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Parenting For Education
24 ways to strengthen a weak memory in classroom learning
What if memory wires were like
ropes? Imagine a strong, sturdy rope
capable of holding a few tons, and
then imagine a frayed, frazzled one
unable to hold more than a few ounc
es. To some extent, school children
experience this sturdiness or weak
ness every time they attempt to tie
together learning and memory.
Memory is far more than memo
rizing spelling words or stanzas from
Dunbar’s poetry A child needs to
remember how to divide fractions or
how to mix paints. Sometimes he
needs to remember to do homework,
and at other times she has to remem
ber where she left the social studies
book necessary to do her homework
Like anyone, older children find
themselves in situations where their
memory seems weak. When parents
notice a continuous display of week
memory, they should take action.
Try the following ideas yourself and
share them with your child.
1. W riteawordornum berdownon
a card. Refer to the card frequently.
2. Recite silently the number or
word several times before putting it
away. Return to it later for another
recital.
3. Recite "it" orally several times.
4. Orally discuss “it" with some
one else who is also interested ir. the
details of your topic.
5. Study "it” and make associa
tions which stimulate instant recall.
6. Sing “it” and create a jingle.
Rehearse the song at every available
opportunity. 7. Remove distractions
and allow yourself time to concen
trate when you need to memorize or
remember something. Give yourself
a noise-free environment if possible,
or a soft music setting if you know
music helps.
8. Worries and anxieties handicap
memory. Rid yourself of worries
before you set about a memory task
by writing the worries down on paper
and sticking the worry list into a
brown paper bag. Set the bag outside
of your work door and accept per
mission to return to it, after you've
concentrated on your needed topic.
9. Consider good nutrition as es
sential to a good memory. A slug
gish, over-fed body does not func
tion well, and neither does an under
fed body. Adequate proteins in food
promote alertness.
10. A good night’s sleep or a cat
nap in the late afternoon will give the
brain the rest and restoration it needs
to perform for you.
11. Read and reread an item you
want to remembers. Reading gives
you the connective tissue necessary
ridge building contest
The holiday season is upon us.
Kids are leaving school for winter
vacation—a break for everyone but
parents, who are frantically search
ing for ideas to keep kids produc
tive. Why not harness that youthful
creativity and energy into building
a bridge?
GTE is sponsoring a bridge
building contest open to the resi
dents of Clackamas, Ore.; Mult
nomah. Ore.; W ashington, Ore.;
and Clark, Wash., counties—to cel
ebrate the first telephone directory
to combine the Portland and Van-
couver markets.
Bridges may be constructed of
any material and may be any size.
Each bridge must incorporate a GTE
The Everything Pages telephone di
rectory. (One directory per team may
be obtained by calling l-8(X)-888-
8448).
First prize is a Circuit City gift
certificate worth $3,(XX), second prize
is a gift certificate worth $ 1,8(X) and
third prize is a gift certificate worth
$1,200.
All entries must be received by
January 15, 1997. Send photo(s) or
video of your creation, along with
your name, address, and a daytime
phone number, to "GTE Directo
ries Bridge Building Contest”,c/o
4(X) SW Sixth Avenue. Ste. 600,
Portland OR 97204.
Prospective entrants may call
Cathie Ericson at (503) 226-6855
with any questions and for official
contest rules.
For more information, please
contact Greg Ness, GTE Directo
ries, (206) 670-6006; or Cathie
Ericson, The Rockey Company;
(503) 226-6855.
What better gift than a book
As a child I fell in love with read
ing. Our home was always full of
good books because my parents con
sidered them necessities, not luxu
ries. Through them. I was able to visit
faraway lands, meet famous histori
cal characters, and learn about my
culture and the world around me.
The Christmas and Kwanzaa sea
son is a perfect time to introduce
your children to the joys of reading.
We are being flooded with advertise
ments for high-cost, high-tech games
and gizmos that will be obsolete and
forgotten in a month or two. But
books last forever. The same books
that captured my imagination as a
child are as vivid and exciting today
as they were then The books we
share with children in the Black Com
m unity C rusade for C h ild re n ’s
(BCCC) Summer Freedom Schools
are designed to teach powerful les
sons about self, family, values, com
munity, country and the world. The
Freedom School reading list is a great
place to begin looking for gift books
for the children in your life.
Give books as gifts, and as your
children become adults, they will
thank you for sparking their love for
reading-and for giving them the
chance to pass this wonderful tradi
tion on to their children.
Marian Wright Edelman is presi
dent of the Children's Defense Fund
and a Working Committee member
of the Black Community Crusade for
Children, whose mission is to leave
no child behind. For more informa
tion, write the BCCC, 25 E. Street,
N.W. 20001, or call 202-628-8787.
for recall and link.
12. Eliminate medical reasons as a
cause for weak memory. Often, poor
memory in children or adults arise
from medical conditions, which can
sometimes be corrected.
13. Develop systems for memo
rizing names, faces, numbers, po
ems, long lists, short lists, facts, pro
cedures, or other items by using as
sociation techniques.
