An excellent method of mental development is to make a practice of
recalling the occurrences of the day each evening. This is especially
important for students. Time should be taken to sit quietly and
review the facts and ideas of the day's lessons. Here is an excellent
opportunity to urge your mind to think them over for yourself. There
can be little growth of knowledge without independent thinking.
Review as much in detail as possible all of today's lessons before
starting on the new. One reason you do not remember more of what you
see, read, or hear, is that you do not review it. Reviewing carefully
will very largely increase your stock of knowledge. It is not
unreasonable to expect that some of the facts or experiences of the
day's work and lessons will later become as important and valuable as a
business man's papers. He does not hesitate to take time in the middle
of the day to file these papers, or even to carry them to the vault.
Teach the child to take a few minutes in the evening and review the
occurrences of the day and you will be surprised to see his mind begin
to take on the retentive power of a vault.
The necessity of repetition will never be eliminated; it may by better
methods be reduced to a minimum, but cannot disappear entirely. Some
knowledge must be so familiar that it can be used habitually (by the
subconscious mind) without the necessity of conscious effort, and this
cannot become true without repetition.