How do you encourage your children to remember what they learn?

[LarrySanger]

After your student reads a book, or is otherwise exposed to some new information, you'd like him or her to remember it for more than a few weeks. Is there anything in particular that you encourage or require your student to do, to encourage such remembering?

 

The main options on this question, as I understand them, are in the poll. What do you prefer?

Edited May 2, 2012 by LarrySanger

[LarrySanger]

Bump. Any responses? Does anyone else other than me regard this think this is an interesting nut to crack?

 

Suppose your student could spend 30-45 minutes a day reviewing information according to some method or other, and as a result managed to remember tens of thousands of facts of the sort that most of us ordinarily forget after a while. Would you assign/encourage/require that?

 

I do...using Supermemo, although I'm thinking of switching to Anki.

[Jpoy85]

with Cs phonics, they have review after a few lessons and I use that for testing. With Spelling she has a test every lesson. I just review if i think shes forgetting.

[AuntieM]

Not really sure I'd specifically choose any of your poll options.

 

Mostly, I view education as comprehensive and foster/facilitate discussions that cut across disciplines.

 

When my kids were younger, we lived in a state that required portfolios to demonstrate student proficiency. My kids loved looking through books from previous years, I'm sure that triggered some memories.

[AuntieM]

Bump. Any responses? Does anyone else other than me regard this think this is an interesting nut to crack?

 

Suppose your student could spend 30-45 minutes a day reviewing information according to some method or other, and as a result managed to remember tens of thousands of facts of the sort that most of us ordinarily forget after a while. Would you assign/encourage/require that?

 

I do...using Supermemo, although I'm thinking of switching to Anki.

 

Years ago (old boards) a poster here shared a file box/index card system for fact review, used mainly for scripture memory. IIRC, there was a set of cards tabbed 1-31, a set of cards tabbed Monday through Friday, and a set tabbed with each month of the year. A card would move from slot to slot, eventually being reviewed just once a month, know what I mean? We used it for a while, when mine were elementary ages, but they quickly tired of it. I guess you're speaking of an electronic version of something similar.

 

Honestly, imo and generally speaking, education is more about training in critical thinking and how to process thoughts in a logical fashion than about cramming a brain full of facts. So a review method would be helpful in the grammar stage, and while studying vocabulary-intense subjects, but I wouldn't strive to drill in "tens of thousands of facts of the sort most of us forget after a while."

 

Unless maybe you've won that slot on Jeopardy...

[happypamama]

I guess it depends on what it is. Sometimes I have them tell Daddy about the history lesson, or science lesson, or the book we read, or whatever. Sometimes we do a worksheet to reinforce things, especially if it's a subject required for our portfolios. Sometimes we'll discuss the topic a few times. Sometimes I'm not too worried about it, because it will come up again. Sometimes we do a project. Sometimes we use flashcards or oral repetition.

[Critterfixer]

When I can manage it, I try to present the same information in different ways, and at different times. It just keeps jogging the memory.

It's not always easy for me to set it up so that things get repeated that way, but boy does it ever seem to work.

[Barb_]

I see your son is 5.5. At this age, they aren't supposed to master material. You are really going for exposure and enthusiasm. The most important thing to do at this age is light a fire for learning that you can continue to stoke as he grows. Susan Wise Bauer used the metaphor "hooks" that you are establishing in order to hang future knowledge. You can tell the story of the Trojan war at age 5.5 and he can enjoy the narrative and yet forget or confuse most of it 2 months later. The important thing is that he remembers there is such a thing as the Trojan war, that there was a really cool horse involved, and that it had something to do with the Greeks. Then the next time he hears about the Trojan war, his interest is piqued because he thinks, "Hey! I remember hearing about this when I was five!" He pays closer attention and refiles what he has learned into long term memory with additional details. It's a process.

 

Notice I didn't say they can't master information at 5. They certainly can. Generally though, it's information they choose out of interest or because it relates to something meaningful for them. Forcing the matter is usually fruitless and causes more harm than good, particularly long term. You won't know which of those stories will stick until you hear them reenacting a history story or science concept during playtime. Enjoy!

[Denise in Florida]

Not really sure I'd specifically choose any of your poll options.

 

Mostly, I view education as comprehensive and foster/facilitate discussions that cut across disciplines.

 

When my kids were younger, we lived in a state that required portfolios to demonstrate student proficiency. My kids loved looking through books from previous years, I'm sure that triggered some memories.

 

:iagree::iagree:

[Denise in Florida]

I picked the least intrusive (the last option) based on your child's age.

 

When he is a little older 8-10 the narration, special projects, written responses etc will be good.

