Why Doesn't A Child Remember Reading - Society

The ability to retell new material is the key to successful studies. And this applies not only to humanitarian subjects, but also to the exact sciences. What if the child is unable to memorize texts? We will tell you about simple and interesting exercises.

What is the reason for the failure?

The reason lies in associations. When a child reads a text, in his imagination, each word is attached to a certain image. They are strung on the thread of the narrative, like beads, and the larger the material, the longer these beads. And as a result, they get confused: instead of a clear sequence, the text turns into a continuous stream of information that cannot be structured.

However, parents can make the process of memorization easier using a technique that has proven to be effective in practice.

We teach to highlight the main thing

Practice an exercise called “ten words,” which teaches your child to highlight the main points in the text.

• 1. Invite the student to read any small and very simple story or fairy tale. For example, "Ryaba Chicken", "Goldfish", "Kolobok". In this case, the age of the student does not matter - such a task can be given even to a student of the fifth or sixth grade.
• 2. Ask him to tell the story in 10 words. Despite the seeming simplicity, this is a rather difficult task. At first, the child will use various prepositions and adjectives (when counting, they are regarded as a full word). After several attempts, he will be able to find the right number of definitions - most likely, these will be nouns, sometimes supplemented with verbs. This is the basis that determines the main thoughts of the author. Emphasize what the storyline of the story is based on.
• 3. Now ask your child to retell the story in as much detail as possible, using all the 10 words highlighted. In this way, he will develop an understanding of what is really important in the text, and a clear structure of the narrative will be built.

Working with characters and their role in the text

When the previous exercise is straightforward (usually after training with several texts), it's time to take the second step and consolidate the material.

After the child has figured out what exactly carries meaningful information in the text, and began to assimilate it much easier and faster, it is worth moving on to analyzing the main characters and their role in the story.

• The first thing to do is to highlight the main characters in the text. Ask the child who or what are the protagonists? Keep in mind that in fairy tales, not only people are often endowed with action, but also animals and even inanimate objects (a mirror, a sword-kladenets, an apple tree, a spindle, etc.).
• Now ask the student to list what actions each character performs using only verbs. To facilitate the task, at first you can simply underline the desired words directly in the text. The participles, participles and adjectives are more difficult to memorize, so you should not immediately give the child a text with excessive literary images.

Please note that one lesson is usually not enough, you need to conduct at least three to four lessons.

What is important for parents to remember

Classes are best done in a playful way - this improves perception and relieves psychological stress. Choose a time when your child is not busy and is in a good mood.

Remember that failure is annoying, so at first, the attitude towards classes can be wary or even negative. But as the results are achieved, the child will appreciate the effect of the exercise!

Photo: Losevsky Pavel / Photobank Lori