Favorite Topics: Return to Them After Time for Added Learning

Of course it always happens that after I make a post, I find 5 additional books that would have fit very nicely into the topic of interest.  The purpose of this post is to revisit some of the topics that I've talked about before, and share a few other books and activities that I've recently discovered since my last post on the topic.  Revisiting topics also gives me a lovely opportunity to rant about the spacing effect.


The spacing effect and I go waaaaaay back.  Like to a decade ago.  I wrote my master's thesis and dissertation on this topic, so we have become quite close over the years.  The spacing effect (I'm sure you are wondering what the heck this term means by now) is simply a memory phenomena.  I will explain it by first asking: What do you usually do when you need to remember something? Most likely you repeat the information over and over to yourself (in slightly fancier psychological terms, you rehearse it). If you are over 30, you might recall a cartoon skit from back-in-the-day Sesame Street where a little African American girl repeats "a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butta" over and over so she won't forget what her mom asked her to buy at the store!  That's often one simple strategy we use to remember something.  Now, over one hundred years ago a man by the name of Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that if he spaced out the repetitions of the information that he was trying to learn, he recalled it even better than if studied them repeatedly in a short time frame.  And so, the "spacing effect" was born.  To quote myself from a paper I wrote, the spacing effect occurs when: "memory is superior for to-be-remembered material that is presented in a distributed fashion (i.e., with intervening material between repetitions) as compared to when the material is presented in a massed fashion (i.e., with no intervening material between repetitions)."  Cram studying the night before a big exam (in theory) will not help you learn the information better than if you had been studying it all semester long.


So I hope you are not thinking at this point, "wow, that's 2 minutes of my life I'll never get back" because I promise you that knowledge of the spacing effect IS important stuff with respect to education and learning.  The spacing effect has been researched to death in the field of cognitive psychology and more recently has gotten some attention in the world of educational psychology, although there are not a ton of "practical" applications out there.  

Here's what I think the take home message is from research on the spacing effect in terms of real world activities: 1) Use repetition as much as you can, and 2) revisit topics, activities, books, concepts, and lessons after some time.  I try to do this often with baby bookworm in terms of library books we check out.  For instance, she loved the book Alistair in Outer Space. On the day we checked it out we read it a dozen times I'm sure (toddlers LOVE repetition, so this part is easy). I even checked out the DVD of the Reading Rainbow episode in which this book was featured, and we watched that (more repetition).  When it was time to return the book to the library we did.  Then, about 3 months later, we checked out the same book (hence, the spaced repetition). Like I mentioned, there isn't a ton of controlled research in applied situations like my scenario here, but I like to think that this is a very good attempt at effectively applying this phenomena to the real world (Harvard U. if you would like to hire me to conduct such valuable research, feel free to email me).


Here's our revisited topics/lessons & some more fun books that go along with them:

Topic #1: Science.

Here’s my original “lessons in science” post.  Our new lessons in science come from a book called (shocker): It’s Science! Water by Sally Hewitt. 

The book itself is meant for much older children than my 19-month old baby bookworm, but I thought I could find some fun science projects to do with her in here.  She likes to play with water, and the book is full of real science information and photos.  We didn't read it cover to cover necessarily, but I am certain she learned a few things about water. 

We tried two fun projects based on what we read in the book.

1) Sink or float.

2) Liquid water versus ice.

The book has a few fun ways to teach kids about the water cycle and different forms of water.  What I did with baby bookworm was a simple lesson.  I put water in a plastic container; we talked about how it felt and how it was liquid.  I then stuck the container in the freezer for a few hours.  When it came out as a solid block of ice, I let baby bookworm touch it.  We talked again how about how it felt (cold, hard) and how it had changed from liquid to solid.  I know this isn't a very impressive experiment, but it is a great way to teach  new vocabulary (toddlers don't really need fancy stuff to learn). 

Topic #2: Inner Awesomeness.

Here is my first post on Inner Awesomeness.  Basically, I like to find books that teach baby bookworm about how awesome and unique she is, and that teach about acceptance of others' differences. 

