Good Study Habits -- Parents Need to Help Kids All Year Long

Do you remember being in school and having a big exam or quiz coming up the next day? I bet you recall feeling a little nervous about how the test would be, and maybe you can even summon up memories of specific tests for which you studied.

Now that you are a parent, how can you help your kids learn effective study habits? Is it enough to leave that up to their school teachers? Absolutely not. Teachers generally have a curriculum which they are required to follow, which doesn't leave much time for them to help students with anything else, unfortunately. So that means that getting your kids to get the hang of how to study is the parents' job.

But summer is coming up-- it is time to take a break from the schoolwork and let the kids relax and play and have fun while summer is out, right? Wrong. Kids need practice and consistency--that is the way to build good study habits. Now I am not saying that you need to make your kids study all summer long; I am merely saying that you need to make sure that your kids practice the study tricks you have taught them throughout the summer so as not to lose their touch.

What study tricks, you say? You don't know any study tricks to teach your kids? Sure you do--you just need me to help you remember the ones you used back when you used to study in school. The tips I will list here for you aren't difficult, and you should be able to slide them in to your regular summer activities without your kids even realizing that they are practicing study habits--I'll include suggestions as to how to do that as well.

Read and review. When studying any type of material, whether it is for a science test or history test or any other type of test, it is important to comprehend what you have read. "Read and review" simply means to make sure that you review everything that you have read, right after you read it.

This is simple to do with your kids--you can do this with a book you are reading together for pleasure, or a recipe that you are getting ready to prepare with your children, or an information brochure that you pick up at the zoo. Do the reading with your kids, and then review by asking pointed questions about what you have read--such as what happened in the story or what ingredients are needed to bake the cake.

By doing this regularly, you are reinforcing one of the most basic and crucial study habits--going back over what you have read to be sure that it is understood.

Flash cards. These are a great learning tool. You can customize these for any subject matter being studied, any age level. For young kids you can write sight words on them for recognition practice. With older kids you can do simple math problems. You can even write a question on one side and an answer on the other, with the questions pertaining to the subjects being studied. Many kids learn through repetition, and it can be very helpful to study with a partner.

Think your kids can't have fun with flash cards? Think again. You can make flash cards into a game by making correct answers worth points towards a prize (which can be something as simple as an ice cream cone or an extra family game night). Or, you can turn math problems into a concentration-type game by having some cards with the problems and other cards with the answers--turn all cards face down and challenge your kids to make the matches.

Turn the tables. Some kids learn well by teaching others, so let your kids teach you what they have learned in school. You can have them give you quizzes, or make up flash cards with which to challenge you, or just simply have them act as the teacher and present what they have learned. And by all means, give them your full attention and be a good student!

This translates well for a summer-time activity. You can play school with the kids! Make it fun by setting up a classroom tent, or a special area--complete with a chalkboard or wipe-off board, if possible. Let your kids teach you about whatever they want--they can even, if they wish, take it a step further and do some online research about a topic and then teach it to you.

Why is this a good study habit? Well, teaching requires a person to be organized in their thoughts and to know the material well. Plus, teaching is a very repetitive occupation; your kids will be much more likely to remember information that they have taught to someone simply because they have repeated it.

Make up your own acronyms. I'm sure you have heard of ROYGBIV--the acronym for the colors of the rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow. Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). And how about MLB for Major League Baseball? Or NASA--the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? My point is that acronyms are very easy to remember--and, if you make your own acronyms for key information you are studying, it will help you remember it.

For example, if your child is studying Greek mythology in class, help him to make an acronym for the names of the Greek Gods about which he is learning--maybe if he is studying Hades, Apollo, Poseidon, Ares, Zeus, Eros, and Dionysus, you could take the first initials of each of those names (in order) and make the acronym HAPAZED. You can do this trick with any subject, any material being studied.

Ok, so how can you continue to work on this during summer? Do it in reverse, by playing the license-plate game. Whenever you are in the car, challenge your kids to take the letters from someone's license plate and make them each stand for something related or to take the letters and make a phrase. For instance, if the license plate letters are AWP, your child might say "Almonds, Walnuts, Peanuts" or "All Whales Play."

I hope by reading this article you have come to see how important it is to work with your children on their study habits all year long--and how it can be fun, as well.