Tips for Enhancing Retention and Helping Children Remember What They Learn

Did you know that an average adult human brain has the ability to store the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of digital memory? Such is the power of this superior organ. Being the most complex element of our biology, this 3-pound organ is crucial for controlling many other parts of our body. The cerebral cortex is the largest section of the brain which has multiple functions and is majorly responsible for the memory of the human being.

We learn incredible things every single day but over a period of time we tend to forget them. That is a natural human tendency. However intelligently the brain may perform, we still need to exercise it frequently for it to function efficiently and recall the wonderful aspects learnt in many walks of life. As children and even as adults we have to stimulate our brain so that it not only boosts our memory but also keeps our overall health and well-being in-check. We have put down some tips below which would help children to enhance their retention and remember the numerous things that they learn.

The Connection Strategy

Whenever children are taught a lesson or anything new at home or in class, the parent or teacher must try and connect a strong memory with the learning, so that the child is more likely to remember it longer. By associating a specific component which is dear to the child and which probably makes them happy, they will definitely recall the knowledge better at a later stage.

Pivotal Pointers

Difficult topics are firstly tricky to comprehend and then to recollect them becomes tougher. Even a simple, but a brand-new concept learnt takes time to process. Children mug it up for a short while but in the long term it is not beneficial. For it to strongly establish in their minds, educators must denote effective pivotal pointers or keywords while teaching them. With the aid of those apt pointers, the purpose is largely achieved

Fun & Games

Education should never be stressful. However, the studies do get demanding as the children progress to higher standards in school and there is constant competition and the pressure to thrive and get brilliant grades but, in this race, to achieve excellence, the actual essence is mostly lost. When children learn in a non-demanding, relaxed environment with interesting quizzes and fun games without the necessity to score or get a top rating, the skills gained and the content grasped by them is sure to be retained for a longer time and they will reproduce such knowledge effortlessly when the time comes.

The Visual Impact

It is not an unknown fact that visuals are always etched in memories far more than text could possibly be remembered. Having attractive and eye-catching still images along with intriguing and entertaining videos, with meaningful content of course are undoubtedly the best ways for inclusive learning and the impact and the retention is positively greater than one can ever imagine.

Group Influence

The common notion is that peer pressure is not healthy and usually has a negative sentiment attached around it. The truth we would say is that peer influence is not all bad. Yes, the word is not pressure but influence. The group that children belong to or the friend circle they maintain in school and outside can be favourable to them in amazing ways. When students and great friends have positive, healthy group discussions, the other person’s opinion is always heard and taken into consideration. Even if they agree to disagree it will be done rightfully. Their minds will remember each other’s comments and they will retain what was discussed and one will genuinely inspire and be inspired by the other. So, it is an absolute win-win situation. Educators must encourage such activities.

The Repetition Act

The idea of repetition is to master the art that one is into or the subject that one is studying. When a student continuously keeps doing the same thing repeatedly at regular intervals, they are bound to excel at it. Children should be made to read and write the learnt content again and again. In fact, it should be done creatively in different ways so that they do not feel imposed to do so or to strive for perfection. They must be allowed to make innumerable mistakes and all their doubts must be cleared. This will help them discover new things every time with the same content and will make them curious to learn more and the topic will be well retained beautifully in their minds.

Revision is Key

As we mentioned that we are in a fast-paced environment where everyone is competing in a race to exceed, one constantly wants to keep learning and re-inventing themselves. When newer lessons are taught, the obvious is to keep moving ahead but the wise bit is to time and again pause and re-visit the earlier learnings. Just when it is nearing exam time students have the tension to remember all they have learnt in the academic year. So frequent revisions will definitely help them conquer as they would have concentrated on previous learnings as well as focus on the recent ones. This simple concept of falling back on older learnings is not only applicable to academia but to life at large. No learning will then ever be forgotten.

‘Markezy’ is an easy-to-use online grading and assessment platform made for educators with convenience in mind. They believe in the concept of grading anywhere and anytime and sharing the assessments with educators or reusing them. User friendliness is the key trait of this interface. ‘Markezy’ makes both paper and online assessments easy to grade and cuts down grading time for educators. It is an innovative system where students write assessments on paper and the teachers correct them digitally. This platform has a strong presence in Dubai, the Middle East/UAE, including the GCC countries.

Contact us

Share This