Benjamin Franklin’s secret to smarter learning

Last week, I stared at my kids’ weekly schedules—swim training, music practice, production rehearsals, weekend galas, and race events away from home—and thought:

“Where on earth are we supposed to fit in homework, let alone the extra revision they need to keep up academically?”

If you’ve felt the same, you’re not alone.

Between jam-packed days and tired brains, squeezing in consistent learning feels about as realistic as shoving an elephant into a carry-on suitcase.

But here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to feel that way.

Benjamin Franklin—yes, that Benjamin Franklin, the guy on the $100 bill, inventor of the lightning rod, and all-around genius—once said:

“Little strokes fell great oaks.”

He wasn’t talking about chopping firewood. He was talking about progress. Big results come from tiny, consistent actions.

Fast forward a few centuries, and science agrees.

Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered the Forgetting Curve—a graph showing how quickly we forget new information without revisiting it.

Spoiler: that red line? We forget stuff really fast. Within a week, nearly 90% of what we’ve learned can vanish into thin air.

But here’s the twist: short, repeated bursts of review—a quick recap here, a question there—that curve flattens out (see the green lines). The knowledge sticks.

For years, the kids had tried to capitalise on those rare free evenings or weekend days, cramming hours of revision and science projects that swallowed the dining table.

But it didn’t work.

Mostly forgotten by Monday.

So we tried something different.

We went small.

• 5 minutes of flashcards after dinner.
• A quick “teach me one thing you learned today” during car rides.
• Celebrating tiny wins—like nailing a tricky algebra problem.

Not perfectly. But consistently. And consistent beats perfect every single time.

It worked.

This isn’t about cramming more into your already chaotic calendar.

It’s about spotting the micro-moments where learning fits naturally:

• While the pasta is boiling.
• On the way to school.
• In the waiting room at the dentist.

It’s not about stuffing tired brains with facts. It’s about building habits of curiosity.

Because here’s the truth: kids (and adults) don’t learn best in exhausting cram sessions. They learn in snippets, in curious questions, and in tiny lightbulb moments.

Tonight, try this:

Ask your kid, “What’s one cool thing you learned today?”

It doesn’t need to be profound. It doesn’t need to spark a deep lesson. But it might just start a habit—one little stroke at a time.

Because Franklin was right:

“Little strokes fell great oaks.”

This year, let’s make those little strokes count.

Stay curious,

Nici

P.S.

Kids ask the best questions: they are goldmines for learning moments.

• How does the brain store memories?
• Why do we need to learn algebra?

These aren’t random curiosities—they’re sparks waiting for fuel.

If your child or student has a head-scratching question, send it my way! I’d love to feature it in an upcoming newsletter.

Because sometimes, the best lessons start with a single question.