10 Back to School Study Tips

Motivating kids to get their homework done can be a serious challenge. We have all been there and can feel the lack of desire to do the work. A few study tips can go a long way for your child to succeed in school.

1. Consistency: Develop a habit of sitting down to study at the same time each day, i.e., studying after dinner for an hour. Regularity in at-home studying should be as consistent as in-school learning.

2. Quite/ No Distraction: The television, radio, music players, cell phones, or anything that makes noise should be turned off. Concentration should be on the work, and not on other things. When there are multiple distractions in a room concentration is broken and studying takes longer to accomplish.

3. Same Place: Have your child work in the same room each study session. Studies have shown that learning new material is easier to understand and remember if learning and recollection happen in the same setting/ room.

4. Well Balanced Meals/ Multivitamins: A meal with all of the food groups included will have an amazing impact on mental performance. At the bare minimum include a carbohydrate, protein, and fat. If your child is a picky eater use multivitamins to gain nutrients. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so it should not be skipped. Sugary cereals boost brainpower but follow with a crash shortly after.

5. Optimally Work Alone: Studying in groups with friends often are not effective. Monitor the group to make sure they are doing work and not goofing off. I remember when I was a kid studying with my friends, the only thing we accomplished was deciding on who the cutest boy was in the class.

6. Use Mnemonic Devices: To remember long lists of items and facts, associate them with stories or images. Using rhyme works well too. Arranging the words by acronyms is also recommended.

7. Make Flash Cards: This is the best way to learn definitions, math problems, and facts for tests. Reciting information orally enhances the understanding and meaning of the material. If you can say the answer out loud you will be able to write it on a test.

8. Create a Study Cheat Sheet: Write all of the information for a test on paper. Physically writing facts down encodes the brain with that memory, in turn recalling those facts becomes twice as easy. The cheat sheet becomes handy to review right before the test so it is fresh in the mind.

9. Reward Studying: When the child studies for a period of time and gets work done rewards are a good way to keep the habit going. A reward can be anything such as an extra desert, going to the park, watching a movie, ect.

10. Take Breaks: Extra long periods of studying are not recommended. The child gets burnt out and learnings becomes ineffective. Depending on the age of the child and amount of work that needs to be done, study session should last from 1-3 hours. There should be a break once in a while for stretching to get blood circulating.