Are we presenting the Facts but Not the Skills?
Have you ever spent the whole day going over a topic with your child, only to pick it back up a couple of weeks later and have them look at you as if you were crazy? You know that far away, unfocused look they get in their eyes when you both realize all of the information is lost? I think we all have.
We’ve known for generations that people of all ages benefit from frequent practice – the more the better. Who hasn’t heard the old adage, “Practice makes perfect.” This could not be more true for learning, especially as it relates to children, but in our rush to meet self-imposed quotas on curriculum and linear progress, sometimes the less significant topics may only get a day or two of focus. It is almost always the case, though, that these marginalized topics are ancillary to our understanding of the larger concepts. We can’t neglect them – they are the mortar that holds it all together.
So we know we’ve got a lot of information to cover, we know we need to practice to make it stick and we know we have limited time to make this all happen, so what’s the plan? Do we optimize the way we teach? Haven’t we been down this road before? We’ve shuffled around the curriculum, developed Common Core, changed standardized testing along with a host of other tweaks and fixes, but how much better are we really doing?
Perhaps it’s time to consider a different approach. Instead of focusing on teaching methods, we could examine the learning process from the student’s perspective. By teaching children not only how to learn but also how their brains process and retain information, we can empower them to optimize their own learning strategies. This shift in focus can transform students into active participants in their own education, helping them to better absorb and apply the knowledge we present to them.
And, wow, what a great time to explore this perspective. We’ve learned so much about the brain recently. We’ve learned the very things that we need to make this all work. We’ve learned how neuron pathways are developed by exposure to information, how they are strengthened by practice, and even how much of an important role sleep plays in this process. We just need to put it all together.
Our brains contain billions of neurons, which are long skinny cells that act as little data-transfer highways. One end of a neuron has axons which transmit information and, on the other end, dendrites which receive information. The area between neurons where the information is exchanged is called the synapse. When we learn something new, our brain creates new pathways between neurons. This process involves the formation and growth of dendritic spines, which are tiny protrusions on dendrites that help transmit signals. Practicing and reinforcing new knowledge strengthens these pathways and the dendritic spines, increasing the length of time we can retain that new information.
If we learn something new and then put it down for weeks or months, we have almost no chance to retain it. We’ve found that if new pathways aren’t revisited frequently after formation they will fade over time and the connection is lost. In fact, Dr. Guang Yang and her team 1 actually used imaging technology to look at neurons after learning a new skill and again after sleep and found something remarkable. Learning promoted the formation of dendritic spines on the neurons and more importantly, sleeping afterward caused those same connections to grow and strengthen even further, reinforcing that particular memory.
Following this research can be a little overwhelming, but the key takeaway here is getting a good night’s sleep after a long study session is very beneficial, if not necessary. So we know that sleep is a freebie but what other factors play a part in better learning? Unfortunately, practice is still necessary, but science has introduced some tricks that a lot of us should be aware of but probably aren’t – some tricks, like active recall, that can really optimize this process.
Active recall is the act of, well, actively recalling information you’ve just learned. Every time you ‘remember’ a new memory you strengthen and solidify that particular pathway in your brain. I discovered this exercise only recently and it has done wonders for my retention. The best way for me to explain this is just to walk you through an example of a technique I’ve developed for myself.
Say, for instance, I read an article on children’s learning and it’s got a lot of interesting facts about neurons and their dendrites, axons synapses etc. Previously I would have read the article, said “Hey, that was neat” and gone about my business, forgetting most, if not all of it after a couple of weeks. Now, as I’m reading something and come across the bits I’d like to retain, I make a mental or physical note of them and when I’m done I revisit all of those facts in my head to better imprint the parts that I’d absolutely like to remember. Now, the secret is to perform this active recall of those same facts later that day, especially right before bed. I’ve gotten in the habit lately of taking about 5 minutes each day as I lay in bed to recall key facts that I’d like to retain from that day. This places them front-of-mind for when sleep takes over and performs its free nightly strengthening process.
So now, we’ve learned some facts, we’ve recalled them a couple of times the same day, especially right before sleeping, and then we’ve gotten a great night’s sleep. What next? I’ve found that if I perform active recall on those same memories a day or two later, a week later, and then perhaps a month after that, I have a memory that will stand the test of time. This spaced retrieval, or the recalling of memory over progressively longer time intervals, is one of the most powerful tools in our learning toolbox.
Even young children know that revisiting facts over and over again can help with their retention but as their grade level increases and they are responsible for retaining larger and larger amounts of information, bad practices like cramming and reverse cramming come into play. The book Learning How to Learn 2 is a fantastic resource and covers this in detail. The authors remind us how important it is to practice active recall over time and that waiting until the day before your test to study isn’t in your best interest. I’ve learned that going over information, say, once a day for 5 days is loads better than going over it 5 or even 10 times the day before a test. The same holds true for the not-so-rewarding art of reverse cramming. Say, for instance, a student finds out that they have a test in a week. They might decide that it would be better to study now and get it over with rather than wait until the last minute. Good intentions or not, without revisiting that information a couple times during the week and reinforcing those neuron pathways, they won’t be doing any better on that test than their friend the crammer.
Another tip I learned from the book was that procrastination really is painful! Thinking about something that you’d rather not be thinking about, like studying for that big test or getting started on your report actually activates the insular cortex of the brain, the part responsible for processing pain. The more often you put something off the more pain you cause yourself. This seems pretty obvious, but there is a delightful flip-side to this. Beginning to work on that project you’ve been dreading activates the pleasure center of your brain and after 15 to 20 minutes you begin to feel rewarded and fulfilled. By all means, just get it over with already!
So we know that we can use active recall and spaced retrieval to optimize our memory and we know how important sleep is to the process but what else can we look at? I’m glad you asked!
In our not-too-distant past, we were content to think that the mind and the body were almost two distinct entities. If you wanted to get smart you’d study and learn and if you wanted to get stronger or faster you’d exercise. The more we look at this the more we learn that this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The perfect example of this is handwriting. In 2024 Frontiers in Psychology posted an article 3 on a very in-depth EEG study comparing the use of digital learning to handwriting. Brain activity was studied in 36 university students as they hand-wrote visually presented information vs. typing with a keyboard. Suffice it to say the results were overwhelmingly in favor of the use of handwriting over typing. This is an excerpt of their findings below:
It’s not a secret that ClayMaze.com is a big supporter of workbooks in learning but imagine my surprise when the findings of my own research encouraged their use over more modern digital methods. From spaced retrieval to the mind/body connection, workbooks still hold their own as a great learning resource.
That’s great, but let’s not get too far off-topic. I started this journey into the science of learning because at times, as a homeschooler, I feel ineffective. I feel like there is a divide between what I’m teaching and what the children are learning. I wrote this article because a lot of this new science really can make a difference in how we teach. By teaching our children how their brains work and involving them in developing effective study habits, we can empower them to become lifelong learners. Is this the Holy Grail of education? No. But I do think it’s an important piece of a much larger puzzle – a puzzle we’ll all work on together.
1 Sleep promotes branch-specific formation of dendritic spines after learning
2 Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens – Barbara Oakley, Terrence Sejnowski, Alistair McConville