Do you know that the right studying techniques can encourage your child learn better at school? Having a good school record can make or break your child’s future facing the real world. But of course, trying to get children to study to get good results is easier said than done. With the right study tips and study habits, your child develops smarter study approach and do better in school! In this article, we’ll go through the top 10 study tips that can make children study more productively! These study tips can also help children in building good long term habits.
Tip #1: Form a study group with friends
Studying isn’t always a one-person fight. Sometimes, it’s a good study strategy to gather some friends or classmates to get through key points together and explain the materials to each other, two heads are better than one! Joining a study group is one of the most effective study methods to get better grades in school. Research shows that by having your child study with their friends, they won’t feel as alone or pressured to get their studies done. They can help each other out whenever anyone’s having a hard time and help polish each other’s strengths. Forming a study group lightens the burden off your child’s shoulders and helps them learn better together!
Tip #2: Stick to a personal study schedule
Each child has their own unique way of studying. Some learn faster than others, while others need a longer period. Some learn better at nighttime, while others prefer to feel the sun. There’s no right or wrong way to study and the amount of time needed, but there’s no one way that fits all either. Instead of following a mainstream and generic study plan, your child should stick to a schedule that works best for them! First, you need to know the learning style your child prefers. When do they study the best? How do they prefer to divide the studying time? Use the answers to form a helpful study calendar. Take note of how much time they have to study before the deadline and arrange the schedule. Don’t worry about how everyone else is studying, have your child focus on themselves!
Tip #3: Spaced practice
Let’s be honest, trying to cram everything into a single study session is basically a recipe for disaster. Instead of getting things done, your child will only feel stressed, pressured, and miserable – the exact feelings we are trying to avoid. While this situation can work for some students, it’s definitely not the ideal situation. It’s better to not bite off more than you can chew, especially with children who are more prone to anxiety. So, try spacing out your child’s studying into several study sessions throughout different periods of time. Divide the material evenly and make sure your child has breaks between sessions. Your child can spread it out on a single day or over the span of a week, it’s entirely up to them. What’s great about this is that you and your child have full control on how you’d like to space this out! They can have short 15 minute sessions every day for the whole week or just have several long 1-hour sessions for specific days. The sky’s the limit as to how your child can set this up, as long as it works for them!
Tip #4: Write down notes in class
A typical study practice that’s very common with children, is taking notes during class. Teaching your child how to write notes in the classroom helps them learn the material. If children take class notes more often, they’ll pay more attention to the lesson and will engage more with the material! Even something as simple as writing down what’s on the whiteboard can help kids understand the class better, because they’re actively focusing on it! As long as they’re writing parts of the lesson down, the notes can be as scribbly and messy as they want. They can simply polish it when they’re studying at home.
Tip #5: Let your child be the teacher
Sometimes, writing things down simply isn’t enough to help children understand the subject. To make the knowledge stick better in their heads and retain information, they’ll need to be more active in learning it. A fun approach to do that is by pretending to be a teacher! Do you know that teaching someone what you’re trying to learn is actually very helpful in understanding it? Studies say that explaining a topic to someone as if you’re an expert tricks the brain into thinking you actually are. This tactic makes your brain absorb the information much faster and understand it much better compared to just taking notes. So, pretend to be a student and listen to your child’s explanation of the subject. You can also gather some family members and have a mock classroom to make it more fun!
Tip #6: Let them give self-rewards
As productive or effective as it can be, studying can still be hard and exhausting. There can be a lot of different reasons for it. The topic’s a challenge to understand, the children already had a long day beforehand, there’s more than one homework that needs to be done. Whatever the reason, studying can take a toll for children. That’s why it’s important to have your child reward themselves for their hard work! A self-reward can also be a form of rest, where your child can give themselves a pat on the back for the studying they did. This reminds them that they’re doing a good job and is known to make them want to study better in the future!
Tip #7: Use real-life examples to learn
Studying is all about learning new things. As children go through school, they’re going to learn concepts and terms that they’ve never heard of before. And when they do, sometimes learning its definition won’t be enough for them to fully understand what it means. When that’s the case, using an example that kids do know can help wonders! Take math, for example. Children often get confused when they face new math problems and formulas. To make it easier for them, teachers tend to deliver these math problems connecting them to daily life situations. By solving the math problem, or really any problem, through familiar examples, children can understand and solve them easier!
Tip #8: Do a quick quiz
When your child feels like they’ve understood the material enough, try quizzing them or solve a practice test on what they know! These mini quizzes help jog children’s memory while also giving them a taste of what they can expect in the exam. Students who answer questions are also more likely to perform well in school compared to those who just ask. You can quiz your child yourself by asking random questions from the textbook or let them quiz themselves on their own by using flashcards. If they’re studying with a friend, they can do an all-for-one quiz where the first to answer correctly gets a prize! These quizzes help children be more prepared for exams and due dates, while also making studying a bit more fun!
Tip #9: Study now, not later!
Children sometimes don’t want to study because it feels like a chore. And when they don’t want to do something, they tend to push it off or forget about it until the last minute. But by doing this, kids are essentially giving an extra burden for their future selves. With more things to study and less time to do it, it doesn’t exactly spell a hopeful situation. A good study tip to solve that is by beginning to study right away! It doesn’t matter if it’s only a short 10 minute study session every day. What matters is not how much they studied, but rather that they’ve begun studying in the first place. By learning to study right away, children will have more time to prepare themselves for deadlines and exams!
Tip #10: Listen to music!
We know what you’re thinking. “But won’t music just distract them from studying?” Yes, that can happen. But studies show that music can actually help students, young children especially, have more focus while studying and do better in school overall. The key is choosing the right music to listen to. Again, this depends on your child. Some students prefer to listen to background music, while others do better with fast-paced ones. Sometimes, they can even do both depending on the situation. Find music that works for your child. Get some noise-canceling headphones and have them try some test songs. Make a playlist of them so they’ll be ready for the next study session. By listening to music, children can feel more motivated and focused to get their studies done!
Try these tips with Practicle!
Now that you know these study tips, you can help your child learn more productively at school! Of course, it’s better to practice these tips if you want your child to use them more often. If you’re looking for a platform to do just that, check out Practicle! Our AI-powered math learning game allows children to practice not only their math study skills, but also any study tips anytime, anywhere! Try out our 7-day free trial today!