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Spaced Repetition Review Schedule

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This schedule tells you when to stop and review what you have learned. Spaced repetition is the most effective way to move knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. Follow this schedule as you progress through the curriculum.


How to Use This Schedule

  1. When you finish a review checkpoint level, stop building new projects
  2. Spend 1-2 sessions on the review activities listed below
  3. If you score below 80% on quizzes or miss more than 5 flashcards, review the linked concept docs before continuing
  4. Mark the review as complete in your PROGRESS.md and move on

Review Point 1: After Level 0

When: After completing all 15 Level 0 projects

What to review: Variables, loops, functions, file I/O, string methods

Activities

Activity Tool Time
Flashcard review python practice/flashcards/review-runner.py --level 00 then --level 0 15 min
Variable quiz python concepts/quizzes/what-is-a-variable-quiz.py 5 min
Loops quiz python concepts/quizzes/how-loops-work-quiz.py 5 min
Functions quiz python concepts/quizzes/functions-explained-quiz.py 5 min
Files quiz python concepts/quizzes/files-and-paths-quiz.py 5 min
Coding challenge 01-swap-variables 10 min
Coding challenge 02-fizzbuzz 10 min
Coding challenge 03-reverse-string 10 min

Pass criteria: Score 80%+ on all quizzes. Complete all three coding challenges.

If struggling: Re-read What Is a Variable, How Loops Work, and Functions Explained. Then redo Level 0 projects 05, 07, and 13.


Review Point 2: After Level 2

When: After completing all 15 Level 2 projects

What to review: Everything from Review Point 1, plus collections, types, errors, classes, file paths

Activities

Activity Tool Time
Flashcard review python practice/flashcards/review-runner.py --level 1 then --level 2 20 min
Collections quiz python concepts/quizzes/collections-explained-quiz.py 5 min
Types quiz python concepts/quizzes/types-and-conversions-quiz.py 5 min
Errors quiz python concepts/quizzes/errors-and-debugging-quiz.py 5 min
Coding challenge 04-count-vowels 10 min
Coding challenge 08-remove-duplicates 10 min
Coding challenge 09-word-frequency 10 min
Coding challenge 10-caesar-cipher 15 min
Re-solve (no notes) Redo Level 1 project 05 (CSV reader) from scratch 20 min

Pass criteria: Score 80%+ on all new quizzes. Complete all four coding challenges. Finish the CSV reader re-solve with passing tests.

If struggling: Re-read Collections Explained and Errors and Debugging. Redo Level 2 projects 01, 03, and 12.


Review Point 3: After Level 5

When: After completing all 15 Level 5 projects

What to review: Comprehensive review of all fundamentals plus imports, classes, decorators, virtual environments

Activities

Activity Tool Time
Full flashcard review python practice/flashcards/review-runner.py (all levels 0-5) 30 min
Imports quiz python concepts/quizzes/how-imports-work-quiz.py 5 min
Classes quiz python concepts/quizzes/classes-and-objects-quiz.py 5 min
Decorators quiz python concepts/quizzes/decorators-explained-quiz.py 5 min
Virtual envs quiz python concepts/quizzes/virtual-environments-quiz.py 5 min
Terminal quiz python concepts/quizzes/the-terminal-deeper-quiz.py 5 min
Coding challenge 05-palindrome-check 10 min
Coding challenge 11-flatten-list 10 min
Coding challenge 13-binary-search 15 min
Coding challenge 15-anagram-check 10 min
Intermediate challenge 01-decorator-timer 15 min
Re-solve (no notes) Redo Level 3 project 04 (TDD normalizer) from scratch 25 min

Pass criteria: Score 80%+ on all quizzes. Complete all beginner challenges. Attempt the decorator timer (passing is a bonus at this stage).

If struggling with fundamentals: Go back to Review Point 2 and redo those activities first. Solid fundamentals are more important than speed.

If struggling with intermediate concepts: Re-read Classes and Objects and Decorators Explained. Redo Level 3 projects 01-05.


Review Point 4: After Level 7

When: After completing all 15 Level 7 projects

What to review: Advanced patterns including HTTP, APIs, async, plus all previous material

Activities

Activity Tool Time
Flashcard review python practice/flashcards/review-runner.py --level 6 then --level 7 20 min
HTTP quiz python concepts/quizzes/http-explained-quiz.py 5 min
API quiz python concepts/quizzes/api-basics-quiz.py 5 min
Async quiz python concepts/quizzes/async-explained-quiz.py 5 min
Intermediate challenge 05-retry-decorator 15 min
Intermediate challenge 06-lru-cache 15 min
Intermediate challenge 09-parse-log-file 15 min
Intermediate challenge 11-rate-limiter 15 min
Re-solve (no notes) Redo Level 5 project 11 (retry-backoff-runner) from scratch 30 min

Pass criteria: Score 80%+ on HTTP, API, and async quizzes. Complete at least 3 of 4 intermediate challenges.

If struggling: Re-read HTTP Explained and API Basics. The async quiz is hard; review Async Explained and revisit Level 5 projects on scheduling and resilience.


Review Point 5: After Level 10 (Full Mastery Review)

When: After completing all 15 Level 10 projects

What to review: Everything. This is a comprehensive assessment of your Python knowledge.

Activities

Activity Tool Time
Full flashcard review python practice/flashcards/review-runner.py (all levels) 45 min
All quizzes Run every quiz in concepts/quizzes/ 60 min
Beginner challenges Complete any you have not done from beginner/ 30 min
Intermediate challenges Complete any you have not done from intermediate/ 60 min
Advanced challenge 01-generator-pipeline 20 min
Advanced challenge 05-type-narrowing 20 min
Capstone re-solve Pick any capstone project (level X, project 15) and redo from scratch 45 min
Self-assessment Write a one-page summary of what you know and what you want to learn next 20 min

Pass criteria: Score 90%+ on all beginner and intermediate quizzes. Complete all beginner challenges and at least 10 intermediate challenges. Attempt both advanced challenges.

What this proves: You have solid, recallable Python knowledge across the entire curriculum. You are ready for the elite track, expansion modules, or real-world projects.


Ongoing Review Habits

Even after completing review checkpoints, maintain these habits:

Daily (5 minutes): Run flashcards for your current level. The Leitner system automatically surfaces cards you need to review.

python practice/flashcards/review-runner.py

Weekly (15 minutes): Pick one coding challenge you have not done and solve it without looking at any reference material.

After each expansion module: Review the module-specific flashcard deck. For example, after completing the FastAPI module:

python practice/flashcards/review-runner.py --deck module-fastapi-cards

Available module flashcard decks:

Deck After Module
module-web-scraping-cards Module 01: Web Scraping
module-fastapi-cards Module 04: FastAPI
module-databases-cards Module 06: Databases & ORM
module-django-cards Module 10: Django

Why Spaced Repetition Works

Without review, you forget roughly 50% of new material within 24 hours and 80% within a week (Ebbinghaus forgetting curve). Spaced repetition interrupts this decay by reviewing material at increasing intervals. Each review strengthens the memory trace.

The flashcard system handles the spacing automatically. The review checkpoints in this schedule handle the deeper, project-level review that flashcards cannot cover.


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