For parents

Flashcards look simple. What makes them work is a few well-studied facts about memory, and one skill your child can start building early: noticing what they know and what they don't.

Knowing what you know

Metacognition means thinking about your own thinking. For a learner it starts with a simple question: "Do I actually know this?" People of all ages are often wrong about that, and young children tend to be too sure of themselves. This is normal, and it is a skill that develops with age and practice.

In sreps: After each card the child judges how it went. That small moment of honest checking is the skill being practised.

Try this: Ask "Did you know it, or did you guess?" and be just as pleased with either answer.

Recalling is better than re-reading

Pulling something out of memory strengthens it more than looking at it again. This is called retrieval practice, or the testing effect.

In sreps: The answer stays hidden until the child has had a go.

Try this: Wait a few seconds before showing the answer. Do not rush to help.

Spacing beats cramming

The same practice lasts longer when it is spread over days than when it is done all at once. Memory fades in a predictable way, and practising just as it starts to fade is efficient.

In sreps: The scheduler brings each card back after a gap that grows as the card gets easier.

Try this: Five minutes every day does more than half an hour on Sunday.

Hard is not the same as bad

Effort during practice often means learning is happening, even though it feels slower. Researchers call these "desirable difficulties". Things that feel easy, like reading the same list again, can create a false sense of knowing.

In sreps: Cards return when they have become a little hard to remember, on purpose.

Try this: If your child struggles and then gets it, say so: "That was hard and you remembered it. That is how it sticks."

Getting it wrong is part of it

A wrong attempt followed by the right answer is useful practice. A child who presses "again" honestly is giving the scheduler exactly what it needs.

In sreps: A forgotten card simply comes back soon. There are no scores, no lost lives and nothing to lose.

Try this: Never correct which button they press. If they always claim to know, sit with them and ask them to say the word first.

An honest limit

Most of this research was done with school-age children and adults, and much less with children who cannot read yet. Very young children are still learning to judge their own memory, so treat their button presses as practice rather than as an accurate report. Sit with them when you can.

Practical tips

Keep it short. Stop while it is still fun; the default is 10 new cards a day.
Same time each day works well, such as after breakfast.
Let your child answer out loud before pressing anything.
If a card keeps being forgotten, sreps sets it aside. Change it or add a picture, then bring it back.

Sources

Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring. American Psychologist, 34(10).
Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology.
Bjork, R. A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. In Metacognition: Knowing about Knowing.
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning. Psychological Science, 17(3).
Cepeda, N. J., et al. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: a review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3).
Dunlosky, J., et al. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1).
Lipko, A. R., Dunlosky, J., & Merriman, W. E. (2009). Persistent overconfidence despite practice: the role of task experience in preschoolers' recall predictions. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 103(2).

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