Improve Memory

How to Remember and Retain what you Read  (improve Memory, Increase in Learning)

For:

• Worker who needs to improve job knowledge
• Learners who want higher scores
• Those who are losing memory capability
  
• Anyone who wants to think smart, feel smart, and be smart
  
• WHY improve your memory and thinking?
  
• Keep you promises to yourself and others
  

Your memory is your brain’s filing system. It contains everything you have learnt. You can store an amazing amount of information.  Your brain is made up of 100 billion neurons. As you grow and develop, these neurons are ‘wired up’ to each other, and communicate through thousands of connections – synapses. Memories are formed when certain connections are strengthened.

WAYS to Improve Your Memory:

Know How to Study

1. Be Believing
   

• Believe you can do it
  
• Play as if you are
  
• Make it interesting
  
• Avoid boredom
  

1. Be Organized
   

• Set time aside
  
• Multi-tasking is learnings worst enemy
  
• 10 minute rule (I wrote a book in 10 minutes)
  
• Learning material
  
• Environments:  physical and mental spaces
  
• Laugh – enjoy learning
  
• Avoid multi-tasking
  

1. Be Directed (self-test)
   

• Don’t just “look it over”
  
• Quiz yourself on what you learned
  
• Draw it out (charts and pictures)
  
• Write in the book
  
• Link information to other learning
  
• Apply learning to your life
  

1. How to Study the Scriptures
   

• Ask questions
  
• Word meanings
  
• Sentence and Paragraph structure
• Context
  
• Connections and association (old/new; physical/spiritual)

Know How to Think
Be Active

• Use exercises to increase brain power or neuro connections thereby giving you faster more efficient brain processing (see) www.learningrx.com or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aykuFhQIob4
• “Brain Games” book
  
• Memorize (songs, scripture, poetry, prose, etc.)
  
• Meditation (Keeps your brain busy so negative voices don’t enter)
• Sing
• Relaxation Exercises 
  
• Writing (3 ways to use your physical body to fight Satan)
  
• Warrior Chemistry (3 ways to use your physical body to fight Satan)
• Physical Exercise (3 ways to use your physical body to fight Satan)

Be Bright (brave/clear)

• Promotes memory formation and understanding
  
• Avoid multitasking (learning’s worst enemy)
  
• Think and think some more (learning’s best friend)
  
• Examine meaning, usefulness and implication
  

Be Curious 

• Ask questions:  “What’s missing?”, “What can be figured out?”
• Write down your questions, keep thinking of questions

Know How to See
Think in Pictures (engaging with the learning)

• look at the content with contrived visual meaning, look from the outside -something to be memorized
  

• look at the content with real meaning and context – like an actor, look from the inside  – something to be experienced

Think in Metaphors

• A teacher (book or seminar) has a certain logic/teaching or precept, this is represented by a vertical line.  The learner who does not have the knowledge is represented by a horizontal line.  We, together, are looking for the connection, the moment when both are edified.
  
• Logic:  2 + 2 = 4  is logic.  2 candies + 2 candies = 4 candies is how to teach a toddler.
  
• Metaphors contain all of the logic and yet conceals the whole meaning
  

Think in Symbols

• Hebrew has 8000 words and English has over 20,000
  
• They use symbolism and imagery and vision
  
• Each letter is a picture of meaning 
  
• Associate things together, old with new; physical with spiritual
  

Satan tries to get us to stop thinking and to forget!!

• increasing distractions
  
• decreasing communication
  
• decreasing desire for learning
  
• indifference
  
• decreases curiosity
  
• no longer teach symbolism
  
• no longer encourage questions
  
• decrease value of music
  

How to remember what you read

1.  Read with a purpose – ask, “What do I want to learn and remember from this ___ (reading, seminar, experience, audio, etc.)”
   
2. skim first
   
3. reading mechanics
   
4. highlight/note taking
   
5. think in pictures
   
6. rehearse as you go 
   
7. stay within attention span
   
8. rehearse soon after reading
   
9. teach what you read
   

Why Nephi wrote a Book (see 1 Ne. 6:4-5)

• Purpose – to bring his people closer to the Lord – “persuade men to come unto God.”
  
• Audience – those “not of the world” spiritual 
• Message – “things that are pleasing unto God”
  

REMEMBER it is simple it only takes more time (like long division)

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September 27th, 2014

We have been trained not to Wonder.  

We have been taught not to ask questions!  

We have poor thinking skills and it’s not that we are incapable, just not trained well!  As young children we were curious and asked many questions. When we received answers that were true but didn’t mean anything we slowly stopped asking questions.  And by the time we are 18 our ability to wonder, ask questions, be curious is gone.  Our hunger for knowledge is practically nonexistent. When our leaders ask us questions we just sit and stare or satisfy them (and ourselves) with cliches, memorized definitions, cute statements or circular definitions. These answers do not prepare for growth, nor do they edify, require thinking or bring understanding.  What can we do to rectify this problem?  

