Donnette

Do you know a student that is struggling in school? Children have a difficult time learning for many different reasons. Some scenarios are more complex than others and may even require the assistance of a professional. There is a reasonably straight-forward solution for some students. I am referring to students that are experiencing difficulties because they have never learned how to learn.

What does it mean to learn to learn? It means learning to understand and use various systematic approaches to obtain and store knowledge. A student that has learned to learn will achieve greater success in school without experiencing the frustration that can result with a student that has not. It is possible that the struggling student has never had the opportunity to be introduced to learning systems. It could also be that the student has not had enough exposure to such systems.

There many different learning systems that students should become familiar with and use. Two of the most powerful and useful tools that will help a student succeed in school are Phonics and Mnemonic devices.

Phonics is a learning system that teaches students to associate specific sounds with specific letters or combinations of letters. This allows them to combine multiple sounds together and pronounce words that they have not seen before. Phonics contributes greatly to success in reading. Reading skills are extremely important to the ability to learn any subject.

Mnemonic devices are memory aids that assist in the recall of information. They are developed around the use of a technique called association. Association is the mental linking of things we want to learn with things we already know.

A student striving to memorize all the states on a map of the USA would benefit from the use of association. The student could observe the shape of a state and identify any characteristics of the shape that have some relation to the name of that state. For example, the state of Kansas has a shape that is fairly rectangular much like the view of an empty soda can that has been tossed to the ground. It also has one corner that does not conform to a rectangle shape. That corner could be thought of as the drinking hole on the soda can. These characteristics would allow the student to associate the visual shape of Kansas with the word Can as in soda can. Once the student is able to look at the shape on the map and recall the word Can, recall of the state name Kansas becomes a significantly easier task.

There are many types of mnemonic devices. Some are easier to implement than others. One of the most basic and useful types of mnemonic devices uses memorable sentences to remember lists of items.

For example, students learning to read music are often introduced to the mnemonic Every Good Boy Does Fine. Selecting the first letter of each word in the mnemonic gives you EGBDF. These are the musical notes that appear on the lines of the Treble Clef.

Mnemonics are also used to help students learn computer networking. Networking students must remember the seven layers of the OSI Reference Model. The names of these layers are Physical, Data-Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, and Application. One of the mnemonics students use to remember these names is Please Do Not Throw Sausage Pizza Away.

Notice that the mnemonics mentioned above use very simple terms such as boy and pizza along with some filler words. It is also sometimes helpful if the mnemonic is a little silly and fun but it is not mandatory.

Some students struggle to achieve the grades they would like to obtain in school. A select number of these students could make great improvements by using learning systems such as phonics and mnemonics. If you know a student that is having a difficult time in school, consider if the student needs to be introduced or reintroduced to learning systems. A small suggestion could make a big difference in the life of a child.

Kevin Broadwater is the founder of Calculator Hut Company, a developer of educational software. Download free educational software at http://www.calculatorhut.com today.