Kids have short memories. This is what a young brain does! However, forgetting is different from the forgetting that occurs in a child who is not learning the material. Learning retention is the capacity to learn and remember what they have learned and apply it later. If not, even the best of lessons go to waste. Often parents and teachers have been too busy covering the material than ensuring it sticks. Fortunately, effective, practical strategies exist for supporting children in retaining what they’ve learned.

These strategies can be used with all children, regardless of their age or learning style. They don’t need to have any pricey tools or intricate software. Most of them only need regularity and some deliberate action each day.

1. Replace Cramming with Spaced Repetition

Last-minute studying is not a long-term solution. Children may be able to get by on the quiz, but will have little recollection of it a week later. This is a new concept—spaced repetition. It refers to reviewing material at longer and longer time periods over time. For instance, study the concept a day after, three days after, and a week after.

This is a technique that works because each review session reinforces the memory trace in the brain. The more a child remembers, the longer the interval, the better their memory gets. This is well supported by flashcards, short daily reviews, and quiz games.

2. Help to Reinforce the Facts and the PPV of the Learner

Repeated reading of notes is productive, and sometimes this is the only way to get them done. Passive re-reading allows children to think they have learned, but they do not develop memory. This is the opposite of active recall. It involves closing the book and attempting to recall what was just learned.

Have your child summarize the material in his/her own words. Ask them to jot down notes from their memory first, and then review their notes. Simple questions, such as “What did you learn today?” require the brain to pull up the information and can greatly reinforce retention over the long run.

3. Make Learning Multi-Sensory

Learning with multiple senses has more retention on the part of children. If the child reads or listens, only one brain pathway is activated. Multiple neural pathways are simultaneously activated when they see, hear, touch, and do. This helps to form a more robust memory.

Consider using a combination of written notes and drawing diagrams. Demonstrate mathematics concepts using physical objects. Allow younger children to practice letters with sand trays and/or finger paint. The more senses that are utilized, the better the brain will record the information for recall later.

4. Teach Children to Teach Back

Teaching others is one of the most effective memory aids one can have. Children must collect their thoughts and make sense of what they’ve learned when they are teaching it to a parent, sibling, or stuffed animal. This is known as the Protégé Effect, and studies always indicate a retention boost.

Invite children to take on the role of the teacher. Have them tell you about their work at school as if you don’t know anything about it. Allow them to correct you when you purposefully get it wrong. This type of back-and-forth discussion embeds information much more effectively than any passive learning session.

5. Keep to a Regular Sleep Schedule and Rest

Rest is not the same as sleep. It’s when the brain strengthens, or “syncs”, memories and transfers them from short-term to long-term storage. If your kid has poor sleep or irregular sleep patterns, he or she may forget more of what he or she has learned during the day. It is not a behavior problem. It is biology.

School-age requires 9–11 hours of sleep a night. Younger kids require even more. Good sleep habits, such as maintaining a regular sleep schedule, avoiding screens before bed, and creating a quiet sleep space, all contribute to improved memory consolidation.

Make sleep a must, not an option. It is one of the most direct factors having an impact on the amount of retention achieved.

6. Link New Information to Children’s Prior Knowledge

New information is stored in the brain, with a link to any pre-existing knowledge. Learning content that does not relate to any of the things that the children already know is hard to remember. That’s why abstract ideas are hard for young people to grasp.

Facilitate children to construct these bridges. If they’re learning about fractions, remind them of cutting up a pizza. If they are studying geography, relate it to a place the family has visited. Make inquiries such as: “What does this remind you of?” or “Where have you seen something like this before?” This is akin to memory anchors.

7. Promote and Support Emotional Well-Being and Resilience

Other kids may have trouble remembering due to a processing, communication, or motor skill issue. If you are finding that you are still experiencing retention issues after making an effort, it may be time to get professional assistance.

When considering learning support, parents might be confused about the difference between an occupational therapist vs speech therapist. An occupational therapist works with sensory processing and fine motor skills, and how they impact daily functional tasks, which affect learning. A speech therapist focuses on language understanding, oral communication, and the processing of language spoken or written. They may both help assist children with specific developmental delays who have trouble retaining information. The early evaluation process and appropriate professional assistance can make a difference.

8. Create a Story and Narrative to Frame Information

Stories are wired in the brain. The narrative structure is something that the human brain is naturally inclined towards, as it gives it context, emotion, and sequence. Informational facts are difficult to remember. Those same facts wrapped up in a story stick, though.

Make History lessons into stories with characters and conflict. Create a short story to explain how the water cycle works. Ask your child to create a story with the vocabulary words he or she must master. It isn’t simply a matter of fun learning. It’s about tapping into the areas of the brain that can hold onto narrative information long after it’s been heard.

9. Avoid Cognitive Overload by Breaking Down Tasks into Smaller Steps

If too much is given at a time, children’s working memory gets overloaded. Too much is too much, resulting in problems with retention and frustration. The answer is Chunking! Divide information into small and manageable chunks and present each element one by one.

Don’t oversteepen the learning curve by trying to teach five new math concepts in one time. Teach new skills in small steps and learn each step before going on to the next. This is for homework, reading comprehension, science experiments, and pretty much all other learning tasks. The brain is better able to hold on to bits than it is to large amounts of new information.

Activities that help alleviate overload:

•     Before a study session, establish a clear objective for the session.
•     Keep focus blocks short – typically 15 to 25 minutes – with timers on hand.
•     Avoid overloading the brain by taking brief breaks between topics.
•     Do not use multiple activities during study time (background TV or music with words).

10. Develop a Favourable Affective Relationship with Learning

Emotion is directly involved in memory formation. Emotionally significant information is given priority in the brain. That is why a child can recall a birthday party vividly but forget the dictation of a math lesson, which he or she was listening to passively. Learning with positive emotions is better retained. Stress and anxiety have the reverse effect.

Celebrate small wins. Give children some say in how and what they learn, if possible. Relate lessons to their personal interests. Read, write, and use science lessons as the basis for starting conversations with children about dinosaurs if they enjoy them. When children are positive about learning, their brains are better prepared to learn and retain new information.

In addition, watch the way errors are dealt with. A child who feels the pressure of being wrong will go on the defensive. When a child perceives that mistakes are acceptable, he or she remains focused and remembers more. Create a house and classroom culture in which the attempt to succeed is respected and valued more than the successful initial shot.

Final Thoughts

It’s not something that is going to fall into place overnight. Needs regular routines, sound support, and brain awareness. The 10 strategies listed here are not difficult. They are based on the mechanisms of memory formation and obstacles in the path of memory.

Begin by making 1 or 2 changes. Pay attention to the thing your child is most grateful for. Some children respond rapidly to recall. Others need to get better sleep and or emotional security before anything can get better. Children are unique, and the best strategy is one that is based on observation and patience.

The objective is not only to prepare children for exams. It’s to help them to develop a lifelong connection to learning. The children retain what they have learned, they develop real knowledge, real confidence, real capability. It’s worth the while.