I’m sure you’ve probably heard it as a parent. You ask your child what he or she learned at school and the answer is, “I don’t know”. It probably drives you crazy wondering what it is you’re sending your child to school for. Don’t worry, your child is learning. He may just be embarrassed to let you in on his little secret knowledge or he may think it doesn’t matter outside of class. The truth is, when students don’t carry their learning outside of the classroom, it presents another problem - retention.
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When students learn a new fact or skill in class, it is usually accompanied by processes to cement that knowledge in the mind of students. The problem lies in the short amount of time knowledge is applied before the class must move onto another topic or subject. That is one reason why we love the A Beka curriculum at SBA. It uses a spiral technique that builds on prior knowledge to cement information in students’ minds. However, as students mature, the material they learn becomes more specialized as it prepares them for graduation and college. If they do not use it outside the classroom, they will lose it; and the longer it sits idle, the less of it remains in the synapses of the brain.
Transfer of Knowledge
We’ve all experienced this phenomenon. We learn a person’s name and soon forget it. We can’t figure out why, but it happened. Or, we are confronted with a situation that we used to do with ease but struggle to recall how to get it done, because we’re “a little rusty”. What happened? We didn’t transfer the information to a point of usefulness and it “aged” out of our mind. One way our teachers try to work around this issue is applying information across multiple subjects by establishing connections that allow students to use the information in more than one period a day or one day a week. But, you can help this, too. We call it the transfer of information and the more you can use a bit of information, the better chance you have of recalling it later. So, when you find out what your child is learning at school, find ways to use that information at home. Make connections with everyday items and situations. Every moment presents a chance to make this happen, even brushing teeth can be part of the process as children learn good hygiene habits (health), time to brush (time and math), the rhythm and tempo behind the brushing song, and what happens when we brush our teeth (science).
Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. - Anton Chekhov
Take a moment to make those connections when you get the chance. In the car, at the dinner table, even getting ready for bed, you’ll be amazed at how creative you can be in making it happen and how you can assist your child in retaining the information he learns in school and go beyond the regular homework routine.