Once the shiny, freshness of back to school wears off, students and parents know it’s time to get down to business. Particularly for those heading to primary, junior or senior secondary school, the homework assignments become tougher, workloads get heavier and staying ahead of the curve becomes more of a challenge.
As a parent, you may ask, โWhat is the ‘secret behind the A’?โ While having effective study skills may be overlooked on the academic journey, we’ve seen this be the tipping point in making good learners into great learners. Here is a list of 10 study habits for your teen to help set him or her up for a productive school year.
- Get Organised:ย Between homework, tests, and extracurricular activities, it’s all too easy for things to slip through the cracks. A planner can help your child keep everything organized. Students should write down assignments, appointments and to-do lists, then review items in the planner at both the beginning and end of the day to stay on track.
- Know the expectations:ย Students shouldn’t have any surprises when it comes to how and what they will be graded on. By middle school and high school, most teachers will provide a course outline or syllabus, which can serve as a guide for the semester. If expectations aren’t clear, don’t wait until a bad report card comes in the mail. Your student should feel comfortable approaching teachers with questions about grading and assignments at any time. If this is not the case, it may be time for you as a parent to step in.
- Designate a study area:ย Yes, studying at the local coffee shop may seem like a good idea, but not if there are constantly people interrupting or other disruptions. Even at home, studying in front of the TV won’t be the best use of your son or daughter’s time. Help your child by providing a quiet, well-lit, low-traffic space for study time. Take it one step further and institute a โcommunications blackoutโ policy with no cell phones or social media allowed until schoolwork is done.
- Develop a study plan:ย First things first: students need to know when a test will take place, the types of questions that will be included and the topics that will be covered. From there, your student should create a study plan and allow ample time to prepare โ there’s nothing worse than cramming the night before an exam. You can help by buying a wall calendar and asking him or her to assign topics and tasks for each day leading up to a due date or exam. Setting goals for each session is also key to success. If your child needs some help developing a study plan, our study skills program is a great resource! Our tutors will work with your child to develop an individualized plan that fits his or her needs, while instilling effective time management tips and organisational skills.
- Think positively:ย Being in the right mindset can make all the difference. Encourage your child to think positively when studying or heading into an exam and by all means, avoid catastrophic thinking. Help your student turn negative statements like, โI’ll never have enough time to get a good grade on this exam,โ into positive ones like, โI began preparing later than I should have but I put together a comprehensive study plan and will be able to get through the material prior to the exam.โย To be
