TabTabTab
What is spaced repetition and does it work for children?
Spaced repetition is the method with the strongest evidence for building long-term memory, in any subject. For times tables, which need to be remembered for years and years, it's especially well suited.
What the research says
Spaced repetition is a way of organizing reviews: each thing comes back at growing intervals (after a day, then three, then a week…), and the intervals get longer or shorter depending on how well the child remembers it. So the timing follows their memory, not a fixed calendar. Mawson and Kang’s 2025 meta-analysis, the most complete recent review, found an effect of d=0.54 across more than 3,000 students in real schools. It’s a solid effect, not a lab result.
Rea and Modigliani’s earlier work, specifically on times tables, found that children who reviewed at spaced intervals remembered about twice as much as those who did it all at once, even with the same total time.
What this means in practice
Spaced repetition doesn’t mean practicing less, but practicing smarter. Shaky facts come back sooner, solid ones later. That way time goes where it’s needed, instead of being spread over what your child already knows.
Try this
- Any system that brings back forgotten facts more often than learned ones is already applying the principle. You don’t necessarily need an app.
- The most common mistake is to stop asking a fact once it’s learned. Keep asking it, less often, so it doesn’t fade.
- If your child seems to have “learned” a fact but forgets it a week later, the problem is the review rhythm: at first they need reviews closer together, then the gaps can get longer.
TabTabTab trains recall, not understanding. Building the concept of multiplication is classroom work, and it comes first.
Sources
- Mawson & Kang (2025) — meta-analysis
Last reviewed: 2026-08-01