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Study Tips - School Success Secrets By Stuart Ackerman MSc.Ed.,B.A. Go find 'study tips' on the internet and you are surely to find the typical "study hard, pay attention, use a calendar etc...". As an experienced teacher, and an overachiever as a student, I can tell you that there are some 'smarter' ways to improve your child's grades. Here are 5 secrets to getting good grades: 1. What's The Teacher's Style? If your child has a new teacher, ask him or her if you could see one of his or her older tests (obviously not the same one you will be writing). It can be from a different subject and even a different year. See what kind of tests your child's teacher likes to give. Does your child's teacher prefer multiple choice or essay questions? If the teacher likes to give essay questions, then what 'keywords' does he or she use (e.g. compare and contrast, explain, describe)? Obtaining a test from your child's current teacher will give you more insight as to how your child should study for the test. 2. Time Is On Your Side. Studies show that students retain more information when they study in small chunks as opposed to longer periods of time. Set specific times for your child and have him or her stick to it, even if he or she is not finished. If your child isn't finished, he or she should still take the break and come back to your work. If your child is consistent with the breaks, he or she be consistent with the study time as well! Get the hardest and most undesirable work out of the way first; otherwise your child will spend too much time on it later on as it will steal his or her time away from you. 3. #3 Is For Three Calendars. That's right. Three calendars. Get a weekly, monthly, and yearly calendar. The weekly calendar is perfect for when your child has a test next Thursday and a report next Friday. By 'seeing' the next week, your child will be better planned. The monthly calendar is good for being prepared for exams, major projects, and mid-terms. The yearly calendar, though, doesn't have much function. Then why am I suggesting that you get one? Well, a yearly calendar provides your child with a significant psychological advantage. You see, by putting up a yearly calendar, and of course filling it out as you go along (i.e. you should first write on the weekly and monthly calendar, then copy them to the yearly calendar), your child will be able to look back and see the amount of work he or she has done. When your chlid sees all the assignments, and the amount of work he or she has put in, your child will be more likely to be motivated to continue studying even when he or she doesn't feel like doing so. Imagine, it's January and it's winter time. Your child is tired and doesn't feel like doing homework or studying any longer. So, your child looks at his or her yearly calendar and realizes that he or she has put in tons of work over the past few months. It would seem like a waste to quit now, wouldn't it? 4. Know Thyself. Everybody has down times and peak times. What are your child's times? Perhaps your child has extra curricular sports after school and other sports or lessons in the early evening. Then when does your child plan on doing your work? It's important to know the time of day that your child has energy and the time when your child is tired. Maybe from 5:00 to 6:00 would be a good time to study before your child goes to karate class which starts at 7:00. Or perhaps your child can squeeze in 45 minutes right after school. What you must do is determine the best times for your child to study, and stick to that schedule. There's no point on saving homework for 8:00 after your child has had baseball practice and swimming lessons. Find your child's time! 5. What's Your Child's Type? I'm not referring to the opposite sex! What kind of learner is your child? Is your child audio, visual, or kinesthetic? Is your child's dominant intelligence verbal, artistic, interpersonal, or logical? There are many free online tests you can take to get an idea of your child's learning preference and type of intelligence. So, let's suppose that your child is a visual learner (you learn best by watching). Then, your child should try to study by using visual aids such as mind maps, diagrams, and pictures. Or perhaps your child is an auditory learner who is dominant in musical intelligence, then he or she might consider remembering math formulae by writing them into song lyrics. Regardless of your child's learning style and type of intelligence, you can find ways to study that's best for your child. Clearly, the pattern here is to study smart. Make studying cater to your lifestyle and skills and take advantage of some of the resources that at your disposal. Persistence, hard work, and some self knowledge will help your child get better grades in school.
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