Have you ever been groggy with the flu or the lovely medicine trying to fix the flu? You feel disconnected and fuzzy. The ideas are in your head but they don’t fit into the larger puzzle of your thoughts. Soon you are dropping more and more ideas and instructions. Then you are left with the conversations around you flowing on but you have lost so much of the connective thread that nothing makes much sense. So you check out. Stare out the window, drift to sleep, or doodle on a paper.
With my recent medical problems I was put on steroids and unlike most of the world when I have steroids I get drifty. I would loss entire threads of thought or jobs that needed to be done here at the house. Now that my head is clearing up I see a connection between how I felt and acted and how my two kids with memory issues act.
I have been blessed with a girl Flower, and a boy Squire who struggle with their memories. Spellling is hard. For Flower even remembering colors and shapes has been a challenge.
Memory is a basic skill to learning. We need to remember all sorts of facts, figures and skills to enable learning. Like Flower needs to remember her colors to move on to patterns. This skill needs to be instilled fully before moving on.
Here are some of the ways that I have worked at helping my kids to work on their memory.
1. Memorize scripture!!! I am such a fan of putting God’s word into our children’s heart! Your words will fade and lose power. God’s word is like a sword piercing the heart. It will never fade. Though your child may not be able to repeat a scripture they have memorized on command I truely believe that it is hidden in their heart. Think of the stories of POWs that were able to remember vast sections of the Bible for their edification and fellowship with other prisoners.
2. Involve more that one way to integrate the material in their head. Such as for Flower I wrapped her in a yellow sheet and rolled her around. We had a yellow day with crayons and paper all about yellow. We collected all the yellow clothes, stuffed animals and objects around the house we could think of. After that day yellow was set in her head. Not ever color day worked as well but it made it much easier for her.
3. Try memorizing poems and limericks. Short catchy poems work really well. Think of ones that have hand signs that go to them or marching to a beat.
Memorization is a skill like any other that with time and practice will get better!