Flash cards for dummies ;)

[forty-two]

I don't know what it is, but something about using flash cards eludes me - especially the getting started part. What I want to do is use my triangle math fact cards to review and cement already-introduced math facts. I have attempted to use AAR's flash card system as a guide, but keep getting overwhelmed with the "go through them once to figure out which are known/not-known". I have a review box set up with the Simply Charlotte Mason system (which I use successfully with our catechism memory work), but the initial sorting out of what is known and not known is, again, a real sticking point.

 

I have thought about getting CLE's add/sub flash cards, to learn their system, but I prefer the triangle cards and already *have* the triangle cards. But the only-one-fact per side thing might be helpful, as the two-facts-per-card thing throws me off. Idk why, because conceptually I have a plan to deal with it, but just like the initial set-up phase, in practice everything goes wonky.

 

I've thought about arbitrarily separating my cards into groups and going through a group each day. (My rough understanding of CLE's system, except that their grouping isn't arbitrary.). But it's hard for me to just do random groups, and I don't have the knowledge/wherewithal to make intelligent groupings.

 

All that to say, the getting started part has stymied me multiple times. But it seems like the most efficient way to get in fact practice (and nothing else I've tried has worked out, either), and dd11 especially is having problems because she doesn't have automatic recall of mult facts (can't just see at a glance how to simplify fractions because she doesn't have those relationships in her head to draw on, and it is contributing to her hatred of fractions).

 

So, help me wrap my brain around the nuts and bolts of *how* to do flash cards?

[Tranquility7]

We do tons of flash cards, but only digital ones (Anki), so I am not sure whether my advice will be helpful. I'll try to think about how our process would look with regular flashcards.

 

First, I don't know what the "triangle" flashcards are. Are they number bonds, so technically each flashcard has multiple equations? Is there one blank on each side to fill in?  Or am I misunderstanding?

 

Are the equations on the front and back of a card related? Or randomly different? Is the front printed differently from the back, so you can tell all the fronts vs all teh backs?

 

If they are number bonds, and if there is one blank per side, and if the front and back are related, this is probably how I would do it.

 

Go through the whole stack (or however much the child should know). Do one side of the card (say, all the fronts).

If she gets it wrong, immediately help her figure out the right answer, reinstruct as needed, ask her that card again, and have her give you the right answer. Then put it in pile A, to review again immediately after finishing the stack.

If she gets it right, put it in pile B, to review again *the day after tomorrow*. This is the stack of "known" cards.

When you finish today's stack, go through pile A to review the ones missed earlier today. Create a new pile A for any she misses, doing the same feedback process as above. Also create a new pile B, but these will be reviewed *tomorrow*.

When you get through the A stack, go through the new A stack with the same procedure, until you are finished with all the cards. All the cards that are "rereviewed" in this manner should be added to the pile of cards to review tomorrow.

 

Then, tomorrow, review that day's stack, using the same process. Cards that are wrong get reviewed right away, and rescheduled for the next day. Cards that are right get rescheduled for two days later. Then review all the Known cards, and schedule them out maybe three days. If any of the Known cards are missed, put them in the pile for immediate review and then reschedule for tomorrow.

 

So that is kind of how I would do it. It is easier than it sounds, although I highly prefer a digital system to keep track of it all for me!

 

 

 

[daijobu]

I like flash cards, and I use the IRL kinds made from 1.5"x2.5" index cards (half of a 3"x5").  I've only every used them for vocabulary and math facts, though my daughter will put science concepts on hers.  (I don't know what triangle cards are.)

 

I like to make up a little algorithm to determine mastery.  On the first pass through, if I get the answer correct, the card goes into the "mastered" pile.  If I get it wrong, it goes into "review" pile.  Then I repeat with the "review" pile.   Sometimes I will discard those first mastered cards that I got correct on the first pass through only.  Sometimes I will only discard if I have mastered them on the first pass on 2 separate days.  (This requires me to put a small mark on the those "mastered" cards, so I can recognize them later.  (This works well for cumulative vocabulary tests.)  

 

There's nothing scientific about this particular approach, but it seems to work for us.  There are other algorithms like this one on Wikipedia.  Just google "flash card algorithms."  Sometimes there will be a false-positive "mastered" card that gets forgotten some weeks later.  

 

I love flash cards.  For the right sort of subject matter, it's like a little stack of knowledge.