I wanted to share my experience with Memory Magic. I just started using this software recently with my son. I purchased the the deluxe version CD which has all the games included in it. There are basically 3 games in it:
1) Follow the Dot - I don't use this game, because it is more suitable for older children (my son is only 2). But when he gets older, I will look forward to using it with him and see how it goes.
2) Flash 'em - i like this very much, it's just like Doman flashcards. There are 5 categories in total (Animals, Food, Sports, Musical Instruments, tools) and each category has got 10 sub-sections each of which contains 10 cards .... Now they flash these cards (10 at a time per seesion) automatically at a very rapid speed, just like Doman taught us to do. It's very eye-catching and absorbing that it even glues my eyes to the screen. As an added bonus, all the words (about 380 in total i believe) have these cards that you can print out. It's interesting because these cards not only have one picture/word but also 5 simple facts about them (I think the facts are very basic though). you can print out all of these cards as a supplement in teaching which is what I plan on doing in the future. There are some words which my child wasn't familiar with even though he uses the LR ... words like "chess, bomerang, jack" which LR may have missed here and there.
3) "Silly story linking game" - i like this probably the best ... why? because this type of "learning" is different from LR ... there is a series of pictures that you have to remember in a certain order (10 pics at a time, 100 in total) ... a "story" is told related to these pictures (10 facts + 10 images/story). As each "fact" is presented, there is a matching accompanying icon with graphics. So you show that to your child (at your pace) . After that there are 10 blank card and you ask your child to guess them in order. they remember what they had seen earlier and tell you. I have been using this with my 2-year-old son and I was pretty surprised to see him follow along and start remembering many icons in the correct order. For the younger babies, only recalling the image is asked for ('bird, cow, boot', etc).
For the older kids (7-year-olds), you have to recall the whole story fact-by-fact, word-by-word, (not just the icons) ... if kids could develop such an excellent memory of a "story" they were told, imagine how much it would help them with reading comprehension and the accompanying questions that always follow such stories! they would "remember" all the "details" of the story with a clear mental picture, and then they would be able to answer any questions about it with much more ease.
I remember how I always used to wish for a better reading comprehension level in college ... So I am excited about continuing this game with my son ... hopefully this will help him, and his reading comprehension level will be much much better than mine!
I was recently reading about kids whose sequential linking memory is so advanced that they can remember up to 300 images (cards) at a time in the correct sequence! In the beginning they need the help of a "silly story" to remember them, but after some time they become so good that they don't need that support, wow!
This "linking sequential memory" is a learning concept by Shichida which is something which (I believe) they teach in their schools in Japan . There was an excellent link that somebody had provided with in the earlier discussions - I will try to look for it and post it (unless it's at somebody else's fingertips, that would certainly help!)...
I may have made some "errors" in my facts, so I apologize in advance for that!
Digg
