How Spaced Repetition Can Boost Your Child's Learning

Do you want your child to remember more of what they learn and spend less time studying? If so, you might want to try a simple but powerful technique called spaced repetition.

Spaced repetition is a learning method that involves reviewing and recalling information at optimal intervals over time. This helps your child's brain form stronger and more lasting memories of the material, and reduces the amount of forgetting that occurs naturally over time.

Spaced repetition is based on the scientific finding that our memory decays over time unless we actively review what we have learned. This decay is shown by the forgetting curve, which was first discovered by the psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in the 1880s¹.

The forgetting curve shows that we forget most of what we learn in the first day, and our memory continues to decline over time unless we practice what we have learned at intervals. By spacing out our repetitions, we can counteract this forgetting and improve our long-term retention.

Spaced repetition can be applied to any type of learning, from vocabulary words to math formulas to history facts. It can also help your child transfer their knowledge to different contexts and apply it to new problems².

Spaced repetition is especially beneficial for children with memory problems, such as those with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease. Studies have shown that spaced repetition can help these children learn new names, faces, words, and concepts with the help of their family members³⁴.

To use spaced repetition effectively, you need to plan your child's review sessions carefully. You need to consider the following factors:

• The frequency of the repetitions: How often should your child review the material? This depends on how difficult the material is and how well your child knows it. Generally, the more difficult and unfamiliar the material is, the more frequent the repetitions should be.
• The spacing of the repetitions: How long should you wait between each review session? This depends on how much your child has already forgotten and how much they need to remember. Generally, the longer you wait between each review session, the more effective it will be, as long as your child can still recall the material.
• The content of the repetitions: What should your child review in each session? This depends on what your child needs to learn and remember. Generally, you should focus on the most important and relevant information, and use different formats and methods to make it more engaging and varied.

Spaced repetition is a simple yet powerful technique that can boost your child's learning and memory. By using it regularly and consistently, you can help your child achieve better results in less time.

Matical Orange internally by keeping a log of learning results, inside learning sessions and and prioritizing on the facts that are not reliably memorized yet. Future versions of Matical Orange will use my own Spaced repetition learning algorithm for learning sessions, and Bayesian cognitive modeling for planning learning sessions.

I hope you liked my blog post. If you have any feedback or questions, please let me know. 😊

Sources

1. What Is Spaced Practice (And How To Use It) | Oxford Learning
2. Spaced repetition (article) | Learn to Learn | Khan Academy
3. What is Spaced Repetition, and what are its benefits?
4. Spaced Repetition: A Guide to the Technique - E-Student
5. What is spaced repetition in learning? - Neovation
6. Why we can’t remember what we learn and what to do about it
7. Spaced Repetition | Psychology Today UK
8. Spaced repetition: a hack to make your brain store information
9. Spaced Repetition | Psychology Today