14. Develop a method which links
one item to something very vivid in
your imagination, allowing you a
quick and easy retrieval.
15. Distinguish between those
items that require memorization and
those that require familiarity.
16. Know what type of memory
you need for an item. Do you need a
detailed, replica of an item, or do you
need a flashback recall? Do you need
a short term or long term memory for
a particular item?
17. Learn to observe. People ob
serve with the mind and see with the
eye. Teach children to observe as
they see. Ask them questions as they
look at things, requiring them to look
for detail in observation. Point out
details which they might overlook.
,8. Reduce absenlmindedness by
becoming aware of what you’re do
ing during at a given moment. Re
quire yourself to consciously observe
where you put something.
19. From routines or habits for
certain actions in order to eliminate
some forgetfulness.
20. Have a place for everything
and keep everything in its place.
21. Mind sounds. Allow sounds to
help you remember things.
22. For numbers, practice the art
of grouping or sequencing particu
larly if you have a long list Set a
rhythm to these numbers.
23. Play games For an evening of
People are standing for children all over America
by
M arian W right E delman
Many of those who journeyed to
Washington, D C. on June I to Stand
For Children, are keeping their prom
ises now that they have returned home.
Incommunities from California to New
York and from Alaska to Florida,
they’ve formed Stand For Children
Action Teams (CATs) to improve the
lives of children.
Here are examples of what some
CATs have been doing around the
country since June I .
•The Philadelphia School District’s
Olfice of Curriculum Support devel
oped and distributed a Stand For Chil
dren Activity Guide for Teachers,
which urges teachers to focus class
room work on children and their con
cerns.
* Guilford County, N.C. residents
are publishing a quarterly Stand For
Children newsletter, keeping citizens
aware of children’s needs.
•In Ft. Myers, Fla., the CAT is
organizing a Children's Summit titled
“Let The Children Speak,” to provide
an opportunity for children to talk
about what is important to them; host
ed aChildren s Sabbath, which brought
together ministers and families of var
ious denominations to address how
people of faith can act to protect chil
dren; created a legislative action group
to identify areas of crucial need and to
meet with legislators to keep them
informed about children's needs and
citizen’s expectations; and started a
child policy group that sends volun
teers to every local government meet
ing, wearing their "Stand” T-shirts.
* The Rochester Red Wings, a mi
nor league baseball team, and the Roch
ester Area Children's Collaborative
joined forces to plan a local Stand For
Children Day on August 18. A proces
sion of children marched around the
stadium displaying banners that por
trayed what standing forchiIdren means
to them.
* A Children’s Policy summit held
in Sacramento, Calif., on Oct. 9-11
was designed to set out a vision for
children for the 2 1 st century. The sum
mit was attended by more than 500
people.
* The New York Office of the Chil
dren’s Defense Fund, co-sponsored a
Stand For Children Conference on
Oct. 25 with Columbia University, to
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FAIR H O U S IN G IS THE LA W !
If you suspect unfair housing practices contact
HUO or your local Farr Housing Canter
U S Department ol Housing and UrOen Development
,400489-9777 • TOO 1400-927 » 7 5
hel p grassroots leaders, advocates, and
other concerned citizens plan and im
plement their next action steps.
* The Mahoning County, Ohio,
CA Ts hosted a Candidates' Forum
Night. In April 1997, the CATs plan to
host a local telethon to help child
serving agencies recruit volunteers.
Ohio has been holding a number of
candidates' forums, along with other
states, such as Maine and Delaware.
•In Michigan, children's advocates
sponsored a Stand For Children rally
on Oct. 5 that drew more than 3,000
people.
Using a variety of Stand For Chil
dren products—including T-shirts, but
tons, and stickers-as fundraisers to
help support local efforts. Stand is
encouraging people to constantly think
about ways to help local children.
Whether its through mentoring, tutor
ing or voting, we can create safe neigh
borhoods lor children. To learn how
you can join or form a CATs group in
your community, write Stand ForChil-
dren, 1834 Connecticut Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20009, call 1-800-
663-4032, or visit the Stand For Chil
dren Web site at www.stand.org.
Holiday Savings
Prices Effective 12/18/96 thru 12/24/96 at your nearby Safeway store
The Greatest
Disaster is Being
Underinsured.
If this were you r home, would your insurance
company rebuild it? Chances are the answer is
OU - if you live in an African American, la tin o
o r iniegraied neighborhood, and your home
was built before 1950. If your homeow ners
insurance company refuses to provide full
replacement coverage, that could be
insurance discrimination. Chec k your policy.
family socializing try this: With all
family members sealed in a circle,
one person starts a story with names
and events, and the next person re
tells the story up to that point and
continues by adding another part of
the story. The story continues with
each family member adding another
piece after he/she has retold all of the
previous pieces. Continue this for
two rounds. Use this same technique
for number practice or learning Cap
itols of the United States or other
long lists. Also, engage the family in
store bought games of various types,
including cared game specially de
signed for young children.
24. D on’t confuse situations that
require reasoning for situations that
require memorizing. For example,
you reason in problem solving and
will not understand a particular prob
lem by memorizing the steps of a
given sample.
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