Is It Normal If My Child Forgets Everything the Day After a Test?
Why Your Child Might Seem to Forget Everything Overnight
If your child comes home the day after a test and can’t recall half the material they studied so hard for, you are not alone—and your child is not broken. It's not just normal; it's incredibly common. And while it can feel disheartening (for both you and your child), there’s a lot going on under the surface that can help us understand—and address—it.
Children between 6 and 12 are still developing the mental frameworks that allow them to store, retain, and retrieve information efficiently. Think of their brain like a cluttered backpack—full of valuable items, but easily overwhelmed. During a test, a child might “cram” information in with emotional intensity (test anxiety, pressure to perform) that helps for the short term. But once the exam is over, the brain often deems this knowledge as non-essential—or discards it to make room for new input.
The Difference Between Learning and Memorizing
Many schools still teach in a way that encourages temporary memorization over long-term learning, especially in the middle grades. If your child is studying just to “perform” on a test, then forgetting information the next day isn’t a failure—it’s the predictable side effect of a system that rewards short-term recall.
Let’s take the example of 9-year-old Liam. For his science exam, he could recite all the parts of a plant cell the night before. But when asked about it casually three days later, he drew a blank. There’s a reason: what he studied never truly connected to his personal experience, interest, or daily life. It wasn't built into deeper understanding—it was temporarily copied to short-term memory out of necessity.
This doesn’t mean he didn't try hard enough or isn’t bright. It simply means we need to guide learning differently.
How to Support Meaningful and Lasting Learning
As a parent, your instinct might be to double down on review or push more repetition. But making learning stick often requires a step back and a shift in how we approach it together. Here are a few insights that can help:
1. Make Retrieval Practice a Habit
Reviewing content regularly—shortly after it’s been learned and in the days that follow—helps reinforce knowledge pathways in the brain. But it has to be active recall, not passive re-reading. For example, instead of saying, "Let’s go over your math sheet again," try: “Can you teach me how you solved this one?”
One mom I spoke to began snapping a photo of her daughter’s science notes and turning them into quiz questions during breakfast or right before bed. She used the Sculi App for this—it automatically turns a lesson photo into a 20-question quiz tailored to your child’s level. It became a cozy, low-pressure way to revisit topics without repeating the draining ‘re-study’ ritual.
2. Spark Emotional or Personal Connection
Memories stick better when they’re attached to emotions or personal meaning. If your child is learning about ancient Egypt, for instance, they’ll remember more from building a Lego pyramid or pretending to be an archaeologist than from silently reading a textbook.
This is also why some children thrive when listening to information instead of reading it. For auditory learners, especially those with attention challenges, turning lessons into audio format—like on car rides or during bedtime—can dramatically boost retention.
3. Don’t Confuse Forgetting With Failing
We often ask ourselves whether a child is struggling in school if they forget what they’ve “learned.” But forgetting doesn’t mean they didn’t learn—it just means they didn’t transfer that knowledge to a long-term pathway (yet). What matters more is whether the learning environment encourages reflection, play, repetition and curiosity—not just correct answers.
When children forget, it's not a dead-end. It's an invitation to revisit, reshape, and creatively re-approach the material.
Set the Tone: From Stress to Curiosity
If exams are treated like pressure cookers or judgment days, learning becomes something to endure—not explore. The environment you cultivate at home is a powerful counterweight to academic stress. Ask yourself: Is my child more focused on getting things right or understanding them deeply?
Creating a positive homework atmosphere won’t solve everything, but it goes a long way. Try to celebrate the process—not just the output. When your child forgets something, respond not with disappointment, but with curiosity: “Hmm, it didn’t stick that time—let’s figure out why.”
And if your child expresses dread or avoids reviewing altogether, it might help to reflect on why they’re unmotivated about school in the first place. Often, the root lies not in laziness but in overwhelm or fear of failure.
Keep the Conversation Open
Education isn't a straight line—it loops, tangles, and sometimes leads us in circles before anything clicks. When kids forget something, they’re not shutting down; they’re just processing at their pace. And while it’s tempting to rush in with quick fixes, sometimes the most valuable thing we can offer is time, presence, and a safe space for questions to surface.
That might mean letting go of perfection. It might mean playing more, questioning more, and testing less. And in those moments where your child forgets the parts of the digestive system they *just* studied—take a breath. It’s not the end of learning. It’s the beginning of learning differently.
If you're navigating test anxiety or seeking ways to make review sessions more joyful, consider adding games, role-play, or even mystery hunts to your review time. This playful angle, like the one described in our article about stress-reducing games for revision, can make all the difference.