you tap into your brain's highly capable ability to remember spaces and images in order to remember facts and (especially) serial lists like timelines. It's one of the 5 parts of classical rhetoric - usually skipped in rhetoric books. The most complete ancient document that discusses it is the Rhetorica Ad Herennium. Cicero, Aristotle and St. Augustine talked about it too. Other books for reference: Moonwalking with Einstein by Foer and the Art of Memory by Yates These are, respectively, a memoir and a history, not a story that uses one. The composer books basically teach how to use the method by learning the information in the book in that way. You can apply the same method to almost anything. We use it for SOTW, vocabulary, grammar rules, etc. HTH

We'll be traveling this summer, so we're downloading a lot on the kindle app. This made this list today for all to enjoy - and to keep practicing our favorite mnemonic technique in a low pressure, fun way. http://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-Hammers-Bows-Antiquity-ebook/dp/B00W42OLBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-1&keywords=desiree+scarambone As read alouds I'm thinking Anne of Green Gables for my rising 5th grader (DD), and maybe Tom Sawyer for my rising 3rd (DS) and collecting for more good ideas for their independent reading. Possibly Tom's Midnight Garden for DS.

Good morning! This cute book is free today. My kids and my music students enjoy these. http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Composers-Musical-Masters-Palaces-ebook/dp/B00M3PB41O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-2&keywords=desiree+scarambone And this one is new - it's much bigger and full of colorful pictures. I think I'll use it as a history supplement. http://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-Hammers-Bows-Antiquity-ebook/dp/B00W42OLBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-1&keywords=desiree+scarambone

What an encouraging thread! We're having a good school year so far. There have been a few distractions, but curriculum and subjects we are excited about helps us get back to work after small breaks. Our favorites this year (I have a fourth and a second grader): MCT Town for 4th. I fell in love with MCT at island level, further so after reading the next 2 levels of the poetry books. We finish Caesar's English 1 this week and I've loved every bit of it. Retention has been very good. Beast Academy is a huge hit here Classical Composer's Memory Palace ebook that not only taught composers and eras but how to build memory palaces -which we use for many things now. Music Tree series Music Ace for theory Bernstein Concerts for Young People (series 1 and 2) Lives of the Writers (not curriculum, but we like it as a starting point for literature studies) Adam Andrews videos for me - so refreshing and it makes teaching literature seem so much more in line with teaching poetics

My pleasure. We have had a lot of fun with this book. It's been an unexpected boost and great starting point for several ideas in our school this semester. We're now using what we learned to help with SOTW work (memory palaces, how to remember unfamiliar names and clues for countries, etc).

Ditto about screen time. Ditto about how DH instigates. Ditto about sometimes it just seems to be the best option. For apps my favorites are Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader. The Toca Boca apps are adorable.

We memorize rulers/places/significant detail by building memory palaces. So we use only our text and memorize day by day. It keeps things fun and inexpensive. As well as creative.

Bumping.

I hope she likes it as much as we did.

The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me would be fun for that young age. I tried out James and the Giant Peach around the same time (K or 1st) and the parents dying was a bit too difficult for my kiddos. They loved it about 18 months later, however - ðŸ˜. The BFG is hilarious and so is The Twits and the one about the turtles (what was that called?). Dahl is my daughter's favorite author and has been for years. I can't blame her. Funny, quirky stuff. Matilda is nice a little later, around 1st or 2nd, and so is The Witches.

Impressive! I wish my 9 dd would read like that. She prefers to be read to and craft as she listens. *sigh* But what she has enjoyed listening to lately are Wind in the Willows Peter Pan Nicholas Benedict series She read Half Magic and Magic or Not (Eager) recently and enjoyed them both. Also Pippi and Tuck Everlasting. On my list (for her to read, not me) for the coming weeks are Mixe up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, Penderwicks, Five Children and It, What Katy Did. She's asked to hear Call of the Wild (maybe not delicate enough for what you're searching for). I don't know if any of those are what you're looking for.

Bumping because this great resource is on sale. :hurray:

I know this thread is quite old, I hope no one minds my bumping it. As I'm skimming through these great lists of resources I wanted to share one of my own favorites for music history. Classical Composers, a Home in your Head for the Musical Masters - for teaching composers, eras, famous pieces, and how to build memory palaces. My 2nd and 4th graders absolutely loved it and retained the information. http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Composers-Musical-Masters-Palaces-ebook/dp/B00M3PB41O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408972141&sr=8-1&keywords=classical+composers