Not something everyone learns. My kids seemed to enjoy it. My older daughter learned quite a lot of algebra etc. by doing physics.
> learning the periodic table
You do not need to rote learn all of it, and you remember enough by learning about particular elements etc.
> basic language and alphabet skills
My kids learned to read through firstly reading with me (or others) so enjoying the story and learning words as we went and guessing words on flashcards. Then on to reading because they linked it.
Admittedly none of the above was in school, but my point is that its not intrinsic to learning.
> At some point in education with most fields, you will have to move beyond concepts and do some rote memorization and repetition of principles in order to get to higher level concepts.
Not a great deal and it does not feel like as much of a grind if you enjoy the subject and know where you are going.
This depends on the kid. I tried for literal years to get my kid to read. Nothing works. It doesn't matter what games I picked. What context she has to read, books, comics, video games, real life. It was not happening.
You know what kick started my kid's ability to read? A reading teacher sitting with her every single day and teaching her explicitly the drudgery of what reading was. And then me doing the same at home.
Rote is for kids like this and a lot of kids have areas like this. No my kid doesn't need as much math facts practice as she gets. But her cousin? That kid isn't learning anything without doing lines about how to add.
Not something everyone learns. My kids seemed to enjoy it. My older daughter learned quite a lot of algebra etc. by doing physics.
> learning the periodic table
You do not need to rote learn all of it, and you remember enough by learning about particular elements etc.
> basic language and alphabet skills
My kids learned to read through firstly reading with me (or others) so enjoying the story and learning words as we went and guessing words on flashcards. Then on to reading because they linked it.
Admittedly none of the above was in school, but my point is that its not intrinsic to learning.
> At some point in education with most fields, you will have to move beyond concepts and do some rote memorization and repetition of principles in order to get to higher level concepts.
Not a great deal and it does not feel like as much of a grind if you enjoy the subject and know where you are going.