Your child can be very bright and still have trouble with these things. In fact, sometimes it is because your child is bright-- her brain is busy learning new concepts, thinking through ideas, making sense out of the world. It is busy making connections between one concept and another. And unfortunately, busy brains tend to discard what feels like random facts that are unconnected to anything else, no matter how many times they may be exposed to these facts. Endless repetition of flash cards or other drills, if they're not working, will only frustrate your child and drive you both insane.
What the brain needs is just what you needed when I gave you the sign-- something to make it stick. And that "something" is not the same for every brain-- some brains need tape, some need staples or pins, some need magnets-- some may need glue, Velcro, or putty! Metaphorically speaking, of course. Using the wrong something can be as effective as trying to stick that sign on the wall with a magnet. So if your child is getting discouraged over his failure to memorize something important, maybe it's time to try a different tactic.
Mnemonic devices ("a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assist in remembering something") are helpful for many students. The sign itself is an example-- using "PANDA" as an acronym for classroom supplies. Associations, the sillier the better, are among my favorite memory aids. A great product for learning multiplication facts through associations is Times Tales. This is a set of silly one-liner "stories" that introduce children to characters that represent numbers, and then present a situation for each multiplication fact that helps tie the numbers together. For example, 'Mrs Week (7) and Mrs Snowman (8) were in a car driving one mile over the speed limit (56). ' 7 x 8 = 56. And I love Yo, Sacramento -- a book that teaches states and capitals with the silliest pictures ever: I will never, ever forget the capital of New Hampshire after seeing the illustration of a Concorde jet being driven by a Nude Hamster!
Music is a great memorization tool for a lot of people. Audio Memory has been around for decades and has taught thousands of children everything from math and grammar to geography and history through songs. Back in the 70's we had Schoolhouse Rock-- now available on dvd or YouTube. In fact, there are countless math fact drills set to music-- in pop, rap, even country styles-- that can be found on YouTube. Same with states and capitals. After 25 years, I can still recall the countries and capitals of South America from this song. Even the quadratic formula from algebra class has several songs in its honor. You can Google just about anything that commonly has to be memorized and find a song for it: just type in (the thing you have to memorize) and "song." Like, "layers of the atmosphere song" or, for a real challenge, "periodic table song."
But songs don't work for everybody. Some students remember things best when they build, or draw, or in some other way interact with the information. Maybe working a map puzzle, or labeling a plastic-covered page with a dry erase marker, or matching up a set of cards, would help those states and capitals stick. Maybe linking all the pairs of numbers that add up to 10 or 12 or 16 with a set of Cuisenaire rods would help with addition and subtraction facts. Maybe creating models of molecules and breaking them into atoms to reassemble into new molecules is the key to acing that chemistry test.
The point is, if something isn't working for your child and she's given it a good, honest effort, it's probably the wrong approach. Like using a thumbtack on a refrigerator, it's not going to stick. Try something different!
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