The Child Who Knows It Today and Forgets It Tomorrow

I think this is one of the most frustrating aspects of education. Sadly, the majority of schools today teach to the test. Children learn what they need to know to pass the test, and then forget it.

 

Yet, I also know the frustration of homeschooling a child who appears to ‘get it’ one day, but can’t remember what s/he learned the next day.

 

When considering this situation, I will share what I would/have done in the past.

1.     Start with diet.
Parents often do not realize the harmful effects that eating ultra-processed foods has on the brain, especially the hippocampus, the learning center. Even a hamburger can suppress the ability to remember for several hours. Sugar and simple carbs can also negatively affect the brain’s ability to remember.

Switching to a whole-food diet would be very beneficial in helping the brain work more efficiently.

2.     Detoxing is all part of helping the brain be as healthy as possible. These two points are discussed in my Food & Behavior class, available on my Skool page, Living Ready Collective.

Now, after addressing the underlying cause, we can move on to the more practical suggestions.

3.     Begin teaching new concepts from a concrete, hands-on perspective. For example, for math, I would use physical manipulatives.

a.     Games work great here. Board games, not digital. As I’ve mentioned before, digital learning does not remain in the brain as well as learning from physical materials.

There are all types of games to help teach different subjects.

b.     From concrete physical learning, then move to more abstract. I would start by doing. Creating activities that teach the needed concepts. I’ve created games using file folders and even ‘grammar basketball.’

c.     I’ve used a light ball with the students in a circle. We would practice our times tables by tossing the ball around from person to person.

4.     From there, the student can move to using worksheets to test knowledge retention. Again, some students may have learning challenges that worksheets will not be able to accurately test their knowledge.

5.     What I’ve done is allow the students to create projects demonstrating what they learned. This could be a poster, a diorama, or a skill, etc.

6.     The best way to show mastery is to have the student teach the material to someone else.

a.     In a previous classroom, I would have the students choose a topic to teach the other students. This allows interest-based learning to occur.

7.     The more learning styles we incorporate, the better the retention.

8.     The more senses we use, the better the retention.

Some kids just need more practice.

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can allow our children to learn at the rate that works best for them. Some will learn faster in one subject and slower in another. That’s ok. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

 

For more information, check out my services on my Kindling Dreams website or my Skool page, Living Ready Collective.