The Benefits of Cycled Learning: Learning, Resting and Recalling
At Lakefield College School, our modular schedule reflects a simple belief: teenagers learn best when they have the time and space to think deeply, revisit important ideas, and apply their learning in meaningful ways. By reducing the number of courses students study at one time and thoughtfully cycling subjects throughout the year, we create opportunities for deeper understanding, stronger retention, and a healthier rhythm of learning.
The Benefits of a Schedule that Permits Cycled Learning
Cycled learning is a key feature of Lakefield's modular schedule. Rather than studying every subject continuously throughout the school year, students focus on fewer courses at a time before returning to many of those subjects in later modules. This intentional pattern of learning, pausing, and revisiting helps students strengthen their understanding over time.
A cycled learning schedule allows for the structured implementation of spaced repetition, an approach that study strategy researchers know to benefit student learning.
Our Learning Strategies teachers have been sharing the benefits of spaced repetition with students for years. Put simply, research concludes that returning to material after a period of time leads to stronger retention of knowledge and helps move learning into long-term memory (Schnapp, Nateson & Kok, 2018).
Traditional school schedules often make this difficult. Students move quickly from one class to the next, balancing many subjects simultaneously, leaving little time to intentionally revisit and consolidate earlier learning.
Massed study, or cramming, requires much less self-discipline, and will allow the student to succeed on a unit test or exam–but cramming does not help students consolidate understanding or move current learning into long-term memory. Independent School Management (ISM) schedule researchers cited one independent high school study where the average final grade on a core science exam in the spring was 87%. When the same students took the exam again in September, the average grade was 58%. The study noted that “not one student retained mastery of all important concepts over the summer.” It’s important to us that we serve the needs of our students by designing a learning schedule that ensures retention of material, from when they first learn it, to their final exams.
Spaced repetition is widely recognized as an effective strategy for long-term learning. It has been used successfully in medical education, where mastery and retention are essential, and is also recognized as an effective approach for language acquisition and mathematics.
By building opportunities for spaced repetition into the school schedule itself, rather than relying solely on students to create those habits independently, cycled learning helps reinforce understanding over time. Revisiting subjects after a purposeful break encourages students to recall prior knowledge, make new connections, and deepen their understanding.
Not every subject benefits from exactly the same rhythm. Our teachers use their professional expertise to determine how individual courses are best organized within the modular schedule, ensuring that each discipline is taught in ways that best support student learning.
Ultimately, our modular schedule reflects a broader philosophy of education—one that recognizes learning as an ongoing process of exploration, reflection, and growth. For teenagers, learning isn't simply about covering more material—it's about remembering, applying, and connecting ideas over time. Our modular schedule is designed to support exactly that. Combined with meaningful relationships, small classes, and authentic learning experiences, cycled learning helps students build lasting understanding while developing the confidence and habits that prepare them for university and life beyond The Grove.