Making Memories Stronger

Dear HomeSchoolAdvantage,

My son John has a lot of trouble with retention of facts. He is doing very well with HomeSchoolAdvantage so far, however, history seems to be a real problem for him.

Concerned Parent

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Dear Concerned,

Here are a few practical tips to help John create stronger memories when he studies history. Imagine that we show him the history fact “The Second President of the United States is John Adams.”

Tip#1: Have him write the fact down on paper.

Keep a notebook or journal by the computer. As we introduce a new history fact have him write it into the journal. While he is writing the fact down he should repeat it out loud three times.Writing the fact down and repeating it out loud helps make the memory stronger.

Tip #2: Have him research the fact.

After he writes the fact down, John should try to find out a little bit more about President John Adams. He could read a short one page biography of President John Adams in an age appropriate encyclopedia or even from the whitehouse.gov website. For the presidents you may wish to purchase a poster listing all of the presidents and have him find John Adams on the poster. Another fun way to research is to enter the phrase “President John Adams” in GoogleNews and read a current article that mentions the president.

Tip #3: Have him create his own questions about President John Adams.

Ask John to think of two or three additional questions about a new fact he is learning. What other questions does the fact inspire him to ask? Have him write his questions down in the journal too.

For example, questions I might ask aboout President John Adams include:

“Who what his vice president?”

“Where was he born?”

“What did he do after he was president?“

“Did he have any children?”

John's questions will be different, but they will be his questions. Sometime over the next few days John should try to find the answers to a few of his questions. He should write any answers he finds in his journal.

Make Memories Stronger

All three of these memory strengthening tips can be applied to everything John learns in HomeSchoolAdvantage. He can use these techniques all of the time, or just on subjects he finds especially interesting or difficult. If John starts doing all three of these techniques for a few weeks I think you will both be very happy with the results.

-Tom