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Another Skill Not to Forget

Working on Toddlers' Short- and Long-term Memory

By Lisa A. Goldstein

"Children learn and remember by repetition," Goldsamt says. "Reading the same book over and over again helps them make realizations, remembering that the cow moos, the pig oinks, the duck quacks, etc." Now both of her children – 4 1/2 and 20 months – love and enjoy books, and her older child is in the beginning stages of reading. "I feel it is an essential part of growing the brain and helping both short- and long-term memory."

Some strategies are more appropriate for young children than others. For example, writing a list may not be appropriate for a 4-year-old, but drawing a picture as a reminder might be a good idea, Bartsch says. Making a song out of a grocery list might work for an adult or a child, but the child might need help inventing the song.

"And research suggests that when children as young as 4 are taught such strategies, they often fail to use them when they are no longer prompted to do so, so parents should not be discouraged if this happens," Bartsch says. "Children will eventually be better able to use the strategies on their own. One general idea that we've learned from research is that parents who talk about what children (and what they themselves) remember, know, think and feel will have children who are similarly more oriented toward talking about people remembering, knowing, thinking and feeling – in other words, the children are more likely to be 'mind-minded' and many developmental psychologists feel that this is an important step toward successful functioning both socially and academically."