Mnemonics

Mnemonics

     Successful students remember facts and details of battles in history, formulas in math, and unending lists of elements in science.  What can you do to help your child develop memory strategies that will cause them be more successful in school?   Teach them fun and simple mnemonics.  In one evening you can show your child how to apply memory strategies to any vocabulary list, series of facts and figures, or just plain remembering what to do after coming home from school.
     Mnemonics are memory aids that help make a connection between what you already know and what you need to remember. You probably use mnemonics in your daily life and don't even know it. When you’re writing, do you ever say to yourself, “I before E except after C?"   Or do you remember the planets by saying, “My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas?”  Following are three mnemonic techniques (memory strategies) to teach to your children.

Acronyms take the first letter of a series of words you need to memorize and make a word out of them.

• The more famous acronyms we have are SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).


• Ask your son or daughter if there's a list of vocabulary, facts or figures they need to learn for tomorrow or the next day and see if you can help them come up with an acronym.   


• If you remember the names of the Great Lakes by spelling HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior), that’s a mnemonic using acronyms.

Acrostics take the first letter of a series of words you need to learn and create a sentence.

• Here’s an example for remembering the first 11 U.S. Presidents: When A Just Man Makes A Just Vow, He Takes Pains. (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, (John Quincy) Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk.)

Keyword takes the word you want to learn, finds a similar sounding word (or similar spelling) and comes up with a sentence that includes the keyword and the meaning you're trying to remember.

• This approach works beautifully with Spanish. Let's say your child wants to learn the verb "Dormir" (to sleep). You decide on a keyword (we'll use dorm) and then you create a sentence, "Norm sleeps in the dorm."  When you add an illustration to this sentence, it helps your child remember even more quickly, and retain it longer.


• The scientific term for common frogs is ranidae. A helpful keyword for ranidae might be rain and a child could draw a picture of frogs hopping in the rain.

Any one of these mnemonic techniques will work depending on the material. It all comes down to finding the best one for your son or daughter.  Here are ways to give children practice at home:

• When you go shopping, see if your child can recall where the bread was, or on which aisle the sugar was located.


• Cut out five items from a grocery store ad. Show your child how much each costs. Then see if your child can remember the cost of each.


• Show your child, step by step, how to do something. Then ask him to repeat the steps to you.


• Read a story. Then have your child tell it, in detail, back to you.