![]() ![]() If you talk to parents of Challenge-aged students, the reviews are mixed as to whether the Memory Master award really helps students. Is your child prepping for Memory Master? What have you found helpful over the years? Kids need time and space to process their learning, rather than trying to add the work of practice on top of an already jam-packed schedule. It’s okay to let this be a “work hard, play hard” season of the year. Remember that our kids are not only reviewing, but still learning new information as well. Even as a teacher, I tried to lighten our daily work during the week leading up to a big test or project. When I submitted my Masters thesis, regular classes were suspended for weeks as students met one on one with mentors. In college, studying for finals happened mostly after classes had ended. ![]() Tip #5: It’s okay to lighten the loadįor the six weeks leading up to Memory Master, we cut our regular work load easily in half. Use this time to help wean them off of those external cues and become accustomed to remembering it on their own. This is because it often (…usually…) becomes a crutch they only have to hear the first note of a song to recall the sentence! Of course, that won’t help them during the test when they can’t use it. By week 19, make sure that you are using it for new grammar only. If you have the CD, you know that songs are a fantastic memorization tool. One of our favorite ways to do this is a “Ticket In” system, where I will say to one child, “Your ticket into dinner is to tell me the objective pronouns” or to another, “Your ticket to watch a show is to tell me the 14s.” It sounds cheesey, but working an extra quick review into the regular spaces of our day really helps! Once you know what they need to work on, you can pull those specific topics and review in any fun ways your child loves. #CC MEMORY MASTER FULL#The first week is likely to be full of tears (which is why we repeat 2 subjects per day for the first two weeks!), but you want a truly accurate picture of what they know and what they don’t so that you can help direct their practice.Instead, encourage them to “work it through,” telling you anything they can remember and building from there.Resist the urge to jump in and rescue them when they come to something they don’t know.There is no better way to do this than to sit down, ask the questions, and hear their answers. If you wait to learn that one during week 24, you’ll be sorry!Īs the parent, you really need to know what they know and what they don’t. Although some people disagree, I have never yet found it necessary to work ahead on anything – except the Presidents, which is week 24 of Timeline. We start at Week 1 and go all the way through to the current week, exactly as they’ll do it with their tutor. ![]() In other words, harder subjects get paired with easier ones to allow my kids as much success as possible on any given day. I try to pair subjects so that no single day contains too much frustration. For us, that looks like rotating subjects daily and building each week: Week 19 We use an incremental schedule that helps them acclimate not only to recalling the information, but builds their endurance as well. Instead of quizzing all 7 subjects at a time, it is important to start small. The image of training for a marathon helps me to visualize what it’s like for our students as they prepare to recite at least 24 pieces of information across 7 subjects. ![]() Still, MM is a big undertaking, and I always find that my kids require ample time to ramp into it. After keeping an eye on their progress, I have a pretty good idea of each child’s general strengths and weaknesses. I hope you will find it as helpful for your family as I’ve found it for mine! If you want to read about WHY I feel Memory Master is a worthwhile expenditure of time and effort, check out THIS POST.Īlthough we review throughout the year, our official MM practice sessions begin week 19. Below, you’ll find my top tips and a sample schedule for making this big task more approchable. Over the years, I’ve had many families ask about how we go about reviewing to help our children achieve the award. You likely also know the delights and struggles of helping your children as they take on this challenge. If your family has chosen Classical Conversations, then you know that the opportunity for children to prove what they know as Memory Master is a rite of passage each spring. It’s that time of year again! Are you excited?!!! ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |