The importance of repetition (and how to make it easier)

It is an unfortunate fact that a large part of learning is repetition. You have to see things and do things again and again in order to remember them permanently, and the same goes for schoolwork. This might sound boring, but there are several things you can do as a student to make tackling this more palatable.

In general, for content to sink in you have to engage with it. There is no point staring at at an open textbook for an hour - it would be more effective to spend 5 minutes doing one of the exercises and then walking away. Here are some different ways of engaging with material:

• Make your own notes. The best way to do this is by reading a page of a textbook while trying to memorise it, then close the book and summarise the page in your own words on paper or flashcards. Then look back into the book to make sure you got all the key points and fill in the gaps.
• Do questions. This is the best way to test and refresh your knowledge. Start off by finding some questions in a textbook or online, and answering them using your notes. Work up to tackling questions without any notes, using only your own memory.
• Record yourself! Now that audio and video recording technology is so easily available on smartphones, we can use this to mix up our learning. Record yourself explaining a topic and then you can listen while you are walking to school or waiting for the bus.
• Have someone else challenge you. Get a parent or friend to look in your notes and ask you questions or explain topics. 
• DO NOT just sit there passively watching YouTube videos. Many of my students have reported to me that this is how they spend their revision time, but that is no good. Online videos can be really useful, but you have to be active when watching them - be making notes, thinking of anything you don't understand and doing questions on the topic afterwards

Try to mix and match the methods (and come up with some of your own!) to bring novelty and variety to your learning. Keeping yourself interested is the best way to make your learning time efficient!

For more advice on this or for Maths and Science tuition, contact me on the website or on social media.