Ahh, September. The leaves turn colors, the air is crisper and your kids are going back to school! Yes, it’s that time of the year when you rush to the nearest office supply store and fill up your shopping cart with notebooks, pens, pencils and calculators. However, it’s not just about brand new supplies – it’s about making sure your children do the best that they can, and good study skills can provide your children with the basic tool needed to succeed in school.

Here’s how you can help! 

Schedule
With such busy lifestyles – school, after-school practice and hanging out with friends – it’s important to set a study schedule. Like adults, children can be creatures of habit, so set aside the same time every day to study. By doing their homework at the same time every day, they will find it easier to remember and study. When you pick a time, make sure it’s a time when your child is alert – you don’t want the student to be doing homework right before bedtime. Also, you should include your children in making the schedule since they are more likely to accept it.

Set Goals

If you and your children set study goals, it will help keep them more organized, focused and motivated. Instead of setting one large goal, try setting three or four small ones that are based on homework assignments. Reaching each goal will give the student a sense of achievement and provide an incentive to keep going.

Study to Understand

It’s important that your children actually understand what they are studying and not simply memorizing words or numbers. What can you do to ensure that your child understands the lesson? Have the student survey the main ideas by reading the introduction and summary in the chapter or going over study questions. Once your child gets a grasp of the main ideas, it should follow that he or she carefully reads the chapter and looks back to remember main points and details. You or your child can also make up questions, which can make studying fun and promote active involvement.

Summarize

By summarizing the material, it helps the child understand the lesson better and even provide a study guide for future use. One way to summarize is by creating an outline: use textbook headings and subheadings and list the major points covered below each heading. Note taking is another way to help understanding and remembering. Underline and highlighting key ideas, facts and details is helpful – take it a step further by putting things into categories to remember essential information.

Celebrate

It’s very important to recognize achievements that your children make in the classroom. Focus on what your child does right and make them feel successful. Let your child know that you like what they are doing and encourage it. By focusing on and recognizing success, you will get more of it. Be careful of excessive recognition: try to focus on recognition on those accomplishments that are new or challenging to your children.

By following this guide, you’ll make the grade with your children!