By: Esther Wachs Book

FEELING CONFIDENT LANGUAGE CENTER

www.fclc.url.ph

• Between reading, writing, math, social studies, and

science, there's a lot of material for your child to know.

Here's how to help him absorb it all.

• 1. Get the details:

"Studies have shown that parents can have a long-term

impact on memory development by including many

questions and specifics in conversations about past

events with their children," says researcher Catherine

Haden, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at

Loyola University Chicago. When you talk about a recent

trip to the circus, for instance, ask your child, "What was

your favorite act?" or "What did the big top look like?" Fill

in the details if he can't provide them.

• 2. Play memory games.

The card game Concentration and toys such as

Simon and Bop It are good ones. In the car, try

games like "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm taking . . .

," in which everyone has a turn adding an item and

repeating the ones said previously.

• 3. Suggest strategies:

Look for memory tricks that can help your child.

For example, when you teach left and right, have her

hold up both hands in the shape of an L. The hand

with the forward-facing L is the left one. To help her

recall how to read a word with two consecutive

vowels, tell her, "When two vowels go walking, the

first does the talking."

• 4. Divide and conquer:

If your child has to memorize a short poem or

some lines in a class play, have him break the task

down into parts and work on the toughest sections

first.

• 5. Practice, practice, practice:

Offer to quiz your child on her spelling words or

multiplication tables. Try repeating the numbers

aloud with her to make them easier to recall.

After testing her on spelling, have her highlight and

rewrite the difficult words. Once your child

realizes that memory is an active process, she'll

feel smarter and more confident that she can

tackle tricky topics.

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