Learn a new skill:   SYMBOLOGY!

Why Symbology?

• to bring understanding!  
• It is training on the horizontal (physical) plane that connects with the vertical (spiritual).
• to increase curiosity 
• to lead you to more questions

What is symbology?  

• the study of symbols 
• learning a true principle and finding it throughout all learning
• applying real principles to your personal life
• how to think, think and think again
• simple and deep, easy and hard reasoning
• an educational skills of communication and comprehension
• improving brain development and capacity

More Creativity, More Communication, More Understanding, More Deep Thinking, More Achievement.

What symbology is NOT:  

• a specific answer, you cannot completely define a symbol
• a “catch all” answer like “because it’s in the book.”  or “to pass the test.”

“Questions are like fish hooks that answers get hooked on. Questions are what connects us what we want, who we want to be and what we don’t know we want to know.”  Tresta Neil

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Thank you!

I struggled with teaching the numbers 1 through 5 without a live audience and I’m so pleased that I did!

Thank you to Dianne who did an amazing job putting together the Not Back to School Summit. What a huge blessing to all our lives. 🙂

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13 things to increase curiosity

1. Create a Wonder Board or list on your phone – all questions go on a piece of paper and up on the board.  write down your questions, questions others have, definitions, what you want to investigate later, Seek, Explore, Question
   
2. Inquiry Bag of tools – magnifying glass, paper and pencil, compass, straightedge, camera, colored pencils, measuring tape, binoculars, 
   
3. Label them, “nice question!  More evidence that you’re a curious person!”  Let  them know they are curious, thinkers, wonderers, etc.  Always tell them why you think that about them.  The more they hear it from those in authority the more they are going to believe it.
   
4. Play games, do your review around the room.  Make up memory games
   
5. Be secretive – tell some in the class the new formula or theme secretly and then out loud say, “Don’t tell anyone.”
   
6. Take the tangents – when a student asks a question that isn’t on topic take it and bring it back.  Show them that it is ok to be curious.
   
7. Have them choose their ideas – this teaches them to evaluate how interesting ideas are – the beginning of curiosity.
   
8. Have them write about an interesting idea in an interesting way so they become interested in the idea and find ways to study it – full-fledged curiosity. .
   
9. Increase their responsibility (Have them involved in their own assessments) will create more independence and curiosity.  Curiosity is confident independence.  🙂 
   
10. Don’t answer their questions directly, answer with a question to get them thinking.  Let them know their questions are important and that searching for answers bring a lot of satisfaction.
    
11. Listen to them
    
12. If you don’t know the answer, tell them, ask how they could search for the answers together
    
13. Share your questions with them!  
    

When curiosity – that drive to know, is gone it is hard to get back!  But not impossible!!  Nurturing curiosity can be as easy as listening and talking to each other.

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The Bridge to Self Learning

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My Presentation Notes

On September 24, 2014 I spoke to an audience of mostly college students about increasing curiosity.  Here are my notes: Imagine that you are the friend of Pythagorus …Story of Pythagorus going to Atlantis, finding scalene people…

What does scalene mean?  What does it mean in this context? (answer at the end of presentation)
How is the shape for the number 2 important to you?  Think about this for the next hour.

Why is curiosity so important?  Why is it the buzz word in education right now?  (Ken Robinson)

Write down 10 questions you have about nature….

My professor, John Young, told us that it take him 6 – 8 weeks to get his new students  to start thinking on their own, to ask questions, basic questions.  🙁

The question now is how do we get it back and how do we keep it in our children?

Why is being curious so important?  We need THINKERS, people who can find answers, solve problems, etc.  When a society is created without curiosity there is no more risks, no more questions, no more entrepreneurs, no more independence!

Teach the Bridge to Self Learning (below)

. . .

We want our children to be Great Leaders
“Average leaders raise the bar for themselves
Good leaders raise the bar for others
Great leaders help others raise the bar for themselves”

Share the 13 ways to Increase your Curiosity. (below)

. . . 

Teach the Vesica Pisces

What did you learn about the scalene triangle?  How does it apply in this context?

Encouraging curiosity and thinking, helping children to know that their questions are valid and worth exploring and that they are capable of finding the answers is what is needed in the world and in our homes?

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Hebrew vs. Greek methodologies

A young boy goes sees his father’s hammer and can’t resist the temptation to grab it and use it. The father soon hears the hammer being used and finds the boy. One father approaches the boy and says
“A wise child uses twice as much care with his father’s things as he does with his own.”
Another father says,
“If you break anything with that hammer, you’re going to be in big trouble.”  One of these is said by the father of a child of an eastern or Hebrew culture; the other by one of a western or Greek culture.  Do you know which?  Yes, the “wise child” statement is of eastern culture and the more specific “hammer” one is of western.

