Children have an incredible capacity to absorb new information, quickly remember what they’ve learned, and possess a rich knowledge base with a strong ability to integrate everything.
From birth to age six, a child’s brain develops rapidly. During this stage, the brain tends to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that can induce happiness and motivation, both of which can influence memory.
There are three essential things parents can do in their daily lives to ensure their child’s brain power and memory excel.
Read picture books before bed
Language is the brain’s best “nutrition.” Reading a short story or singing a nursery rhyme before bedtime can expose children to new ideas, spark unique thoughts or emotions, enlighten their minds, and activate the hippocampus, thereby improving memory.
Long-term memory is gradually fixed through repetition and practical experience.
Read picture books before bed.
Don’t be afraid to read a good story more often. The more a mother reads it, the more familiar it becomes, and the more a child can connect this information with other knowledge, weaving it into a network. This makes it easier to retrieve these memories in the future.
So, if a child wants to hear the same story repeatedly, don’t be annoyed, as this repetition is meaningful.
Memory is about familiarity. After reading a story a few times, a parent can try asking the child to look at the pictures and retell the story in their own words. Encourage the child to talk about their memories. Once a closed memory loop is formed, information is more easily stored and retrieved.
Communicate more
Working memory is what the brain uses to process information when tackling a problem.
For example, a preschooler might remember what their mother just said and be able to follow simple instructions.
A child starting school can complete a two- or three-step chore and remember the instructions their teacher gave a few minutes ago.
Older children in fourth and fifth grade can remember to bring their books and homework to and from school without being reminded…
Communicate more.
Working memory can be enhanced through daily conversations. If parents want their children to be organized and calmly tackle various everyday problems, they should communicate more and respond promptly to their children.
When a child is two or three years old, they can generally communicate better. Parents can try asking their child to recall where they went and what they did that day and what made them particularly happy.
“Do you remember our last visit to the zoo? What animals did we see there?” “What did you have for lunch at kindergarten today? Was there anything you liked?”
Direct communication with children in this way, allowing them to recall past events, will improve their memory, and parents won’t have to worry about their child forgetting their school tasks in the future.
Encourage imaginative storytelling
Prepare three picture cards and ask the child to create a story based on the images.
For example, a mother might choose three cards with the words “cat,” “fishing net,” and “river” and ask the child to tell a story about “The Little Cat Who Went Fishing.”
Start with the simplest sentences and gradually increase the difficulty as the child gets older. For instance, encourage the child to use complex sentence structures to describe their imaginary story: “The little cat was very hungry after playing all day, so it took the net and went fishing in the nearby river.”
Through this associative memory method, children can connect previously learned knowledge and weave it into a network, ensuring that new learning becomes part of their foundational knowledge system, gradually expanding their understanding.
Encourage imaginative storytelling.
When children are two or three years old, they start to develop memory for basic daily tasks. For example, they can remember their parents’ faces and the names of family members. At this stage, memory is mainly developed through the repetition of visual and auditory information, so communicate often and persist in reading to them daily.
When they are three or four years old, children can remember more complex information, such as simple stories and songs. At this point, take them out more, expand their social circle, and their brains will absorb information faster.
From ages four to six, children can remember more sophisticated details and complex information. For instance, a mother can retell the content of simple picture books or solve complex puzzles with her child. Simultaneously, parents should encourage their children to play memory-improving games or engage in memory-enhancing activities.
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