How to Use Flashcards (and The Secret Leitner Method): Everything You Need to Know
When it comes to study techniques, it’s pretty hard to avoid one of the giants: flashcards!
But, why? Don’t they go out of style after grade 2?
Nope!
Just because they’re useful when you’re a kid doesn’t mean they’re NOT useful now. In fact, as you develop more independence in your learning process, flashcards will quickly become your absolute best friend.
If you’re new to making your own flashcards and practicing with them yourself, read on: there are certainly techniques and strategies around that will fast-track you to success!
*As an Amazon Associate, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
What are Flashcards?
Flashcards (or flash cards) are, quite simply, double-sided cards with simplified information from your course. There is the main word/concept on the front, and on the back are the point-form details about that topic that you want to memorize.
As you learn your course, highlight/jot down any noteworthy vocabulary, names, phrases or concepts. These will be PRIME flashcard fodder. It's a lot of work to skim through the whole course looking for them...so start making a master list of new, important things right away. When you start early, creating flashcards will be a much less daunting task.
When coming up with the description for the back of the cards, aim for something as simple as possible. One word or sentence is best if you can, but that's certainly not always plausible. If there are three main points to know, then write those three main points.
Not every concept will be the perfect fit for flashcards; sometimes, things are too complex. Make a note of those words somewhere else (in a "needs more review" section of your notes), but also account for them in your flashcard pile. It is, after all, a key concept. Pick only one phrase to describe it, and put it in your flashcards. You can go back to your notes to study the rest of the details another time. The more you get used to working with flashcards (and the better you know your course), you'll be able to slowly get used to adding more points to memorize on the back. Eventually, more concepts will be able to be included in your flashcards.
When you study, you're going to want to work from both sides of the card - you don't want to become solid at ONLY defining things or ONLY coming up with the initial word. Your brain is smart, and it will pick up on that kind of pattern. If you only ever study things in one direction, it will likely only memorize the information in that direction, too.
If you have cards with many points on the back, it can be useful to create separate cards for the different points. If not, you won't get used to recalling the word on the front with only a single hint. If this is your challenge, make one card per point, and then on the front, indicate which one it is in some way (that's not just giving yourself the answer).
How to Make Flashcards
The cheapest system is to cut up paper into palm-sized squares and work from there, but it's not the best if you'll be using these flashcards for a while. You're going to want something more durable and evenly sized.
Index cards are ideal because they are firm and a good size. You can also write in pen and won't see the answer on the other side. Depending on how complex your cards are, you might be able to chop them in half, too, so you can get twice the amount of cards out of one package. The different colours can be fun to help you categorize things in your brain (and will hopefully bring a little smile to your face when you see them)!
There are also plenty of apps and programs that let you create your own online. Some of them will quiz you on them through their system, too. While these can certainly make attractive and convenient solutions, they may not be the perfect system for everyone. The act of making the flashcards and writing them out so that everything fits on the card nicely is valuable review time. That part is all breezed over when you create things through a simple app.
There are also sites with peer-uploaded flashcards to help you cut some corners. All I will say is: proceed with caution. While they might cover the same topics that your course covers, they might not cover them in the same way or with the same detail. When you're dealing with information from random sources, it's often full of holes, and even incorrect information. Your flashcards should have the best points for your brain and your course, as opposed to someone else's.
The DIY Flashcard Making Shopping List:
Once you've made the flashcards, you're ready to start LEARNING! YAY!!!!
Using The Leitner Method for Maximizing Flashcard Learning
This system, developed by Sebastian Leitner, is a way of working through your cards that makes sure your most difficult questions come up the most often.
It uses the principle of spaced repetition.
What is the Spaced Repetition Theory?
The fundamentals of the spaced repetition theory draw on the idea that, in general, the best time to boost your learning of any new fact is right before you forget it. By reviewing something when it’s in the periphery of your memory, you’ll get the most bang for your buck as far as stimulating your memorization of that fact. The repetition is therefore as important as the space between those repetitions.
Since the best time to review things is related to the time that you last knew them, it stands to reason that you shouldn’t always study new things in the same order. Not only will your brain memorize that order, but you’ll also remember certain things at different rates, and it’s a BIG waste of time to keep reviewing the stuff you know over and over again.
The best way to study is to work through things in a calculated order, ensuring your least understood concepts come up frequently, while making sure your easiest things come up the least.
The other great thing about this system is that it's easy to add new flashcards at any time - the new ones will join the beginning of the deck, and you'll review them every day until you start getting them correct.
How The Leitner Method Works
The Leitner Method uses 5 boxes to sort your flashcards. While you can make piles with them instead of using physical boxes, the boxes are a great way to keep them all sorted (and not lost) long-term.
When you first start, all of your flashcards are, in theory, in Box 1...but they don't need to go IN the box...because it's time to START FLASHCARDING!
Pick up the first card, read the front, and try to answer what's on the back without looking. If you succeed, place it in Box 2. If you don't, put it back in Box 1.
Go through the whole pile in this way - correct answers go in Box 2, and incorrect answers go in Box 1.
