Now that you’re actively working on your preschooler’s language and math skills, you’re discovering that some learning is easy and almost immediate, while other learning is difficult and needs repetition. Sometimes A LOT of repetition! However, one important thing to understand is that “unlearning” a bug is very difficult and should be avoided at all costs.

Please understand that I am not saying that your child should not make mistakes. Actually, errors are a necessary part of learning. What I mean is avoiding LEARNED mistakes. It is important that a mistake is not repeated no correction so many times that it becomes learned.

Researchers have known for decades that the brain easily learns survival-related skills, like touching a hot stove just once. The brain’s sole purpose is survival, and learning non-survival skills is difficult for the brain. In the second article in this series: “7 Things You Should Always Do,” article #7 discusses the importance of using “brain-friendly” techniques with your child and lists many different examples of such techniques. One of those techniques is frequent review–often called practice Prayed repetition.

Researchers agree that repetition is necessary for many types of learning to occur, but the recommendation Amount repetition has changed considerably over the years. When I started teaching in 1972, educators believed that a skill could be learned in just 4-7 repetitions. More recent brain researchers have adjusted the figure much higher. It is now believed that 20 to 50 repetitions are needed for learning to occur.

Fortunately, preschoolers LOVE repetition. They love to read the same books, play the same games, and sing the same songs over and over again; and each repetition brings the skills, vocabulary, and facts to be learned closer together. However, a practiced mistake can become a learned mistake, and a learned mistake is very difficult to remove. You can take HUNDREDS from Right repetitions to “unlearn” a learned error. yes, that says HUNDREDS from Right repetitions! If you’ve ever tried to “fix” a bad habit, you know how true this is.

So what does this mean for you? It means you should always monitor what your preschooler is doing and lovingly correct mistakes as they happen, because they WILL happen AGAIN. never criticize his son for a mistake. Gently direct them to figure out the correct answer and reward yourself. It also means NEVER have your child work on worksheets, workbooks, smartphone apps, or computer programs without her close supervision. All of these tools make practicing mistakes too easy. Ideally, never use ANY of these things with a preschooler, but that’s a topic for another day.

Your child’s learning must be directed by you. You can prevent learned mistakes from happening. Yes, you are SO important!