Strategies To Improve Working Memory: Parent Edition

What is Working Memory? Working Memory is a part of your child’s short-term memory. It allows their brain to hold onto and simultaneously work with small bits of information for a brief period of time. Think of it as their “Post-it” or “sticky note” part of the brain. It is a brief holding tank that helps them hold new information so they can either work with it or connect it with other important information. It is your child’s mental sketchpad. While it is common to believe that most difficulties with reading, math, or other aspects of academic learning efficiency are solely linked to learning disabilities, such as Dyslexia or Dyscalculia, working memory weaknesses can be another common underlying reason for difficulties with word recall, fluency, math computation, and other aspects of school success. We have a full blog post that outlines working memory skills and how to identify and work with your child’s existing working memory capacity to later build and maximize it. Without this we, alongside our children, are prone to something called cognitive overload. When our brains feel clogged, we are unable to access our thinking strengths. When our working memory is efficient enough to work with our other thinking and coping strengths, we are able to think freely and tap into our skills.

When does my child use their Working Memory?

• The easy answer- always. Working Memory is important in nearly all aspects of thinking, including how your child determines what is important for their brain to remember, how they organize and condense ideas from thought to words/actions, and even how they process things from their environment. Think of it as the hardworking gatekeeper that helps our kids organize, plan, and execute skills, as well as the part of our brain that helps to determine what is important enough to get stored into long term memory. Below is a list of common tasks where you may see your child’s Working Memory “at work”:

  • Following multi-step directions to complete a task

  • Accessing knowledge from long-term memory

  • Recalling information from a short story

  • Decoding or recalling site words from memory while reading a passage

  • Remembering a multi-step list for a project, task during independent work time, or homework

  • Completing multi-step math or mental math problems

  • Activating their thinking when needing to start an assignment

  • Storing new information or rote skills in memory for long term recall/use later on

  • Condensing their ideas from thought into an articulate statement or short story

  • Articulating their feelings on the spot when asked, even if they are able to do it well when calm

  • Recalling someone’s name after just meeting them

    What are some everyday strategies that help build Working Memory?

  • Visual Lists

    • Particularly helpful for any routine or habit you would like them to do that requires more than 2 steps

    • Keep lists simple and straight forward

    • Adjust as needed when your child gets consistent with the routine

  • Develop routines

    • Routine habits require less working memory and executive functioning and therefore reduce the load on working memory. Think about how much you had to hold in your brain when you first started learning to drive a car prior to it becoming a habit.

  • Helpful routines for kids and teens include setting clothes out night before, tidying up room or homework area every night, starting homework right when you get home, knowing what to do when finished with an activity, packing bag after breakfast, brushing teeth after shower, etc.

  • Chunk information into smaller parts to prevent visual overload for their brain

    • When kids are complex thinkers and have strong visual spatial, fluid reasoning, or verbal comprehension skills, their brain loves complexity and putting parts together. When thinking skills are strong, it can often overwhelm our constantly evolving working memory. Think of chunking strategies as creating better traffic flow when too many cars are trying to merge on a road.

    • Instead of putting 20 items on a page, break it up into 2 pages or draw boxes around 3 items at a time to gauge focus

  • Repeat, Practice, and Review (overlearning new content in different ways)

  • Reverse teaching (having child teach you the skill)

    • Once your child has had an opportunity to practice a skill with some confidence, have them teach you. Teaching others helps tap into several other brain functions for greater retention and recall, rather than pure rote memory.

  • Make meaningful connections when learning a new topic or when needing to cue long-term retrieval of information from the past

    • By creating covert “tabs” for the brain, it requires less working memory power to “find” information we have stored. Think of the song from high school that you still know every word to. If we create meaningful connections, we are better likely to store and recall information without overloading our working memory and other executive functioning skills.

  • Use mnemonic strategies or acronyms for content or sequences they need to store

    • These strategies help the brain to remember 1 chunk of information rather than 6-8 bits

  • For young kids, make up a fun story to remember information over a short period, particularly with vocabulary words (e.g., blue, dog, cat, happy = the blue dog and crazy cat were happy)

  • Visualization strategies

  • Appropriate physical outlets and movement before, during, and after learning

  • Use games and puzzles to help train the brain to learn and store information in a variety of ways that are fun for kids!

  • Clapping a beat to a song or when practicing syllables in new words (kinesthetic brain/body skills tap into different brain areas)

  • Chess or checkers (executive skills needed like planning, working memory, and sustained attention

  • Card games like UNO or Go Fish!

  • Find it! game or Mazes

Have questions about your child’s Working Memory or looking to learn more information? Contact Dr. Bobal today!