An old phrase came to mind the other day for no apparent reason, so I searched “learning by rote”. (It worked, even if I got the phrase wrong.)
“Rote learning is a memorization technique based on repetition. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more one repeats it. Some of the alternatives to rote learning include meaningful learning, associative learning, and active learning.” — Wikipedia
“Examples of rote learning include memorizing the alphabet, numbers, and multiplication tables.” — oxfordlearning.com 3/23/2017
It differs from meaningful learning in that “rote learning results from little or no relevant knowledge [and from] no emotional commitment to relate new with existing ...” — quora.com
My experience: I started talking at age 3 by using the word “cookie” to get what I wanted every day (according to Mother). It probably took a lot of repetition on my part to learn that one. I was committed to satisfying a craving, and it worked. Having no recollection of learning the alphabet and numbers (probably in kindergarten at Lowell Elementary), the next experience I recall was in first grade, learning to read with Dick and Jane. I think it was fourth grade when I used the tried-and-true, flash-card system to memorize multiplication tables. It worked! That’s when I fell in love with math for a lifetime. As you can see, rote learning is meaningful to me.
