Types of Flash Cards

Some flash cards aid students in quickly learning definitions for vocabulary tests. To make these flash cards, simply put the word on one side of the card and the definition on the other side. It's important when using these cards to quiz people with both the definition side and the key term side so the words are known front to back.

Math flash cards can aid in learning basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. A lot of problems, such as basic times-table math, should be rapid-fire. Your student is expected to know answers to problems such as 4x4 and 6x7 off the top of his head. Traditionally, math flash cards contain a problem on one side and a solution on the other.

Another important concept to be learned, primarily in the early stages of elementary school, is phonetics and the ability to recognize rhymes. In order to learn this, place basic words with rhyming capability, such as "pair" or "cat," on one side of the card. Write as many rhyming words as you can think of that fit on the other side of the card, and quiz your student. When new rhyming words are named that hadn't come to mind earlier, add those to the cards.

A quick way to help your student obtain a working knowledge of the alphabet – especially important for kindergartners – is photo recognition. On one side of the flash card, put high-quality photos or drawings of things such as animals, foods, or people with certain occupations, and, on the other side, write the letter of the alphabet with which the object in the photo corresponds.