There’s a particular kind of frustration in hearing, “I don’t remember how to do this!” Especially when you know your child could do it with ease not that long ago.
At the time, they understood fractions. They could work through it without much trouble. Then the new school term begins, and when the topic of fractions is brought up again, there’s a sudden uncertainty and hesitation.
Your reaction might be: “But you knew this”? And they probably did.
But learning something once does not always mean it’s easy to remember.
Forgetting versus Understanding
When your child learns something new for the first time, it’s quite common for it not to stick straight away. They may eventually get it and fly through their work without any trouble. But when they come back to it a few months later, they may struggle to remember how to do it again.
The same “forgetfulness” can happen to adults too. A language we once studied becomes harder to use because we don’t speak or hear it every day. A road we always traveled starts to feel foreign once we stop taking the same trip every day.
Maths works the same way. Your child might spend weeks getting comfortable with times tables in Year 3 or 4. Then the class moves on to new concepts. A few months later, when the topic of division comes up and relies on times tables, it becomes challenging. For some reason, it feels harder.
It doesn’t mean they never understood the concept. It may just mean they have forgotten because they haven’t used it for a while.
Memory fades when you stop using it
There is a well-known concept in learning called the ‘forgetting curve’. After we learn something new, our ability to recall it tends to fade if we do not use it over time. Imagine learning a new basketball play at training. At the time, you knew exactly what to do, when to move and where to move. But if you don’t run that play for a few weeks, you might struggle to remember it when the coach calls out the play.
At first, concepts like times tables are simple. Your child has been learning it in class and practicing it with homework. As they progress to new concepts and stop practicing, they may start forgetting what they did a few months ago.
This is why your child can genuinely say, “I forgot.”
But it doesn’t mean they have to start from scratch. Often, a reminder or a few probing questions can be enough for the concept to click again. It’s the “Aha” moment. What they had already learned hasn’t simply disappeared. It just needed a gentle push and reminder to get them back on track.
Consistency matters
That’s why consistency matters. Consistency doesn’t have to mean doing maths every day or repeating the same work over and over again. It can simply mean revisiting topics from time to time.
You’ve probably heard the idea of “cramming before exams”. When cramming, a child may do well, but other times they may not. But what tends to happen is that after “cramming”, the topic starts to be forgotten rather quickly. At least more so than if you had that element of consistency.
This is why a small amount of regular revision can be so useful. Every time your child revises something they’ve learned before, they are not just checking what they remember. They are helping strengthen it for the future.
Maths topics build on each other
In maths, topics build on each other, and new concepts often rely on ones previously learnt.
Children first learn about angles through shapes and basic geometry. Years later, those same ideas are built upon when they learn about trigonometry. If those earlier concepts haven’t been used or revised over time, then newer concepts can feel harder to grasp and fully understand.
Sometimes it can look like your child is struggling with something new. But the real reason they are struggling is that they have forgotten previous concepts. It’s not because they didn’t understand those previous concepts, but more that they haven’t used them recently. Remembering is part of learning too.
That is why learning cannot always be treated as a box-ticking and completion exercise. Maths topics need to be revisited from time to time.
Forgetting is part of learning
Your child can be hard on themselves when this happens. And you might feel the same frustration.
The important question is not whether your child ever forgets. They will. It’s whether the learning can be strengthened over time and be ready to support what comes next.
Next time your child says ‘I don’t remember,’ take a moment to pause. It doesn’t mean they have gone backwards.
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