On the Tip of Your Tongue: Memory Aids for Young Learners

Teachers are always looking for ways to make learning fun and easy. As a parent, you can do this also. Teachers attempt to do this in many ways and we love to share the ideas that work with parents and fellow teachers. Every little bit of help you, as a parent, can give your child before they enter the classroom gives your child an edge to succeed in school. Often we try to make our classroom bright and cheery by using colorful motivational and instructional posters. You can print motivational sayings from you computer and brighten up a young learner’s room with points to ponder. One poster many teachers use is the basic tenet of teaching. The poster says, “Tell Me, I Forget; Show Me, I Remember; Involve Me, I Understand”.

Memory tricks abound for students and teachers; I am sure you can remember some memory tricks or mnemonic devices from your school days. Where ever there is something to remember, there is a memory aid that can be put to use. You will find applicable memory aids for every discipline from music, medicine, biology, electronics, spelling, physics, geography, and remembering telephone numbers and grocery lists! Mnemonics works best when it links new information to prior knowledge through the use of visual and/or acoustic cues that are familiar to the learner.