| Recently, my son (in fifth grade) needed to | | | | leading up to the American Revolution that he |
| discuss the events that lead to the American | | | | could answer the question with details. |
| Revolution. He sat at home and went over all | | | | |
| the major points: | | | | And he did. |
| | | | |
| - The Stamp Act of 1765 | | | | And he's only in 5th grade! Yet, this |
| | | | combination of memory and thinking is the |
| - Taxation without representation. | | | | cornerstone of learning at any age and helps |
| | | | kids do better in school. |
| - The Boston Massacre of 1770. | | | | |
| | | | If someone could explain to me how my son |
| - etc. | | | | would have gotten a good grade on his essay |
| | | | without knowing the facts, I would love to |
| Later, we discussed them and he showed me | | | | hear it. |
| that he understood. | | | | |
| | | | Want to know why? Because most of my students |
| Yet, when I checked with him before he went | | | | would love to stop memorizing tomorrow. They |
| to bed, he hadn't memorized the events (those | | | | hate it and wish they never had to do it |
| mentioned earlier and others). When I gave | | | | again. |
| him clues, he could explain each one very | | | | |
| well. | | | | (Could it be that the ones that are so |
| | | | anti-memorization are really |
| I began to wonder, "Will he remember to put | | | | "memorizing-haters" from way back?). |
| down all he knows?" It's not like I could sit | | | | |
| next to him and give him hints. He's pretty | | | | I agree with Dr. Mel Levine, author of "All |
| bright but would he be able to show it? | | | | Kinds of Minds", who states, "Understanding + |
| | | | Remembering = Learning." |
| It all comes down to memory in a lot of ways. | | | | |
| My son needed to memorize the points he | | | | Talk about hitting the nail on the head! |
| understood so that the next day he could | | | | |
| recall them and include them in his essay. | | | | The real question is, "How do we get our kids |
| Then, he could combine the information with | | | | to memorize more easily?" I really believe |
| his understanding and come up with a really | | | | that many hate memorizing because they can't |
| strong essay. A lethal combination when done | | | | do it very well. |
| right. | | | | |
| | | | Could you when you were in school? Here's the |
| So why are there some people that want to | | | | reason why not. Schools don't teach memory |
| relegate memorization to the back of the | | | | skills. Kids go home and try to memorize on |
| classroom? A second class study skill. | | | | their own. Some get it but many don't. The |
| | | | ones that don't end up hating the process |
| Wouldn't it be more logical to say that we | | | | with a passion. |
| need to develop both memory skills AND | | | | |
| critical thinking skills? | | | | So, I have an idea. Let's call a truce. Let's |
| | | | teach memory skills along side thinking |
| Let's face it. Solid thinking skills depend | | | | skills. That way,kids are prepared to retain |
| on a strong memory. | | | | all the information they'll need later on |
| | | | when it's time to do the thinking. |
| Being able to recall easily helps your child | | | | |
| accessinformation in order to make a point. | | | | I'm sure the results will astound us. We'll |
| | | | have kids that call on prior knowledge to |
| Let's go back to the example with my son. | | | | make points, illustrate ideas with examples |
| | | | and back up what they say with facts. |
| He wasn't sure what the essay would be about | | | | |
| but he was armed with a lot of information. | | | | Hey, that sounds like a plan! |
| He felt he knew enough about the events | | | | |