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Lesson Plan
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Memory Activities
Thursday, August 02, 2007
- A Little Bit of Learning |
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Before a new school year begins, parents are thinking about how to best prepare a child for school. While the current attention is on the task of getting backpacks and school supplies organized, a parent’s key role is to provide a continuously stimulating learning environment. Memorization is an important school skill that can be improved with practice. Teachers expect children to memorize multiplication facts, states and capitols, locker combinations and so on. A good memory benefits a child in many ways from recalling facts to remembering what was said or seen in a classroom. Here is a memory game that can be simple or difficult for any age child depending on how the activity is presented.
Cover-up Memory Game
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- For a young child you can present 5 to 10 very different small items and place on a table or tray
- Explain each item and ask the child to make a mental picture of all the articles
- Now cover up all the items with a napkin and secretly remove one item. You might also want to blindfold the child. Uncover the items and ask the child to tell you which one is missing
- To make it harder, remove 2 or 3 of the items and mix up the remaining ones so there isn’t a blank space
- Older children can be challenged by what objects you use
- use all kitchen utensils with different types spoons or forks
- use crayons or different colored tootsie roll pops
- use alphabet letters spread randomly
- use various numbers of coins
- use flash cards of presidents or states
The list of what you can use is endless. The memory skills that you will be reinforcing carry over to all aspects of learning. Play variations of this Cover-Up Memory game to get a child’s memory working and ready for school all through the year. |
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Using Educational Placemats
There is so much information for children to learn that reinforcing skills at home is a valuable resource. An easy method to support learning and help with memorization skills is by using educational placemats while eating.
- These may be store bought or made by a child
- All you need is a piece of construction paper or a plain paper placemat, crayons and markers
- Decide on the topic to review – spelling words, math facts, states and capitols, and so on. Write the information on the placemat and if you wish to keep it for more than one meal, cover with clear contact paper
- Making a placemat focusing on learning Emergency Information is one way to begin
- Each meal let your child make a placemat listing their full name, street address, city and state, telephone number, Dad’s full name, Mom’s full name, cell phone or work number, names of siblings, dial 911, and any other information you think is important.
- As a parent you will see how well prepared your child is if emergency information is needed. A young child should be able to respond to these questions verbally and an older child should also be able to write the information.
- Here are some other examples of placemats to create with a child.
- write weekly spelling or vocabulary words on placemats for each family member to use and ask to spell or recite meanings while eating
- write down math formulas or math facts
- write names of the states and/or their capitols
- illustrate their printing or cursive writing
- use pictures and letters from camp written by child to highlight their writing
- use basic facts to list such as names of continents, planets, bodies of water, etc.
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By reinforcing at home what your child learns at school confirms to them that school work is important to parents. |
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