Children increasingly make sense of what they hear by strengthening their auditory perception. Auditory perception skills include the ability to memorize information and the ability to reproduce and act on what was memorized.
Children’s short- and long-term memories develop as they grow up. A preschooler can repeat two to three pieces of information with the number growing up to five pieces by age 7 (Kearns, 2017). Adults have the capacity to retain 7 +/- 2 pieces of information in their short-term memory.
To move the information into long-term memory, children need to develop recall strategies. Many nursery rhymes and children’s songs include steps, lists, and ordered numbers that help children recall accurate information and that allow them to carry out actions.
To develop a repertoire of words and detailed actions, children need to have been exposed to them early in their lives. We can help children develop a repertoire of words by engaging in conversations with and around them when they are alert. By doing so, we help children combine the words, actions, and context into a meaningful outcome.
As parents and educators, should we talk out loud whenever possible throughout the day around our young children? If the self-talk covers different topics and introduces the child to hundreds of words, then the answer is YES.
Around the world, parents communicate with children in different ways. The number of adults taking care of the child varies and could include one or more primary caregiver. In some cultures, older siblings participate in caring for the child as well. As a result, the language input is diverse and it is not surprising that the children grow up displaying different linguistic communication patterns depending on whom they are addressing than children with fewer verbal interactions.
More research is needed to understand how the relationship between memory and language development unfolds in different contexts. We constantly witness children defying the current memory capacity when applied to language development. How far can the “piece of information” captured by children’s short- and long-term memories be stretched? Is “the piece of information” one letter, one chunk, one poem, or one storybook? It depends on how educators and parents complement the child’s genetic dispositions.
Educators and parents have a responsibility to help children succeed in a global world. Surrounding children with a rich language input is one main success strategy.
Reference:
Kearns, K. (2017). Birth to big school (4th ed.). Victoria, Australia: Cengage Learning.
Future Global Children 
Someone told me that babies commit things to memory as they sleep. Is this correct? And if so, should we avoid waking a baby so as not to interfere with their download of information?
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Hi Jude,
Yes, some researchers recommend not to wake the child while they are still sleeping. We know that this is not going to be possible all the time.
There are four stages of sleep. The total cycle is between 92 and 110 minutes. Then the cycle repeats itself throughout the night.
Those stages of sleep include two main states, the REM (Rapid eye movement and irregular) state and the Non-REM state (regular full sleep with closed eyelids). The duration of REM sleep is longer for newborns (50% of sleep time) and decreases to 20% by age 2. The brain activity in the REM state is similar to the waking state.
The long duration of the REM state, which is the fourth stage in the cycle, activates the infant’s central nervous system and consolidates learning.
Learning occurs in other stages as well. One study showed that babies who were shown new learning prior to a short nap (went into Stage 2, which is a light stage of sleep) were able to remember the learning better than the babies who did not take the nap.
As sleep consolidates different learning in different stages, it is important to allow babies enough time to sleep so they go through REM and non-REM sleep. If they need to be waken up, then it should be done gently. The REM sleep is the state that prompts waking.
Additional information can be found at sleepfoundation.org
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