Working memory is the small amount of information that can be held in mind and used in the execution of cognitive tasks. Development of working memory applies to how we manage the information stored in our short-term memory. Working memory development is crucial for children when they learn and work on school assignments and problem-solving activities. Children need this ability to have a solid hold on the information and efficiently work with it quickly. There are ways to improve the child’s working memory using different practises. It refers to a mental workspace that stores essential data while involved in some mental activities.
Children use working memory to learn and comprehend a particular piece of information. They need adequate working memory when they follow multi-step instructions or solve Maths problems in their mind. However, you can help your child with working memory difficulties by introducing different games into the child’s daily routine. At Adnan Khan Tutoring, we are building students’ working memory skills on a daily basis through our tried and tested scientific methods.
Why is working memory so important in learning?
While you engage in mental activities, working memory provides a workspace to work with information effectively. The capacity to do this is crucial to classroom learning activities. Children need to keep the information in mind while entirely engaged in an arduous activity. For example, they need to write a sentence while trying to spell the words; the working memory plays a vital role in this exercise. However, our proficient English tutors use different writing exercises in the live classes to enhance the child’s working memory development.
Why is working memory in the classroom so important?
Children need strong working memory in the classroom to carry out the task efficiently without making big mistakes. Most learning activities include reading, Mathematics, Science, and other areas that put a substantial burden on the child’s mind and demand efficient working memory. Solving Maths problems, remembering the instructions given by teachers and multitasking are examples of working memory in the classroom. However, the experts at Adnan Khan Tutoring use a variety of exercises to keep students motivated and sharpen their working memory.
There are some challenging activities that most children with poor working memory struggle with. They fail to fulfil the tasks and learning requirements properly because they don’t remember the crucial information that guides them to perform the required actions. As a result, they often fail to complete the activity successfully, slowing their learning efficiency.
Tips On How To Improve the Child’s Working Memory!
Practitioners or education experts have made some working memory classroom strategies to help children improve their learning abilities and perform exceptionally in classroom activities. Adnan Khan Tutoring has some amazing tips for you to improve the child’s working memory. We have put together some essential practices that can help you in any working memory development age:
1. Improve the Visualisation Skills
As a parent, you can improve the child’s working memory by working on the visualisation skills. Encourage your child to conceive an image in the mind of what they have just read or heard from you or anyone. For example, say you asked the child to arrange a table for seven people. Help your child picture what the table should look like and draw the exact image. As a child gets more skilled at visualising, they can easily describe the picture instead of drawing. Our teachers at Adnan Khan Tutoring will ask students regular questions based on the prescreening information the children read with regards to every exercise in class.
2. Have Your Child Guide You
Asking your child to explain or teach you something could be a great help in working memory development. It is also included in the working memory checklist for teachers. They do something similar by pairing up the students and asking them to teach or help each other solve problems. It enables the child to start working with the information straight away instead of waiting to be called on. Motivate them to teach you a new skill. For example in Adnan Khan Tutoring live classes – our teachers will ask students for an in depth explanation and reasoning behind their answers. This helps with working memory skills.
3. Play Games Involving Visual Memory
As a working memory test, you can provide your child with visual memory games and have them work out the sequence, patterns or puzzles. You can have online games for improving the child’s visual memory. Many matching games can help the child work on visual memory, including classic games. Also, ask them to circle the particular words or letters in a newspaper or magazine.
4. Use Play Cards
Playing card games like Go Fish, Uno, and other simple games also significantly improve the child’s working memory. It helps them in two ways; firstly, they need to memorise the game rules in mind, and secondly, they have to remember what cards they have in hand and which of the cards others have played. It increases their working memory, and many expert educationists have suggested this practice for working memory development. Our professional online tutors at Adnan Khan Tutoring use such activities to improve the child’s working memory.
5. Promote Active Reading
Highlighting the text in the books and using sticky notes are popular for obvious reasons. Noting down notes, underlining and highlighting particular lines in the text help the child memorise the information. It stays in mind long enough to answer the respective questions. Encourage active reading. Reading aloud and asking questions regarding the text can help improve working memory. It is one of the strategies that help the child form long-term memories. Therefore, during live classes, tutors encourage students to participate in activities. Adnan Khan Tutoring motivates children to give reasons for their answers. It helps in improving working memory.
6. Use Smaller Chunks of Information
It’s easier to memorise the information when provided in smaller chunks or a few small groups. Why is it easy to remember phone numbers? It’s because they include hyphens, dividing the number into smaller groups. While giving your child multi-step instructions, you must keep this in mind—practice writing them down and giving the child one at a time. You can find online software to help you break assignments into smaller sections.
7. Word Banks
In working memory development, word banks can help the child memorise the new vocabulary and knowledge they have learned in the classroom. Sentence starters, verbs, adjectives and conjunctions are the word banks that work as a visual cue and improve the working memory, supporting organisation and foresight.
8. Getting Help in Tuition
Developing working memory in online tuition classes is also an effective practice followed worldwide. Students are motivated to compete with them while interacting with other peers in one-to-one and group lessons. They remember things that other students or a teacher say in the class. At Adnan Khan Tutoring, tutors are experts and professionals who know how to improve the child’s working memory and help them thrive academically.
Conclusion
Working memory is the most crucial aspect of the child’s academics. Students with excellent working memory usually perform much better than those who lack or struggle to memorise things when needed. You can practice the tactics mentioned above to improve the child’s working memory.
