When I was seven, my mother taught me how to fold the laundry. Once I had mastered the art of folding t-shirts, my mother gave me the remainder of the t-shirts to fold. At that exact moment, my favourite television program started. Dashing into the television room, I completely forgot about the task I had been given before I got distracted. My mother was baffled at my poor memory!
For most parents, the above experience has played out in their homes more often than they care to admit. This is known as working memory.
Working memory is defined as a cognitive system with a limited capacity to hold information temporarily. Research shows that young children have limited working memory skills, holding only one or two items in memory. Working Memory continues to develop until around age 15, but not everyone develops at the same pace or has the same working memory capacity. Some people can store more information than others.
www.understood.org gives some practical suggestions on improving working memory. After doing some research I have listed the top three:
- Visualisation skills: Encourage children to create a picture in their minds of what they have just read or heard.
- Have your child teach you: Being able to explain how to do something involves making sense of information and mentally filing it. If your child is learning a new skill, ask them to teach it to you.
- Encourage active reading: Active reading strategies such as jotting down notes and underlining or highlighting text can help children keep the information in mind long enough to answer questions about it.
Most families undoubtedly enjoy a good old game of Crazy Eights, Uno, or Go Fish during holidays or those cosy winter evenings. Studies have proven that these simple games for improving working memory have greatly succeeded in children.
Written by Cristina Ruela – Evolve Online Activator
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