{"id":8586,"date":"2020-08-31T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.allaboutlearningpress.com\/?p=8586"},"modified":"2026-06-12T13:39:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:39:13","slug":"making-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.allaboutlearningpress.com\/making-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"How Making Connections Helps Your Child’s Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

As children learn, they add new information to what they already know. Their brains are continually reorganizing, adapting, and restructuring. Understanding how children build knowledge can help teachers and homeschooling parents adapt their lessons to make teaching more easy, effective, and fun!\r\n\r\n

As children encounter new concepts, in subjects like reading, spelling, and math, they use the things they\u2019ve already learned to make sense of the new information. By helping them connect new concepts to real-life examples or patterns they already understand, those ideas stick far better.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

In this post, we look at several ways you can organize information so your child is more likely to remember it later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Let\u2019s Start by Looking at Schemas<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

Knowledge is organized into elaborate networks called schemas<\/span>. A schema is a model of how knowledge is organized and how new information is added. For example, a child may have the following schema for the alphabet:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n

Gradually this schema becomes much more complex as the child adds more information to his knowledge base: the sounds of the letters<\/a>, how to print or write cursive, which letters are vowels, and how to blend letter sounds<\/a> to read words.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Each letter of the alphabet will have information attached to it. For example, a schema for the letter H might look like this:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n

The letter H is fairly simple. The schema for vowels will be much more complex because of the wide range of sounds that a vowel can make alone and in conjunction with other letters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This system applies to every subject children learn, and it enables them to connect the various concepts they encounter and understand them on a more intuitive level. For example, in math, students begin by learning addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division separately. However, if your child knows that 5 + 5 = 10, the schema they develop can help them see how 5 \u00d7 2 = 10 and 10 \u00f7 5 = 2. Each new concept builds on their growing mental framework, making ideas easier to remember and apply.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Every bit of information stored in your child\u2019s brain is connected to something else.<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

As your child\u2019s brain builds a schema, new information is attached to previously stored information. Although we can\u2019t show it through a simple drawing, the number of connections between pieces of information is unlimited since multiple ideas and concepts can be intricately interconnected. Watch this video for a 30-second demonstration.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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