Build

Your role in how your child builds knowledge

When a child builds new knowledge in their brains for the first time, it will require some conscious effort, activating those working memory networks at the front of the brain.

Our working memory is a very limited work space. That means anything in our working memory that is not useful for what we’re trying to learn, may undermine that learning. So, providing clear, concise instructions and minimising distraction can be helpful.

But this still leaves decisions to make. We’ve just said, for example, that novelty can stimulate the brain’s reward system and improve engagement but, if the novelty is not related to the learning then, due to the burden on working memory, it might reduce learning.

And we’ve also said all individuals are different. Some children will stay engaged without any additional stimulation irrelevant to the task, while others appreciate music playing in the background to stay awake and alert. Again, this can become too distracting and negate any positive effects of engagement. In short, the science doesn’t tell us what we should do but can help explain why an approach is working or not working, helping us to adapt the approach to help our children learn more effectively. As a parent or guardian, it’s important to monitor your child’s learning by, for example, asking questions about what they are learning, enabling you to build on the progress made but also to determine whether the approach should be changed.

Talking

New knowledge can enter your child’s working memory networks from a variety of places: from talking or watching you, a learning activity or homework set by school, the internet, or books, the list is endless. However, for new knowledge to be meaningful, a child must connect it with what they already know.

This is where you have a special role in securing your child’s understanding by having conversations that help them make sense of what they are learning and experiencing. For example, educational TV programmes for young children don’t appear to be very effective, unless there is also an adult who is interacting with the child about that programme. Although internet resources, books and worksheets are great, none of these can substitute for conversations with an adult. The parts of the brain that make connections with what’s known are also in the front of the brain. These frontal regions develop throughout childhood and adolescence. That means that the younger your child, the more support they may need to connect what they are learning today with what they already know.

Thinking about learning as built on what’s already known can be helpful. For example, has your child ever got stuck when learning something? Even if you don’t fully understand the subject yourself, try encouraging them to tell you what they know about it. Just encouraging them to ‘activate’ this prior knowledge can make it easier for them to connect to it, helping the new knowledge they’re stuck on become more meaningful.

Even when meaningful new knowledge is being held in your child’s working memory, this is only a temporary holding place and it requires conscious effort to keep it there. This makes new learning vulnerable to getting lost. As there is always more to be learnt, your child will soon need that limited working space for more incoming information. This is where ‘consolidation’ comes in.

Next: Consolidate