The mental notepad that lets a child hold information in mind long enough to use it — and the small changes that make the biggest difference.
Plain English, no jargon. You don't need a teaching background to use this — just read the parts that feel useful and skip the rest. If something raises a question, your child's teacher or SENDCO is the best next step.
Working memory is the short-term space where a child holds information while they use it — remembering three things you asked, keeping a phone number in mind while they dial, or holding a sentence together while they write it down.
Working memory is limited for all of us — for children with working memory difficulties, the mental notepad rubs itself out faster.
You ask them to go upstairs, brush their teeth and bring down their reading book. They come down with only the book. That's not laziness — that's a working memory limit.
"It's not that they're not trying. It's that the list disappeared halfway up the stairs."
Wait until the first is done before adding the next. It slows things down at first, but avoids the reset.
A morning-routine card by the door, or picture steps for teeth-brushing, offloads the memory job from the child.
Ask them to say the plan aloud before starting. Hearing it in their own voice helps it stick.
"First shoes, then coat, then bag." Three chunks, one at a time, are kinder than one long sentence.
If your child looks blank, add support before adding consequences.
The professional Evidence Library shows the same ideas written for teachers, SENDCOs and school leaders.
Open the Evidence LibraryA calm handful of next steps — not a checklist. Follow whichever thread is most useful right now.
See the same evidence translated for teachers, so home and school can pull in the same direction.
Sensory, attention, communication, wellbeing — see how this topic sits alongside the wider picture.
Working memory, attention, executive function and cognitive load — threaded into one guided journey.
Each guide below connects to the one you've just read. We've noted why — so you can follow the thread that matters most to you.
Executive function orchestrates working memory — planning, holding a goal in mind and switching between steps all draw from it.
Attention and working memory work in tandem — a child cannot hold what they never fully attended to.
Explains how lesson design affects the demands placed on working memory — reduce the load and more capacity is freed for learning.
Slower processing keeps information in working memory longer, increasing the chance it fades before it can be used.
How children make sense of what adults say — and what we can change about the way we communicate so that more children understand, participate and show what they know.
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How children put their thoughts, ideas, needs and experiences into words — and what adults can change so that more children can show what they think and know.
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What it means to really know a word, why word knowledge sits underneath so much classroom learning, and how adults can build it deliberately without turning language into a deficit.
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Being hard to understand is not the same as having less to say. What speech sounds are, how clarity develops at different rates, and how to keep a child fully included while it does.
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Not the ability to stay calm. What emotional regulation actually involves, how it grows through relationships, and what genuinely helps at home and in class — with the strength of the evidence stated plainly.
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