01/15/2026
When learning doesn’t stick, it’s not because kids didn’t try hard enough, or because parents didn’t support them. Most students are never explicitly taught how to study in ways that actually build memory.
In Make It Stick (Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, & Mark A. McDaniel), the authors explain that durable learning comes from retrieval, spacing, and supported challenge, strategies that feel harder but work better. Without guidance, students naturally gravitate toward what feels easier: re-reading notes, reviewing answer keys, or relying on recognition.
This is also why multiple-choice questions often feel safer, they lower cognitive load. But when cues disappear, true learning hasn’t been strengthened yet.
That’s why kids sometimes say:
“I studied so hard… but I blanked.”
Usually, their studying looked like:
• re-reading notes
• reviewing completed work
• looking over “what I know” sheets
These strategies feel productive, but they’re passive.
What actually helps learning stick:
• Short, low-stakes retrieval (say it, write it, explain it)
• Spacing practice over time instead of cramming
• Mixing question types, not just multiple choice
• Allowing struggle with support
✨ The takeaway isn’t “try harder.”
✨ It’s teach differently.
Study skills need to be explicitly taught, modeled, and embedded into learning, not assumed.
When children are shown how to retrieve information in manageable ways, we reduce frustration, protect confidence, and help learning truly stick.
