The simple strategy that stops learning from fading

We’ve all had that moment. You teach a concept, the class seems to understand, and a month later it’s as if it never happened. The truth is, forgetting is a normal part of learning. The trick is to design teaching programs that work with memory, not against it.

That’s where spaced repetition comes in.

Instead of teaching something once and moving on, spaced repetition involves revisiting key ideas at gradually increasing intervals. It’s about reminding students just before they forget, strengthening memory each time they retrieve the information.

This idea isn’t new. The psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus first described the “forgetting curve” in the 1880s, showing how quickly knowledge fades without review. More than a century later, research by Cepeda et al. (2006) confirmed that spacing out practice across time leads to much stronger long-term retention than cramming.

So what does this mean in schools?

Many of our programs are written to cover content, not build memory. We plan topics in neat blocks, test at the end, then move on. The result is short-term performance, not lasting understanding.

By contrast, programs that embed spaced retrieval deliberately bring past learning back into focus. Students get multiple opportunities to recall and apply key ideas over time, which is exactly how the brain learns best.

Here are some practical ways to apply this:

1. Revisit old learning regularly.
Start lessons with short retrieval activities that link back to previous units. A few quick questions, a short discussion, or a “last week in review” slide is all it takes.

2. Use low-stakes quizzes.
Frequent, simple quizzes help reactivate memory without the stress of assessment. Tools like mini whiteboards or exit tickets can make it quick and visible.

3. Interleave old and new content.
Mix practice from earlier topics into new lessons. For example, while teaching fractions, review basic number facts or operations.

4. Plan for spaced review in your programs.
When building your scope and sequence, deliberately schedule points where past concepts are revisited. This ensures students see the most important knowledge multiple times, spaced over weeks or even terms.

The key is not to add more work, but to structure time differently. Small, repeated reviews save hours of reteaching later on.

Planuva helps schools do this naturally. You can build units where key concepts are automatically spaced across lessons and terms, so retrieval and review become part of the program, not an afterthought.

When we teach for memory, not just coverage, students don’t just learn for the test, they learn for life.

If you care about great teaching and learning, join with us at https://planuva.com