 

I think you stated he was 5, at this point encouraging open exploration is more important. If he or you feel that each lesson isn't complete or somehow is not worth while unless it is 'learned' or 'remembered', it could lead to exploring less. i.e., too much work, I didn't do the last one 'right' so I don't want to do that again, etc.

[Mrs Twain]

I use every one of the things listed in the poll plus a couple of others. Below I will tell you the things that are most effective IMO.

 

For math facts, we do flashcards daily in my math program (Horizons). This is drudgery but extremely effective.

 

One of the very best things I have done with my kids is memory work. We memorize Bible verses, history (excerpts from famous documents, facts, presidents, wars, etc.), science principles, and geography. I have used the review system as decribed in the first paragraph of the quote below. That is a great system as long as one is consistent to use it every day.

 

I also have my kids do history and science lapbooks per year. I will probably also add in a geography or state history lapbook at some point. My kids retain a remarkable amount of specific information because of doing these. We also use these lapbooks to do oral presentations (to our extended family), and we reread them periodically for review.

 

Years ago (old boards) a poster here shared a file box/index card system for fact review, used mainly for scripture memory. IIRC, there was a set of cards tabbed 1-31, a set of cards tabbed Monday through Friday, and a set tabbed with each month of the year. A card would move from slot to slot, eventually being reviewed just once a month, know what I mean? We used it for a while, when mine were elementary ages, but they quickly tired of it. I guess you're speaking of an electronic version of something similar.

 

Honestly, imo and generally speaking, education is more about training in critical thinking and how to process thoughts in a logical fashion than about cramming a brain full of facts. So a review method would be helpful in the grammar stage, and while studying vocabulary-intense subjects, but I wouldn't strive to drill in "tens of thousands of facts of the sort most of us forget after a while."

 

Unless maybe you've won that slot on Jeopardy...

 

The second paragraph of this quote comes from the progressive eduational model which is what most public schools have been employing for decades. I am a proponent of the Core Knowledge Sequence (E.D. Hirsch), which is not exactly the "cramming the brain full of facts" idea, but nonetheless focused on sequential, core knowledge content systematically taught to students year by year. I believe this is a far more effective educational strategy than the progressive model. Hirsch quotes a plethora of studies to support his model in his publications including The Knowledge Deficit.

[Rivka]

Honestly, imo and generally speaking, education is more about training in critical thinking and how to process thoughts in a logical fashion than about cramming a brain full of facts. So a review method would be helpful in the grammar stage, and while studying vocabulary-intense subjects, but I wouldn't strive to drill in "tens of thousands of facts of the sort most of us forget after a while."

 

:iagree: We use flash cards and games for Latin vocabulary, and used a variety of games to fix things like the multiplication tables in memory. I plan to introduce poetry memorization and recitation skills starting in second grade. We've learned twenty or so local birds by watching to see who comes to our feeder or other places in our yard, and then reading about their habits.

 

But for the most part, the learning I really value is contextual. We reinforce it by discussion and by incorporating related fiction (for example, we just watched Ivanhoe to reinforce much of what we're learning about the medieval period). But I couldn't care less whether she remembers which specific piece of armor is a cuirass, you know? And I wouldn't value memorizing the silhouette of a dozen birds we've never seen.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I use a variety of methods. For math, they do flashcards and games on the computer. For French, they do games on the computer to review material. For language arts and poetry, we memorize things and review them every morning. We review all the Latin vocab we have learned every morning as well. For history and science, I try to correlate information to a lesson they previously learned when they come across it. Like if we're reading a novel and some historical information is given, we discuss it in the context of what we've learned in history.

[KidsHappen]

At my house, we have lots of family discussions that include all age groups and then a lot of inpromptu trivia drills. For some reason my kids love to quiz each other regarding their knowledge of various facts and they are almost always learning the same things at different levels.

[LarrySanger]

This is all extremely interesting, and will take some time to absorb and respond to.

 

To those who gave me unsolicited advice based on my son's age, are you interested in discussing this deeply and philosophically, or did you just want to offer your opinion? I'd love the former, but thanks for the latter if that's it.

 

Without addressing this to anyone in particular, I thought I'd take the opportunity to explain my thoughts a little more. The philosophically disinclined will no doubt find this boring and should probably skip it.

 

First, I've given some thought to and done some reading about the philosophy of education. (Mrs. Twain might find that I'm sounding a lot like E.D. Hirsch.) I am a strong believer in the liberal arts, as I guess most people following something like WTM are. What do I think this means? I believe that minds are liberated by deep understanding of important texts and of the universe, both natural and human. A person who can write thoughtful, original essays, without too much difficulty, about a wide variety of subjects, and also not just do calculations but understand what they mean, probably has a good grounding in the liberal arts. I think a person who has a solid grounding in the liberal arts is solidly prepared, mentally at least, for anything he or she might want to do.

