Using Songs to Help You Remember

Children learn by repetition and songs are a great way to incorporate learning into their young lives. Have you ever watched a child as they watch television? Notice how they learn the theme songs to the programs they like and can sing them all day long and annoy you? Its just a simple twist of the lyrics of their favorite songs to help them in learning a new fact or detail for school.

Songs have a way of sticking in those little minds and teaching our children new and exciting things. Whether it be the alphabet or the days of the week, songs are a fantastic learning tool. Our daughter learned her days of the week to the theme song of "The Addams Family". She even had a cute little dance that she did right along with the song. If you ask her the days of the week she will quickly hum the song before telling us the days.

Remember the song back in the late 70's early 80's with the lady's telephone number? Everyone knew that poor woman's telephone number. She was receiving phone calls from everywhere in the nation. The simple hit song made her life a nightmare. I bet if you really think about it you can still remember that song and her phone number. Songs just have a way of sticking with us.

Learning by music helps you to retain your information. When we just read something in a book or the newspaper or even online, it is easy to forget what we have read. When we put that same information to song, our minds retain the information for a long period of time. Just hearing words will not help us retain the information, but put those words to a tune and you have yourself a reminder of the information you wish to retain.

Parents have long wondered why teenagers listen to music while studying. "Doesn't that distract you?" I once asked my son. My son answered me like this, "When I listen to music while studying, then when we have a test I remember sitting and listening to the music and I can picture in my mind where I was at in the book and what I was reading". A great way to retain your memory while studying.

Another example might be when we are shopping and bump into that long lost friend. Of course that is when our pen and their pen won't work. Put the phone number to song and chances are you will remember it when you do get to a pen and paper.

Teaching by song has long been used in Elementary school. Young school children will often come home singing a new song and sing it for several days before they go onto another song. We can remember anything if we just put our minds to it.