The human forgetting curve is unkind to teachers. The words a child knows at the end of a lesson are down to half of that inside a week if they never meet them again. The simplest and most effective defence for a primary child isn't an app. It's a single notebook the child owns, writes in, draws in, and opens again on a regular rhythm.
A Page Layout Grades 1 to 3 Can Manage on Their Own
One word per box, four boxes per page. Each box holds three things: the English word in large letters, a drawing the child made, and the Thai word small in the bottom corner. The picture is bigger than the translation on purpose. A drawing you made yourself is the strongest memory there is, and a child recalls the lopsided dog they drew far better than a translation copied off the board.
Give five minutes at the end of the hour for children to pick the best words of the day and add them, just two or three. Don't let them copy the whole board. Choosing for themselves turns the notebook into a personal collection rather than one more piece of homework.
Getting the Notebook Reopened: Three Moments a Week
- The lesson opener: notebooks out, and children quiz the classmate beside them on three words each. Two minutes and it's done.
- The Friday game: call out a category and children race to find a word in their own notebook that fits it. First to find one reads it out loud.
- The monthly showcase: each child picks the page they are proudest of and shows it to a partner. A notebook that gets looked at is a notebook its owner wants to keep beautiful.
How You Know the System Is Working
The day a child spots an old word on a worksheet and bursts out with "that one's in my notebook!", the loop is complete. It means they have started to see vocabulary as a collection of their own rather than something a teacher pushed on them, and owners always look after what they own.