memory skills

Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory Skills #8

2011/11/09 admin Leave a comment

Knock, knock. Who’s there?
Fangs. Fangs who?
Fangs for the memory.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been teaching kindergarten for so many years that I like knock, knock jokes. Kids certainly like them and jokes and riddles help practice memory skills. Jokes are a package deal; specific questions go with specific punch lines. Both parts need to be remembered. When kids tell jokes or riddles they do not always get the right 2 parts but this may be due to creativity or lack of understanding rather than inaccurate remembering.

Amsterdam_Wooden_Shoes — photo by Haitham Alfalah

Nevertheless, to tell a joke over and over involves committing it to memory over a period of time. That’s where there is a kindergarten readiness aspect–remembering information over time. So go ahead and share jokes with the family and friends and help your child with readiness for kindergarten.

Knock, knock. Who’s there?
Wooden Shoe. Wooden shoe who?
Wooden shoe like to hear another joke?

Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory #7

2011/11/08 admin Leave a comment

This week one of the grocery stores had a 2 for 1 sale flyer. In less than 2 minutes I made sure it was quite useless for anyone else in the family to read because I cut it up. I made a Matching Pairs game to use for a kindergarten readiness memory activity.

Did you ever play the card game called Concentration or Memory where you have to turn over the cards and match up pairs? Even quite young children beat me at that game and I’m convinced there’s a great deal of luck involved, not just memory. These days there’s on-line and I-pad versions with lots of different objects for kids, but this picture shows a low-tech one that has the advantage of low-cost, too. It’s still fun to play, especially when the kids beat the grown-ups. (I have the 1 lone matching pair, a 3-year old has the other 3 and that was just my turn that didn’t match. Sigh.)

If you haven’t played, the idea is to use pairs of cards that are the same and place them face down in a group. Each person takes a turn to flip over 2 cards. If the cards do not match they get flipped back upside down. If the cards do show the matching pair, that person takes the cards away (counting 1 point) and the next person has a turn. 3 or 4 picture-pairs are good to start with; 5 or 6 pairs add more challenge. After all the pairs are matched, turn the cards over, mix them all up and play again.

Besides being a great way to exercise visual memory, kids also practice some social skills such as taking turns and following simple rules. There’s counting and lots of language involved, too. These are all important for readiness for kindergarten development. Two kids can play together or even one child alone can find the pairs. Who gets more in your house?

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory Skills #6

2011/11/07 admin Leave a comment

Do you remember the blog topic from last week? It was about memory! Memory skills are like many others–they improve with practice and exercise. For young children, memory skills are developing and they often surprise with the things that they remember and older ones, like teenagers, surprise us with the things they forget! Because of personal differences, some children will find it easier to remember things they hear while for others it is things they see, just like adults. Being able to remember is an important learning strategy and helpful for kindergarten readiness. Here is an activity to encourage visual memory development.

With your child find 2 or 3 (or more) small objects and put them on a tray or placemat. Look at them for a minute or two and talk about them. Then, cover them with a cloth and ask your little one what is hiding under there. Take the cover off and check.

“Wasn’t that fun? Some things were hiding but you still remembered!” For variety, cover the items with the cloth, but before uncovering them, take one away. This time when you take off the cloth, have your child guess which one is missing. Then, cover your eyes and let your child take one away for you to guess.

I played this game with a 3-year old and she was able to figure out accurately when we used 4 objects which item was missing but not with 6. She loved playing it and asked to do it again the next day. Using different objects makes it new again. This activity is a good one to do when having to wait somewhere with a little one, especially if there is limited space to play. This readiness for kindergarten fun takes only a few minutes and can be done practically anywhere. An added benefit is as your little one gets better and the number of objects increases it keeps your memory in shape, too.

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory Skills #5

2011/11/05 admin Leave a comment

While good memory skills are important, it’s also important to have good things to remember. Like Saturdays! During the week, there is lots of competition for parents and caregivers time and attention, but Saturdays may have more time for an activity with the kids. The fun and play are important for children’s development in all … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory Skills #5 →

Math and Numbers

Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory Skills #4

2011/11/04 admin Leave a comment

I heard a discussion on the radio about how memory skills are changing with the use of technology. We do not need to remember as much as before, just how to find it on the Internet. The researchers must not have been parents. With everybody in the family on different schedules doing a variety of … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Memory Skills #4 →

Art Music Drama

Memory Skills Activity #3

2011/11/03 admin Leave a comment

Old McDonald had a class, A E I O U. Do you remember any of the songs that you used to sing as a child? Singing is another activity that helps kids develop their auditory memory skills as part of their kindergarten readiness. Very young children may only remember bits and pieces of songs. Older … Continue reading Memory Skills Activity #3 →

Reading and Writing

Memory Skills Activity #2

2011/11/02 admin Leave a comment

Have you ever told someone in your house something and later they don’t even remember that you have said anything at all? It may not be that the other person has a bad memory but a different memory style. Some people are very visual and best remember things that they see or read–they need memos. … Continue reading Memory Skills Activity #2 →

Kindergarten Readiness

Readiness for Kindergarten – November to Remember

2011/11/01 admin Leave a comment

Halloween isn’t the only day–or rather night–that’s scary. The start of each new month is quite a fearful time for me. I have to think of a new theme for kindergarten readiness blog posts. November’s inspiration came from the weather forecaster who talked about the continuing cold and storms on the East Coast and said … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – November to Remember →

Reading and Writing

Learning Fun At Home With Dishes

2011/08/06 admin Leave a comment

Do you remember nursery rhymes that you learned as a child? Jack and Jill, Little Bow Peep, Little Boy Blue, etc. How about this one: Hey Diddle, diddle the cat and the fiddle. The cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such sport and The dish ran away with the spoon. … Continue reading Learning Fun At Home With Dishes →

Kindergarten Readiness

Kindergarten Readiness – V=Visual Skills

2010/08/26 admin Leave a comment

The letter V could be for visual skills or verbal, but we’ve done lots of verbal activities. At the beginning of the month of August, we started with A for auditory discrimination and memory. While visual discrimination and memory are the same idea, some children have much stronger visual skills than auditory ones. We all seem … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – V=Visual Skills →