{photoSource}East Oregonian{/photoSource}

From very early on kids recognize there is some form of importance to the devices many of us carry around. They see us check to see what is on them all the time.

This form of communication is here to stay and is part of our daily lives. Like many things, it can be a wonderful communication tool or become a possible addiction. Kind of like candy can be really good but can cause major problems for some of our bodies.

Like most everything in the world that has been developed we have to stop and evaluate how it might be best used to advance our knowledge. The same is true with electronic devices. Over the past couple of years, we have experienced major changes in our children’s education. For a period during COVID, homeschooling with school support became our norm in the majority of American homes. This is neither bad nor good but part of our changing world. As we move forward one thing that does remain the same is the development of our children’s knowledge and understanding.

As parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, we can use this technology to expand our children’s brain and memory development with a few minor adjustments.

After a child watches a show, taking time to have them tell you about that show or information they learned is when the learning takes place. We need the child to learn to recall information and tell about what they saw or heard. When younger children begin discussing what they saw or heard, the faster those pathways are built in their brains to be able to recall information from different interactions they have experienced and books they read.

Going way back in history the one and, basically, the only way to pass information on to younger generations was through storytelling. Children listened to the stories and then they were expected to retell the story. This was how history was passed on. In our environment today we depend on our tech knowledge. Not that long ago you knew the phone numbers of your parents, friends, and important businesses you used all the time. Today most of us depend on our cellphones and just hit the call button on the phone.

Now more than ever we need to have young kids tell us about what is happening in their lives along with what they experience. Explaining what they experienced, saw, or heard are the beginning steps of building both short-term memory and long-term memory.

Having your kids send you a video or text about a couple of things that happen during their day is one way of embracing the technology that fascinates the kids but works part of their brain that needs to be developed to be able to recall information. After a child watches a show or video have them tell about it or have someone ask them questions. This will also help build their ability to recall information. If they are unable to tell or answer questions then they need to watch it again.

Reading comprehension is a transferred skill. Being able to remember what you read and then discuss it comes after we have developed the skill of being able to remember and tell about life events. If you have a child that is unable to recall what they read you probably need to step back and have them learn to recall what is happening in their environment or retell stories. They should then be able to apply those skills to their reading rather than just reading words.

There are lots of great podcasts and informational videos available for children today. Have them watch those but remember to go one step further and have them tell you about what they saw or heard. Start off with having them tell just a couple of things and build to telling several things. After older children tell about what they saw or what happened, have them write (text) about it depending on their age.

Embrace technology and build comprehension skills in your children.