X- Post: 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.

[TechWife]

I'll be watching this thread. Memorization is a very weak area for DS. We drilled multiplication tables with flash cards all the way through the 8th grade & still missed some. In 9th grade he took Algebra and had no difficulty with the multiplication at all once it was put into the context of a larger equation. That seemed to give him the "big picture" that he needed to remember his multiplication. He will never be fast at it, but he gets it done accurately and we are very pleased with it.

 

This year he is taking German and he is learning how to memorize words. It's much different, but he does remember them better when they are in context. He runs through all the days of the week, for example, in order to get to the one that he needs. He's keeping up so far, but I think he is most likely to struggle as the demands get harder.

 

Biology will be another area where a lot of memorization is required. I am planning to use the Lyrical Life Science CD's and any other videos I can find online. He seems to remember songs well.

 

The only suggestion I have for you at this time is to have him put his own information into quizlet, therefore writing his own cards. That writing, or in this case typing, is another way to help him cement the words into his brain. Do you print the cards out and let him read through them in his spare moments? That is something we are going to do starting this week. Maybe put a set in the car and a set on the kitchen table, I'm not sure.

 

I'll be watching for advice from the other hive members with you!

Edited September 4, 2012 by TechWife
Correcting spelling, now that I'm awake!

[regentrude]

HOW does he study when it is memorization? Can it be the method he uses that is not compatible with his learning style?

I am a visual learner; I memorize foreign language vocabulary or poetry by writing it by hand many times. Flash cards, computer quizzes, oral quizzes, do absolutely nothing for me. Auditory learners might benefit from listening to recordings on mp3. Kinesthetic learners might memorize best while they move around- dance, walk, jump.

 

I don't know what all you have tried for the multiplication - this is what worked for us (after flash cards etc failed):

We drew a poster. First of all, we used the commutative property and only did a triangle of problems (if you know 6*7, you don't have to learn 7*6).. We colored the squares, used another color for the the trivial problems (1's, 2's, 5's and 10's), and were left with only 21 problems that one actually had to memorize. DD put the poster over her bed and it worked wonderfully.

We do the same thing for verb conjugations etc: poster with color, arrows, underlining.

 

For vocab: he might try writing out his vocabulary by hand into a small notebook with two columns (foreign word and translation). Small, so that it is portable and can be used for review several times a day. Cover one column for studying. That's what we were required in school for our languages, it worked well.

Edited September 4, 2012 by regentrude

[Candid]

Jean one thing I think you need to sort out is if this is a learning disability that you need to help him learn specific skills that maybe additional to those a child who does not have the disability would or if it a simple matter of lack of desire to memorize.

 

This:

He can read history or science and his mind just grasps the details that I would have to go over and over to remember.

of what you say about him makes me think it is the second.

 

If so then he needs to understand that memory work and some subjects is difficult, hard work. One thing I've really liked about the beginning of Lukeion's Latin class is the emphasis on this. That all students have to work hard on Latin because it is in large part shear grunt memorization (especially I think at first). My ds is also whining a bit about this.

 

I agree that he needs to make his own devices to drill with. I personally think old fashioned flash cards that he writes out are an amazingly effective device. In my own experience it was when I made my own flash cards that I made the most progress.

 

But regrentrude is also right that you need to find the right method for the student. I found that basic things like vocabulary worked best with simple flash cards, but memorization of a piece of literature worked better if I could sing it; so the method may vary with the material. Some folks work better using pictures in their mind and you might learn that by using posters or flashcards with those pictures.