If you have lots of cards in Box 1 at first, don't worry - you've only just started studying now! Go through this set a few more times before moving on for the day (but don't continue graduating them to Box 2; only graduate cards on the very first work-through of the day).
Keep working through your cards every day. Any cards you get right will graduate up a box number each time, and every card you get wrong will go straight back to Box 1 (no matter how far up the totem pole they progressed). It will take quite a while to get to the stage where EVERY card is in box 5, so if you do, congratulations! You undoubtedly have a solid grasp of the material in the flashcards.
While this system encourages you to study every day, not every box needs a work-through every time you sit down with them. How often you do each of the stacks will depend on how long you're studying for, but here's an idea to get you started:
Box 1 - Every day
Box 2 - Every 2 days
Box 3 - Every 3 days
Box 4 - Every 5 days
Box 5 - Every 7 days
No matter how long you have to study, the cards in boxes 1 and 2 should have more attention than those in boxes 4 and 5.
To help organize this studying pattern, record each day's "boxes to review" in a calendar...otherwise, you will likely go crazy trying to keep track of it all.
What are the Benefits of Flashcards?
If you start practicing flashcards close to when you initially learn things, studying will become a much smaller hurdle. Your brain is way better at sorting and organizing things over time than it is at memorizing things last minute. When you review as you go along, it means you won't have as much to study when you get to the end of your course. You'll also know what your problem spots are right away when you DO start studying; you'll have them right there in boxes 1 and 2.
Flashcards are a great exercise in another academic buzzword: active recall.
What is the Active Recall Study Method?
There are many ways to review your course material. Reading, writing, highlighting, hearing are certainly useful activities to have in your process. Active recall is quite possibly one of the most valuable practice techniques, though. Essentially, active recall refers to when you use the forces of your brain to remember an answer.
Active recall uses the same muscles and tools you will need to use this information on a test. In short, you are self-quizzing yourself. So, basically, it's one of the highest forms of studying you can use; it's replicating a test on a smaller scale.
Using active recall regularly will speed up your overall process by a LOT.
One of the best things you can do at the end of any school day is to recap what you learned that day. Doing this will remind your brain that it's important information to retain. Therefore, it'll be more likely to be stored somewhere longer term.
Since we're on the theme of how amazing active recall is, it's probably no shock that it's one of the best ways to start this recap process. At the end of your day, sit down and recall everything you can from the lesson. Go through chronologically, and try to remember as many tidbits as possible, even if there are gaps that don't make sense yet. It's a good exercise for your brain to remember what it can without a second review.
Make a note of where you're drawing blanks, and THOSE can be the things to focus on when you then open up your materials to review everything.
After you go through and review everything quickly, try one more quick active recall session to try and get through more tidbits than you did before the review. Then, look up any important linking things that were missing to make those complete thoughts. Lastly, congratulate yourself on a solid day's work!
Flashcards as an Active Recall Technique
Flashcards assist in practicing active recall because they give you a prompt, and you then have to finish the thought (just like on your test). From one side of the card, you should be able to fill in the blanks yourself and know what's on the other side. If you struggle with that, you'll likely find the blank sections on your test challenging as well.
By regularly studying with flashcards, you'll condition your brain to think: "when I see A, I have to remember B, and when I see B, I'll remember A."
Flashcards are also wonderfully convenient to have around, so they're perfect for those times where you have an extra five minutes that you wouldn't mind using to your advantage.
The Flashcards Quick-Start Guide
Collect the Following Supplies:
The Flashcards Process:
Create the cards
Schedule how you will be spacing out Boxes 2-5 between now and your test
Work through your cards with active recall and the Leitner Method
Ace your next test!
Want More Study Tips?
If you’re still looking for tips to get you through homeschooling, check out the A+ Academics at Home book linked below. I was once a new home learner myself, and I TOTALLY get the struggles that come along with it. It was one of the best learning experiences of my life, though, and it completely changed the way I view education. I want to help you on this journey to discover the excitement that comes with learning something on your own!
A+ Academics at Home - Finding Success Through Distance Learning
If you want to keep reading, here are some other articles you might find interesting:
Visual, Auditory and Kinetic Learning: Effective Study Techniques for Students That Actually Work
Need Study Inspiration? Powerful Motivational Quotes Guaranteed to Inspire a Breakthrough Today
The Best Study Motivation Tools - 13 Tools Guaranteed to Unlock Your Productivity Today
16 Study Tips Books Every Student Should Own - Proven Results for Serious Students!
17 Effective Study Habits Guaranteed to Launch you to Success
Kinesthetic Learners: 9 Study Tips to Help You Excel in School
Who is Nadya Corscadden?
Nadya holds an MA in Musical Theatre and is no stranger to the home learning scene. Having spent a good chunk of her younger years in distance education (and opting for some correspondence electives at university), she has accumulated many tricks to help maintain focus and inspiration. She has a passion for independent learning and wants to help anyone and everyone find their stride in this atmosphere whether it’s homeschooling or simply studying for that next big test!
She is also a triple threat singer, dancer and actress….and can’t wait until stages are alive again!