Helping Your Child with Study Skills
Everyone agrees that studying is essential for a successful student.
By setting appropriate guidelines early in your child's life, you prepare
your child to get the most out of study time.
Use these suggestions to create more effective study periods:
Be a role model. Lead by example. Show your child how to be organized;
make lists of things which need to be done.
Set aside a daily time and place to study. Make sure the area is comfortable
and well-lighted, with limited distractions.
Review your child's work daily. Emphasize the importance of quality and
accuracy.
Model and teach your child active listening skills. Use these helpful
hints:
- Keep your eyes on the speaker.
- Keep your body language in check.
- Make your facial expressions portray attention.
- Participate in discussions.
- Ask questions.
- Repeat what was said.
- Take notes if necessary.
Have your child write down his or her assignments. Make sure your child
includes examples of how the assignment should be done.
Keep a close relationship with your child's teachers. By doing so, you
not only show your child that you believe school is important, you can
circumvent any potential problems before they start.
Help your child learn the art of note taking. Have them take notes on
television shows, books, movies, lectures, etc.
Have your child make an outline of what he or she is reading. This will
help to organize his or her thoughts.
Encourage your child to recopy his or her school notes. It's neater and
it will help your child retain the material.
Keep a daily log of new vocabulary words. Have your child look up any
words he or she doesn't know and keep a log of these words and their definitions.