I stumbled upon the book Special People, Special Ways by Arlene Macquire in the library and thought it fit perfectly into this topic.  It gives parents and teachers a great opportunity to talk about how some individuals (young and old) have "special" ways.  That is, while some people may be mentally or physically challenged, they share many similarities.  The book is full of positive images of people with disabilities, and shows that it's OK, and wonderful, to be different. 

Topic #3: Once Upon a Time Books.

I originally posted on once upon a time books just prior to taking a "field trip" with baby bookworm to an amusement park that contained figurines of our favorite fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  Since then, baby bookworm has begun to pretend that she is reading my books (for instance, Tina Fey's Bossypants).  She'll open my book up and say, "Once upon a time" which is sometimes followed by, "there was a little boy."  Not sure why it's never a little girl - I hope this doesn't mean she's getting boy crazy already!  So, we continue to get "once upon a time" books because apparently this phrase has entered her schema of how a story might begin; one that we recently enjoyed was The Little Red Hen by Byron Barton. 


Topic #4: Lessons in Math.

I've written about math a few times, and I feel like every time I turn around there is yet ANOTHER math book that I wished I'd written about.  Our favorite math books these days are "spot the shape" (baby bookworm has a knack for finding hidden things and has recently taken to Where's Waldo? books too). 

There are several spot the shape books, and each shows how shapes are all around us if we look hard enough. I kid you not, baby bookworm has started spotting shapes in hidden places everyday thanks to these books; I'm talking everything from spotting triangles in the floor tile at the mall to small rectangles on our doors at home.  What I love best about these books is the fact that they aren't overtly math books, and they teach children to find the beauty of math in our day to day lives.  Here are the spot the shape books we've read:

Memories of Me: Strengthening Memory Skills Through Photo Books

One of baby bookworm’s favorite books isn’t one that we borrowed from the library or bought at a book store, or any store for that matter.  It’s one that I spent many, many hours making this past December as a Christmas gift for her.  The book is titled “The First Year” and contains pictures from her life in chronological order from birth through her first birthday (you’re saying, “duh” right about now I know).  I created a story that goes along with the pictures so that we can actually read it like a book, and this of course provides me with documentation of those first months of life (wow, baby bookworm said “dada” at 5 ½ months?) that I am sure to forget when I’m 50…..or 35…….or maybe even tomorrow. I know that thanks to infantile amnesia baby bookworm won’t remember going to the pumpkin patch, her first trip to the zoo, or her first birthday – so this book provides important autobiographical memories for her too.

If you don’t have a book similar to this one for your own baby bookworm, I definitely encourage you to make one.  I mean, you might as well put those millions of pictures you have of your baby to good and educational use (it truly is amazing how you can have SO MANY pictures of the same little face).  I created mine as a photo book through Kodak Gallery, but you could just as easily paste some photos on to construction paper, write a few captions or a more detailed story, and then staple the pages together.  And if you’re really crafty or artistic and have older children, I’m sure they would find it really fun to be a part of this art project. 

Aside from this being a fun book to read, it truly is very educational!  And probably more than you realize.  Discussing memories or events that have real meaning to your child will help him or her develop autobiographical memory, build and maintain their own memories of the past, and develop a sense of “self”.  Be sure to discuss what you see in the pictures with your baby bookworm, and really try to relive the experiences - be a “storyteller” so to speak (which also conveniently helps baby learn important language skills about how to structure their own narratives, and also expands vocabulary).

Here’s just a few other ideas about how to enhance your baby bookworm’s memory skills:    

1. Remember those millions of videos that you’ve taken, in addition to those millions of pictures; well, pull them out & watch them!  These also provide valuable memory tools, help baby develop a sense of self by hearing and seeing him or herself in action, and help to sharpen language skills.
2. You know those recordable books sold in Hallmark? Turns out they not only make a great gift but encourage all of the same skills mentioned in #1.  Not a bad use of $20 after all.
3. Create flash cards with photos of important people in your child’s life.
4. We all have photos displayed throughout our homes, but remember your baby is small!  Try to find a hidden wall space where you can display a few photos at baby’s eye level.  We have a photo collage in baby bookworm’s room.  I used clear contact paper to adhere the photos to the wall.  It seriously is one of baby bookworm’s favorite spots in the room.