Repetition And How It Helps Children Learn

November 6, 2020 Booksforlittletykes Booksforlittletykes

Recently, here at Booksforlittletykes, we launched a new series of books titled “Erasables”. These books are printed on special paper which allows children to write on them using whiteboard markers and then erase it just like a normal whiteboard.

So, you might be wondering, why? Why would we create a book like this? Well, there are a number of reasons.

Reason 1, it’s something unique and different. Children go to school and do normal workbooks and worksheets, so it’s only natural that they would be put off doing more of the same old things at home. With Erasables, we add in that element of fun. We want the children to be eager to learn, to practice their skills, and we do this by creating products that are exciting and different, whilst still being educational.

         These books were written by early childhood trained professionals so you can be ensured that they are age-appropriate, challenging your little tykes without being too difficult to the point where they feel discouraged to attempt it.

         This leads me to reason 2, it builds self-confidence. Singapore places a heavy emphasis on intelligence. And I feel this is carried through at all levels of education. Though true that education is important and is something that may help us progress further in life, having such a “results-based” mentality can be quite stressful and discouraging for children. This may even cause them to be unwilling to attempt certain tasks. Thus, one of our aims is to eliminate that fear of failure. We do not want children to worry that once they write their answer, its final, they cannot try again. With Erasables, they can easily wipe off their previous attempt and try it as many times as they like.

         Reason 3, easy repetition. I’m sure you have experienced having to watch the same movie or read the same book to your child over and over again until they are satisfied. Well, that is because children enjoy repetition. It is part of a preference development that they experience even before birth. It stems from feeling comfortable around familiar smells, tastes and even experiences. So, it is not surprising that children would do the same with books, songs and movies.

         In fact, in a study done by Horst, Parsons and Bryan (2011), a group of 3-year-olds were taught the same set of new words over the course of a week. For half the children, these new words were presented using one story that was repeated three times. For the other half, the words were presented through three different stories. By the end of the study, the results showed that the children who heard the same story repeated multiple times actually learnt the words better than those who heard it over different stories.

         The special paper we print our Erasables series on, allows children to use whiteboard markers to write on it. This way, they can do and erase the activities as many times as they like without having to use a rubber eraser and worry about the paper tearing or the pencils leaving marks behind. The repetition will allow the children to familiarise themselves with new concepts or practice old ones that they have been taught, through fun new methods. Not to mention, the repeated action of writing, drawing and colouring helps to build strong fine motor skills, an important part of early development.

         Many times, children tend to have better developed gross motor skills, such as walking, running and jumping. This could be because they are active skills which are more fun to develop for children as they allow a lot of movement.  But fine motor skills require more precision and concentration such as holding a pencil or picking up objects with two fingers. Hence, it can be quite a tedious thing to practice. Thus, to combat this, we try to present this considerably “boring” skill in a more interesting and enticing way. By providing children with these enjoyable activity books, they are not only improving their language and numeracy skills, but also their fine motor skills!

 

         If you are intrigued by this blog post and would like to check out the books, you can find them in the “Activity Book” tab. Do check them out!