2026-09-15

Share Memory Boosters With Your Teen

Students use memory in two ways to learn: first, to absorb the material, and second, to recall it on demand—during a test, for example. Several strategies can help your teen improve both of these aspects of memory.

When there is memorizing to do, encourage your teen to:

• Verify understanding. Can your teen use that formula to solve a sample problem, or use that vocabulary word in a sentence? It's easier for students to memorize something they understand.
• Get surrounded by the material. A teen who is studying a particular period of history, for example, can look for related books, movies and songs about that era to enjoy.
• Set the material to music. Your teen can make up a rhyme or set the names, dates and facts to the rhythm of a popular song. Singing the song can help your student recall the facts later.
• Make a mental image. To remember the branches of government, for example, your teen could imagine a pie divided into three pieces, with executive, judicial and legislative written on them in frosting.
• Explain the material to someone else. Have your teen tell you about the topic. Teaching someone else is one of the best ways to learn!

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