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Symbolism– the use of one idea to cause the mind to think for itself to comprehend a larger and possibly more complex idea.  That may not be a dictionary definition, but it seems to serve well here.  
While the Statement about the “wise child” may not be use of direct symbolism, it does follow my above definition.  Why do two fathers see their son doing the same thing, yet use such different ways to let the child know that he’ll be in big trouble if anything is damaged?  It’s a way of thinking.  We who are of western culture would expect to hear the more direct “hammer” warning.  Both work at getting the thought across, but the first does encompass a lot more than the hammer.  The difficulty with the “wise child” warning is that the child must think, “I want to be a wise child.  why would it be wise to be more careful with Dad’s things…I’ll be in big trouble if I’m not.”  There is also difficulty with the “hammer” method.  The child might just go out and start playing with a saw.  Then after he’s cut all the legs of a table, he’ll wonder why he’s in trouble.  
The Lord uses both the direct and the indirect (symbolism) to get his point across.  We, his children need to learn how to “decode” the symbolism.  I think that most of the time it’s not that the “decoding” job is difficult, but rather we’re just not accustomed to thinking though such language.  We tend to want everything to be in plain, straight forward, language.  I suggest, however, that it’s in the really thinking out the symbolism that we internalize the principle taught and therefore can more efficiently act on it.
Every symbol has a logical progression or connection:
Health in the navel… the path through which life and strength are given/received.  —Thus a symbol of spiritual life and strength given/received.
Marrow in the bones… inner source of life as it is where blood in manufactured.  —Thus the source of inner strength, etc.
Green… life, spring, renewal… I’ll let you think this one through the rest of the way.
By pondering and learning though symbolism we can internalize each principle and as we study principle upon principle, we can begin to see the whole picture more clearly.  Maybe a better way of putting it would be that the symbolism helps us see just how the principle fits in with others to complete the picture.

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Miracles

Occasionally big miracles come into your live that change your outlook on life.  This month I have received two!  I have been searching for family groups and classes that will help me give my children the best education for them individually and as a family.  I found both!

First, I have the privilege of being a mentor with the Provo Vanguard Group.  This is a wonderful once a week principle based, LDS homeschool group.  There are fabulous teachers for my younger children going on at the same time as the youth are being taught.  Nickie Allen has facilitated this group and has blessed my family because of it.  There are four main classes, Government and Leadership, History and Geography, Literature and Art and Math and Science.  I teach the Math and Science class where this semester we are learning symbolic Geometry and Oceanography.  I get to teach what I love and have others teach my children what they love to teach.  They get the benefits and privilege of having teachers who are passionate and creative.  Who can ask for more?  It is a miracle!  

Second, I became a certified mentor for Life Changing Services.  I have three teenage sons who struggled with pornography.  As an LDS mother this is devastating!  Where did I go wrong?  What could I have done differently?  What can I do now and where can I turn?  These were the questions whirling through my head.  I wanted help for them, but I also needed help myself.  Life Changing Services gave me the education and the tools I needs to overcome the feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness.  The principles helped me see the real battle we are fighting against Satan.  The information changed our family from a state of despair and embarrassment to strength and unity.  I am so thrilled with the results!  It is a miracle!!

I would love to hear the miracles that are happening in your lives.  Please share them by email.  

I hope that your family and your homeschool experiences are filled with the spirit and you are learning and increasing in joy.  

With Love,
Tresta

Here is what’s happening at Keystone Connections:

KEYZ
Three classes for one low price!  Tuesday afternoons I am teaching three classes for youth and parents.  These are unique classes filled with symbolism.  
1. Eternal Warriors – learn strategies to fight against Satan that really work.  
2. The Gospel in Geometry – learn the deep symbolism of basic shapes, colors, numbers and Hebrew letters. 
3. The Roles of Christ in Astronomy – learn the history of the constellations, the meanings behind the names, learn twelve major role of Christ within the twelve Zodiac constellations.  Read more. . .

Parents Who Know!
An eight week course for parents and grandparents who struggle with the feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty.  There are three types of voices in our head – 1) God, who encourages, uplifts, comforts and helps us remember, 2)Self, who asks questions, is curious and makes decisions and 3) Satan, who tries to get us to forget, be discouraged or frustrated, etc. In this class we will learn how to become very comfortable with God’s voice and our own learning. And how to recognize and stop Satan’s influence on us. We will accomplish this by setting a few goals and closely observing how Satan gets us personally to not accomplish our desires (of God, what he wants for us too).   Read more . . 

Mathematics in Creation
An eight week class for youth and adults about math within God’s creations.  We will discover and learn the characteristics of Christ in each shape, color, number and Hebrew letters.  Learners will gain a greater love for math and science, learn connections between all the sciences, colors, numbers and shapes and the history of mathematics.  This will be a class that will change how you see everything. Read more. . . 

Theology Tree
A once a month class using the Principle Approach.  We will begin in September with the basic principles such as word studies, character studies, tools of Remembering and tools of Retaining.  Then each month we will take one subject and go in depth with doctrines, principles and applications of that specific subject.   Read more . . .

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