· Working memory helps children hold on to
information long enough to use it.
· Working memory plays
an important role in concentration and in following instructions.
· Weak working memory
skills can affect learning in many different subject areas including reading
and maths.
Have you ever gone to the store without a
list, thinking you’ll remember everything you need…but discovered when you got
home that you forgot several items? If so, you’ve experienced the limitations
of working memory. Working memory is the mental sticky note we use to keep track
of information until we need to use it.
Working memory is key to learning. Here are
five ways children use working memory to learn.
1. Working Memory and
Accessing Information
There are two types of working memory:
auditory memory and visual-spatial memory. You can think of these skills in
terms of making a video. Auditory memory records what you’re hearing while
visual-spatial memory captures what you’re seeing. But that’s where working
memory’s similarity with making a video ends.
When you make a video, visual and auditory
information is stored for safekeeping and can be played back when you need to
access it. You don’t necessarily need to pay attention to details when you’re
filming. Working memory, on the other hand, isn’t just stored for later use. It
has to be accessed and “played back” immediately—even as new information is
arriving and needing to be incorporated.
Imagine a teacher reads a word problem in maths
class. Children need to be able to keep all the numbers in their head, figure out
what operation to use and create a written maths problem at the same time.
Children with weak working memory skills have
difficulty grabbing and holding on to that incoming information. This means
they have less material to work with when they’re performing a task.
In maths class, they may know how to do
different kinds of calculations. However, they run into trouble with word
problems. It’s difficult to listen for clue words that indicate which operation
to use, while at the same time remembering the numbers that need to be plugged
into the equation.
2. Working Memory and
Remembering Instructions
Children rely on both incoming information and
information stored in working memory to do an activity. If they have weak
working memory skills, it’s hard to juggle both. This can make it challenging
to follow multi-step directions. Children with weak working memory skills have
trouble keeping in mind what comes next while they’re doing what comes now. For
example, your child may not be able to mentally “go back” and recall what
sentence the teacher wanted written down while also trying to remember how to
spell out the words in that sentence.
3. Working Memory and
Paying Attention
The part of the brain responsible for working
memory is also responsible for maintaining focus and concentration. Here,
working memory skills help children remember what they need to be paying attention
to. Take, for example, doing a long division problem. Your child needs working
memory not only to come up with the answer, but also to concentrate on all of
the steps involved in getting there.
Children with weak working memory skills have
trouble staying on task to get to the end result. You could think of it like
the learning equivalent of walking into a room and forgetting what you came in
to get.
4. Working Memory and
Learning to Read
Working memory is responsible for many of the
skills children use to learn to read. Auditory working memory helps children hold
on to the sounds letters make long enough to sound out new words. Visual
working memory helps kids remember what those words look like so they can
recognize them throughout the rest of a sentence.
When working effectively, these skills keep children from having to sound out every word they see. This helps them read with
less hesitation and become fluent readers. Learning to read isn’t as smooth a
process for kids with weak working memory skills.
5. Working Memory and
Learning Maths
Being able to solve maths problems depends on a
number of skills that build on one another like building blocks. The block at
the bottom—the most important one in the stack—is the ability to recognize and
reproduce patterns. It’s the foundation for the next block: seeing patterns in
numbers in order to solve and remember basic math facts.
From there, children build up to storing
information about a word problem in their head; they then use that information
to create a number sentence to solve the problem. This eventually leads to the
ability to remember mathematical formulas.
What keeps the blocks from toppling over is
the ability to remember, sequence and visualize information—all of which can be
difficult for a child with weak working memory skills.
The Good News: There
Are Ways to Help
Having weak working memory creates obstacles
to learning. But there are ways to get around these obstacles. With help from you and support at school your child can
build up working memory skills so learning is less of a struggle.
(Source unknown - This a great article which was shared with me many years ago by a colleague)
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