Parents, let&rsquo;s talk about something we all stress over&mdash;getting our kids to learn effectively. We&rsquo;ve all seen it: the late-night cramming, the endless repetition of notes, and the last-minute panic before exams. But what if I told you there&rsquo;s a smarter way to help your child retain information, without the stress? Science has some answers, and spoiler alert&mdash;it&rsquo;s not about rote learning.
A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that learning foreign words is much easier when they appear in different sentences rather than the same one on repeat. Our brains love variety&mdash;it&rsquo;s what makes memories stick.
Think about it: You don&rsquo;t remember a movie by watching the same scene over and over, right? You remember it because of all the different moments that made it special. Learning works the same way.
Mix It Up:&nbsp;When kids are learning new words&mdash;be it English, Hindi, Gujarati, or any other language&mdash;don&rsquo;t just have them repeat the same sentence. Instead, let them use it in different contexts: &ldquo;She loves aam (mango).&rdquo; &ldquo;Aam is sweet.&rdquo; &ldquo;We bought aam at the market.&rdquo; This simple trick cements the word in their memory.
Ditch the Cramming:&nbsp;We all did it&mdash;studying everything in one go the night before the test. But research shows that spacing out study sessions is way more effective. So, instead of a marathon study session, encourage your child to break it up into smaller chunks over the week.
Make It a Game:&nbsp;Who says studying has to be boring? Turn it into a quiz, a scavenger hunt, or even a friendly competition. Kids (and, let&rsquo;s be honest, adults too) learn better when they&rsquo;re having fun.
Encourage &lsquo;Teaching&rsquo;:&nbsp;Want to see if your child truly understands something? Ask them to explain it to you in their own words. Teaching forces them to recall and organize their knowledge&mdash;two things that help make learning stick.
Why Feeling &lsquo;Easy&rsquo; Isn&rsquo;t Always Better: 
Interestingly, the PNAS study found that people think they&rsquo;re learning better when they just repeat the same information, even though they actually retain less. It&rsquo;s a classic case of &ldquo;it feels easy, so it must be working&rdquo; when, in reality, a little challenge is what makes learning last.
Learning Shouldn&rsquo;t Be a Chore
At the end of the day, learning isn&rsquo;t just about passing exams&mdash;it&rsquo;s about curiosity, understanding, and making connections. So, next time you see your kid struggling with a concept, don&rsquo;t push them to memorize blindly. Instead, mix things up, add variety, and let learning feel more like an adventure than a chore. They&rsquo;ll thank you for it later!

Our brains love variety—it’s what makes memories stick.

Rote learning doesn’t work, but can repetition still help students? If yes, how?

Want to Help Kids Learn Language? Try These Tricks

Rote learning doesn’t work, but can repetition still help students? If yes, how?

March 2, 2025 | 11:58 IST