 

The question is how to get a child to that point. The most important focus is reading and really studying classics (in the broad sense), as well as getting lots of exposure to and practice in the sciences. Writing is especially important but of course a liberal education is necessarily broad.

 

The sort of education I'm describing requires not just a good vocabulary, but enough comfort with that vocabulary that one does not have to look up many words as one reads great literature and source documents. It also requires a massive amount of facts under one's belt--the more confidently and easily recalled, the better. As E.D. Hirsch (again) points out, reading is not just a matter of decoding and getting meaning from individual vocabulary items; it requires understanding a lot of background knowledge. This is important not just for understanding but also for really appreciating the classics. Similar remarks can be made about science; to get the most out of the study of science, you have to be not just passingly but thoroughly familiar with whatever concepts are being built on.

 

So I agree with both Hirsch and the Bauers when they emphasize the importance of a lot of memorization of facts in the early years of schooling. But I don't mean just recognition memory, which is certainly better than nothing, but declarative memory; the more explicitly that something is remembered, the more meaningful and important everything will be.

 

I find my five-year-old loves memorizing things, as long as he understands and cares about the material. He has repeatedly thanked me, unsolicited, for starting us out on this "spaced repetition" program (Supermemo, for now), and before that a regular review of recorded summaries (my own narratives, so to speak). He was so excited about the idea of being able to remember things so well that he asked to study stuff about Central America and the Caribbean (the next geography topic we're tackling after we finish our 6-9 month study of South America). His attitude is delightful but not especially surprising. Many people have observed that young children enjoy memorizing things--if, of course, their teachers take the right sort of approach.

 

We have really studied South America, and gone over the same material in multiple sources. The more we read from other sources, the more he understands, and the more interesting it is. He could, as a result, read a book like this, that a lot of kids don't enjoy simply because they can't relate and understand well enough what's going on in a very foreign sort of world. The more that a young reader is familiar with Inca history and the geography of the Andes, the more likely it is he'll appreciate that book. It's that way throughout a child's education. The better a student remembers and understands what is needed to tackle some subject, the more he'll get out of it.

 

I think this flashcard program might very well stuff his head full of tens of thousands of facts. I know this is what ed schools tell teachers not to do. If we were doing a lot of real drudgework, so that he really did learn to dislike learning, then of course this would be a mistake. But it doesn't really seem like drudgework. Again, my son actually enjoys it, and so do I, actually. Besides, this memory work is actually a supplement, and doesn't take that much time out of the day.

 

I get the notion, of course, that as one returns at a higher level to material learned earlier, even if one remembers very little, one appreciates it more. That's roughly what I thought we'd do, until not very long ago. But what if it is possible through a little daily work to remember all the main points that one studies from age 6 to 10? Then on the second pass through, one will be able to appreciate and learn from the second pass through all that much better.

 

Makes sense to me.

Edited May 8, 2012 by LarrySanger

[T'smom]

When I taught in PS before I had kids, we did something we called a "Knowledge Box" We (the other teachers in my "team") would have the kids distill the important "nugget" of knowledge from a lesson. Sometimes- we would tell them what it was, in others we would let them have free reign in deciding what to put down. It was done at the end of the day, kindof as a memory jogger, kindof operating under the philosophy that the physical act of writing it down will help cement the knowledge better. This was done on 3x5 cards, different colors for different subjects. Sometimes we'd have time where they could flip through their cards and remember things.

 

I do plan to do something similar when my kids are older. For now, I just bring things up during life. A clover was mentioned in a book we read and then at the park I was like "hey, look- this is a clover, remember when we read that book the other day?"

 

Things like flashcards are very important for some things (like multiplication tables) BUT it's my personal belief that taking tests does not help you retain information. I KNOW I only remembered info long enough to "get the grade" on the test. I retained NOTHING. (unless it was something I was independently interested in)

 

Interesting topic.

[LarrySanger]

T'smom, FWIW, Supermemo claims that those using its algorithm will achieve 95% recall of the items put into their database. There seems to be evidence of this as well.

Edited May 8, 2012 by LarrySanger

[Peaceful Isle]

Well, with math, we just kinda forge ahead! :tongue_smilie: I am sooo not a math person!

With History and Science, they answer written questions, narrate to me the section they read, or answer questions orally.

With reading, they have comprehension questions for each lesson, and language they have review sections.

And then I just pray to Jesus that I am not slacking and scaring them for life!