Forgetting is Learning!

Did you know that forgetting is the friend of learning? Dr. Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College recently did a study that proved this. It was found that when the brain forgets something, it will search for ways to remember it the next time—especially when in a somewhat stressful situation.

Let’s think about this. If you run into someone at a party that you have previously met and spoken to at length, you are somewhat embarrassed when you cannot recall their name now. (Especially, if they remember your name) However, most of the time, it is this simple embarrassment that causes you to remember their name every time after that! It seems that the more mental sweat or stress that it takes to learn something, the longer our brains are able to hold onto the information.

The same applies in a scholastic setting. If a student forgets information on a test and then is asked the information later, he/she will often remember it for longer periods of time. The emotional stress of having to recall information in a testing situation, and then having to go back over it, can actually help a student to learn better!

Here are some tips on how to apply this at home:
1. Give your student practice quizzes after they have studied on their own a bit.
2. There are many games that can help students practice in this fashion. (Games are simply another way of quizzing and work great with hands-on learners. Some of these are:
• Playing memory games with flash cards
• Online games (such as http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_capitals_10_500.html to learn states/capitals)
• Board games to learn math or vocabulary

3. Orally quiz your student several days in a row. (Remember, we need them to have opportunities to forget, so NEVER just study the night before)

Giving our children permission to forget can also relieve their anxiety as many children think that forgetting is a negative thing. Showing them that forgetting is the friend of learning gives them the freedom to try and fail and then try again