Mastering Memory Pro vs Black Sheep Press Narrative

Mastering Memory Pro is great for schools and therapists to use as a tool to help them improve the short-term memory of their pupils and clients. It has modules suitable for children and adults. At its easiest it can be used with pre-school aged children (with a prerequisite for understanding the concept of same and different) and at its most difficult it is hard for most adults. The hardest option is presenting 5 items, in auditory modality, at 1 second intervals, with 3 information carrying words per item; e.g. the colour, the direction and object name. That is 15 bits of information to recall and hold in either working memory or short-term memory or transfer to long-term memory as directed by the teacher. Playing with this app without the help of a supportive human will not improve the memory of the user in real life. Because if you already knew what to do to improve your memory you would be doing it already! The problem is we don’t talk about memory and HOW we remember. So someone who is not good at memory has no way of learning from their peers or parents. Mastering Memory Pro is a tool in which you can alter the: Module Difficulty Level Topics Number of items to remember Modality (visual memory / auditory memory or both combined) Speed Presentation style (Pictures / Text or both) Pattern or sequence of items Various colour / background accessibility options Thus you have 1000s of possible sequences to choose and see which are easier and which are more difficult. The point of Mastering Memory Pro is to discuss HOW you remember (i.e. the strategies you use), discuss HOW to use those skills to improve memory in real life and set a timetable to provide motivation and opportunities to practise using those strategies. If the child has no idea what strategies they use, the adult meditating the program can demonstrate out loud and model how he or she would remember sequences of pictures. This is a good strategy for parents who want to help, but don’t feel confident to teach Memory Strategies. There is a developmental sequence of memory strategies, but anyone who can remember can help someone find out what options may help them. It is important to then apply that knowledge in the real world, to remember things that matter. Mastering Memory Pro and it’s pictures are a tool to discover your strengths and weaknesses, and understand your own Memory Blueprint through discussion.

This app teaches the concepts of ‘Who’, ‘Where’, ‘When’, ‘What Happened Next’ and ‘The End’.   Written and narrated by Bec Shanks and Catherine Bowen, the app is designed to complement storytelling work in the classroom. The skill of storytelling plays a crucial role in shaping and sustaining social connections, starting in childhood, extending through adolescence and persisting into adulthood. This app mirrors the development of narrative skills in children – from raising their awareness of the individual components of a simple story to retelling and generating their own endings to stories. It is a versatile resource which can be used alongside other narrative interventions in the classroom The app contains 26 games which introduce narrative concepts and provide multiple practice opportunities: An explanation of narrative - A video narrated by Bec Shanks explaining to children that stories are made up of lots of different bits … ‘Who’, ‘Where’, ‘When’, ‘What Happened’ and ‘The End’ An introduction to narrative - three games introducing the colours and icons used in the narrative approach. Individual sections 3 to 8 contain a total of 23 games ’Who' - (4 Games) From simple picture matching to helping Freddy the Magician with his tricks by answering all the ‘who’ questions. Where - (4 Games) From simple picture matching to flying a rocket to the moon by answering all of the ‘where’ questions When - (4 Games) From matching a ‘when’ picture to deciding when Jack might ride his bike - in the morning, afternoon, at lunchtime or in the evening. Consolidation A game to consolidate the concepts of ‘who’ ‘where’ and ‘when’ What happened- (4 Games) From making silly sentences to deciding what might happen if you saw a lion in the school field. The End - (2 Games) begins with selecting the ending to a story the child likes the best to generate and recording their ending to a story. This app has been trialled with children ages 4 - 7 by clinicians, teachers, and parents, producing extremely positive feedback from all groups. Don’t take our word for it, hear what some users say… ‘When he went back to class, despite playing several activities it was the app activity that the child immediately told the teacher about ‘Guess what, we played a game about telling stories… it was about a clown who went to space and saw a pig in pants!!!!!’ The child was very animated and looked forward very much to using it again. It was the first thing he asked for in his following session. Another child did not want to return to class as he was enjoying activities so much.' (Clinician) Easy to navigate, colourful, clear instructions, narrative components are well organised, fun, effective and enjoyable games, handy to have all resources/components and activities in one place. (Teacher) ‘Their favourite things were the monster who you had to feed the story elements. The animation and sound effects were great. They loved the silly stories and enjoyed switching all the sections and hearing the story play back to them. They also loved Pop the Bubbles and the magician. It was great to have a voice-over for all the instructions so my son (4) could play all the games and do all the activities without having to be able to read’ (Parent) ‘The app is easy to use, accessible for children, and brightly presented with lovely colours and pictures to appeal to children. It is easy to navigate, the voices are pitched at an appropriate level for children and nice to listen to. If the child doesn't give the correct answer they don't get a cross or a 'wrong' noise. Games can be played for a few minutes as a stand-alone activity or you could work through them in order.’ (Teacher) Age: 4-7+ years (Appropriateness for older children will depend on the learning and language profile of the child)