My sons have a memory like a sieve. Ask them to recall things and they flop at it. What did they do in school? What did they wear this morning? What did Grandma say when she called earlier? All these draw a blank – all I get is a sort of glazed look.

Friends say this could be a “boy thing” or is it because the school-day always passes by in a blur? It worries me somewhat, especially when they have tonnes of facts to remember and regurgitate in exams. It would be a bad idea to forget, for example, that spiders come under arachnids (not insects!) and salamanders are amphibians (not reptiles!).

Experts say that a good memory is linked to good school performance and that is not hard to believe. As a way to improve my children’s memory, what I do is play memory games with them. These are fun, help the boys focus and are good on long-ish car trips.

Here is one game we love playing:

Name of game:
I pack my bag... 

Players:
Two or more players (kids must have some inkling about spelling and general knowledge)

Thinking outside of the box is a life skill, and is something that every parent wishes to cultivate in their child. This is because thinking outside the box just means our being able to solve problems and overcome challenges that we haven’t seen before in ways that we haven’t been explicitly taught. Outside of the box thinking is the end product of having developed a general excellence in thinking. Since it is impossible to succeed in the 21st century without being able to think well, acquiring thinking skills is an absolutely non-negotiable part of childhood education.  On the other hand, it is a fact of life that parents need their children to do well within an educational system that still emphasizes rote learning, drilling, and not asking questions.