Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Learning Repetition?

Is there a way to know how many repetitions one needs for learning?

This may seem to variable to even ask this question. Here's what I'm thinking. I have a feeling somebody has some insight to this.

My DS9 knows his spelling words on the second day. Maybe the majority of the class needs more days, I'm not really sure. It seems like if the student consistently only needs 2 repetitions, then they could go onto something else at that point.

This is a very easy example but I'm wondering about applying to other areas. Would there be a way of saying for a fact he only needs 2 repetitions of his social studies, for example ,so he could go onto something more meaningful during his school day? Is there a way to know how many repetions some one needs for learning? It seems like a lot of the learning is just retaining the information, learn the steps, not so much problem solving and reasoning.

I was having a conversation with some friends abt hw and Everyday Math the other day. At one point, I blurted, "forgetting how to do something doesn't mean that you don't understand/know how to do it". We just need a quick flip of a book/ or a reminder (eg. a formula) to ring a bell.
While I understand that Math is one subject which repetition is strongly encouraged, sometimes repetition just slows down the whole process (of learning) JMO.

Take a look at this Google search result:
Google- gifted+child+repetition

I keep seeing that a "typical" giftie can achieve mastery in only a few repetitions (like there's such a thing as typical, but I digress), whereas an "average" learner can require several or more. (However, after about a thousand repetitions, our son still leaves his towel on the floor, so I presume it's selective.)

If you add "counterproductive" to the Google search above, you'll find info showing where the excess repetitions can be, well, counterproductive to the learning experience for GT kids. Would the teacher make an "average" learner do three times the repetition necessary? Um... NO! because the kid would likely go totally bonkers as a result. Which is why I am starting to sense a little "resistance" when DS has to do the language arts worksheets with 20-30 "problems" for each concept.

Our DS integrates corrected word spellings after one or two times, depending on the complexity. Pronunciations are generally remembered after one correction. (With the exception of "gases," for which he still uses a long "a" sound, much to my consternation.


I would think this to be highly variable depending on complexity of content, so I'd be hesitant to assign standard review requirements across the board. Push, instead, for the freedom to proceed once your child has demonstrated mastery of a given concept, section or chapter.

In our upcoming mttg with the psychologist & school staff, this is one item I want placed squarely on the table (while the good doctor is there) so that it is not just me making these wild claims. From what I've seen, his homework & classwork could be cut by almost two-thirds and he'd do just as well.

I guess this is one of the reasons on-line programs like EPGY or ALEKS can work so well -- they don't make the kid do 20 problems when 5 will suffice.

I want THIS teacher in the conference with me:

Read the whole thing:
Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom

# of reps needed will vary from subject to subject and task to task, but if the needed # = the required # then one is probably in the right class. For something like spelling, the simplist thing is to
a) go to a classroom where the words are hard enough that repetition is needed or
b) bring the hard words to the child.

and yes, on of the sad facts of life is that teachers are trained in school to believe that abstract thinking, problem solving and reasoning are impossible for elementary school aged kids.

The bitter exception to this sad fact is that in the realm of social interactions then the gloves are off; all kids, even in 1st grade, are expected to know what 'pay attention' and 'behave yourself' and 'control your body' means. Sounds pretty abstract to me, but that's another topic.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Dandy - please let me know how your meeting goes. You are few steps ahead of me. I printed out the web reference. Thank you very helpful.

I want My DS9 to stop at mastery too. I think the concern is getting them to give him a pretest which is making extra work for the teacher. Could a child be mature enough to just say ok I got it? And then the teacher have faith in this. My son usally knows when he has got it. I feel like we need a plan that doesn't involve changing the system within the class. Do you think the pretest idea will go over well with your school.

I keep thinking our anwser will be online learning because that will be less teacher maintance. I'm not sure if they will go for this or how I can pay for this. I hope we can get into DYS.

We are bumping up against this very issue with my DD9 - spelling, science and social studies facts, etc. Thank you for pointing out the online resources on the topic - I'll let you know if I make any headway w/ the teachers. (DD9 is in 4th, and has a half-day pullout for Gifted once a week, so she's mostly in the regular classroom).