eli5 why do we “forget” long practiced skills after a period of time of not using said skills? and how can we regain those skills

Question

i noticed that after the holidays my math plummeted and teachers told me its because of the break i took… why does this happen and how can i regain those skills acquired prior to the break

In: 356

Answer 1

You don’t forget the skills. While they get rusty, it takes a very minimal amount of effort to refresh them all over again by simply doing what you used to do again. The skills are there, even if they’ve been dormant forever.

Case in point, I stopped drawing when I was a kid because of my parents. It was over 20 years before I drew anything again. I have my wife to thank for that.

Here was my first month of progress: r/reaperart

The skills don’t go anywhere. Just start using them again and they’ll come roaring back quite quickly.

Edit; spelling