How to improve your child's memory and thinking skills.

By connecting visual images, children can develop impressive memory skills and learn to focus their thinking, says Helen O’Callaghan

A BOY, 11 years old, steps on stage. He’s asked to spell a tough word — ‘loquacious’ or ‘plebiscite’. It bursts out of his mouth.

“You can see he has sat down and learned it off by rote,” says Carmel O’Doherty, who, as Eason spelling bee master, is attuned to the ways children remember.