Memorization?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm a bit at a loss with ds15 on the subject of memorization. He is a conceptual learner. He understand concepts very quickly and many times intuits the details that go with the concept. He can read history or science and his mind just grasps the details that I would have to go over and over to remember. But if you give him more isolated information like the multiplication table or a Latin declension and he seems to have almost no ability to retain the information. He is going into 10th grade. He absolutely adores math and does very well at it, but he does not yet have his multiplication facts memorized cold. This slows him down and is a handicap.

 

He has the same problem in Latin. He understands how the language goes together very well. He can translate things from Latin into English easily partly because of his understanding of how English sentences go together. But when he translates from English to Latin, he starts to fail. He gets points taken off because he gets the spelling of the Latin wrong. He also gets points taken off because while he knows the base word, he has a hard time remembering what the ending is for the correct tense or the ending for a plural or the ending for a direct object. He will have this problem to some extent even if we switch languages (which is under negotiation).

 

I have been putting information into Quizlet and have had him drill over and over. He's improved - a tiny bit. But his lack of progress in memorization has kept him from progressing as fast as he should be progressing.

 

We are starting school in a week and I dread the thought of going back into battle with him over memorization. I just don't know what to try and what expectations to put on him.

[kiana]

How did you end up mothering my twin? :P

 

FWIW I didn't have my multiplication facts memorized until I was in Calc III. Maybe Linear.

 

I'm using quizlet for myself now to work on Japanese and it's helping a lot. Another thing that really helped was adding review every. single. stinking. day, even if it was just for five minutes.

He has the same problem in Latin. He understands how the language goes together very well. He can translate things from Latin into English easily partly because of his understanding of how English sentences go together. But when he translates from English to Latin, he starts to fail. He gets points taken off because he gets the spelling of the Latin wrong. He also gets points taken off because while he knows the base word, he has a hard time remembering what the ending is for the correct tense or the ending for a plural or the ending for a direct object. He will have this problem to some extent even if we switch languages (which is under negotiation).

 

Different people memorize best in different ways. To succeed in Latin past the introductory levels, you need to know the declensions cold. You can squeak by without knowing them well in the early stages just based on context, but once you get to real latin, you can't rely on context alone.

 

For Latin declensions, what I recommend is to write them all out from memory once or twice a day. That is, take out a blank sheet of paper, write the names of the cases down the left hand side (Nom., Gen., Dat...) once for singular, once for plural, across the top write an exemplar noun for each case/gender combination, and have him fill in the grid. This may seem tedious (because it is), but it is the best way I know to promote short term memory into long term memory. Do this every day for several months, and I suspect he won't be able to forget them. I think there's something about the process of writing them (and perhaps saying them out loud too) which helps the memorization process better than just reading from an online quiz. If he can't do them all, start with the ones he does know, and add a new declension once a week. Once you have them memorized, it should take just five minutes.

Edited September 4, 2012 by GGardner

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thank you. This sounds like very wise advice. Unfortunately he will interpret this as just another torture I have designed for him. Sigh. But just like taking your medicine is non-negotiable, so is getting a good education!

[Alenee]

Thank you. This sounds like very wise advice. Unfortunately he will interpret this as just another torture I have designed for him. Sigh. But just like taking your medicine is non-negotiable, so is getting a good education!

 

I love that idea but my dd with handwriting issues would scream! Have you tried recording them so he can listen? We're using math songs this year because my dds need faster recall of their facts and although they're very dorky songs, the girls are retaining better.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think we will have to sit down and figure out what works for him. He did tell me the other day that he thought he was an auditory learner. So perhaps the recording route might be good for him. He will still interpret it as torture because part of the problem is that he doesn't want to go the extra mile to memorize, but perhaps if I can find a way where he sees some success, it will make it less so.

I think we will have to sit down and figure out what works for him.

 

I think figuring out how you memorize best is an incredibly valuable skill that transcends Latin or multiplication facts, and will serve him well in the future.

 

He did tell me the other day that he thought he was an auditory learner. So perhaps the recording route might be good for him. He will still interpret it as torture because part of the problem is that he doesn't want to go the extra mile to memorize, but perhaps if I can find a way where he sees some success, it will make it less so.

Memorization in general is hard, but like any skill, you get better at it the more you do it. I don't know anything about auditory vs. visual learning, but I think that the more senses you engage (i.e. writing the paradigms out as you say them as you look at what you are writing out) helps the memorization process.