Resources for Parents



Improving Study Skills

What are study skills?

Goal setting

Organizing time

Learning styles

Study strategies

Oversleeping

Picking out clothes

Trying to locate lost items

Watching TV just because it’s on

Talking on the phone

Daydreaming

Being too tired

Distractions while doing homework

Interruptions

Having to redo messy work

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What Strategies for Memorizing Information Should I Try?

If you are an auditory learner, you remember better what you hear.

Rehearse by:

□ Repeating the information to be memorized out loud.

□ Using a tape recorder to listen later for reinforcement.

If you are a visual learner, you remember better what you see.

Rehearse by:

□ Reading the information.

□ Visualizing associations.

□ Drawing pictures.

If you are a kinesthetic learner, you remember better when you can do something.

Rehearse by:

□ Jotting down brief notes.

□ Outlining, mind mapping or taking combo notes.

□ Drawing pictures

□ Using objects that symbolize the information.

If you are a combination learner, you remember better by combining two or more of the above strategies. Rehearse by choosing the combination of strategies that works best for you. The content of the information will determine your strategies.

What Strategies Should I Use To Study?

Parent Tip Sheet

What is the difference between studying and homework?

To do their best in school children need to study everyday, whether homework is given or not. Studying includes the time it takes to set goals, organize and reflect on newly acquired information.

Encourage your child to do these things before leaving school:

Check your assignment pad.

Collect the materials you need.

If you don’t understand one of the homework assignments, ask your teacher or a peer.

Encourage your children to practice these while note-taking in school:

Children don’t always know how to take notes in those classes requiring them. They need to realize that they don’t have to write down everything the teacher says.

Rewriting notes is an excellent study technique. It not only reorganizes the notes but is an excellent review of the subject matter. Sometimes only the main ideas need be rewritten.

Icons or pictures can be drawn next to notes to help children better visualize concept and commit it to memory.

Take notes while reading a chapter. Don’t write every word the speaker says. Use abbreviations or invent your own shorthand.

Jot down key words and main ideas; you can complete the sentences later during homework.

If the teacher writes an example on the board or makes an outline for the lesson, write it down; it’s probably important.

Review your lecture notes as soon as possible after class.

Ask questions when the lesson isn’t clear. It is always better to ask a question than to be in doubt.

Select a study partner in each class to share notes when absent, and to review together for tests.

Encourage your child to do these things at homework/study time:

o Study in a quiet and well lighted area where a desk or table is available. Keep distractions to a minimum.

When it is time to study, go to your special quiet, well lit study place.

Put all materials you will need on the desk or table (Homework basket).

Focus and concentrate on your homework. Avoid interruptions.

After you have studied for a while, take a short break.

Ask for help if you need it.

When you are done, put your finished work and books in your school bag; ready for the next day.

Last but not least, reward yourself!

Encourage your child to do these things while studying:

Make a study schedule that best fits his/her lifestyle (Leave time for that special TV show or ballgame).

Study for a test over a period of time. You learn better when you study material over a period of days and weeks. Make sure you understand the material and review it before you take the test.

Encourage your child to do these things while studying:

o If you spend two hours studying, breaking time into 30 minute sessions and take short breaks. When homework is completed review past assignments and preview upcoming work.

o Change subject material when boredom begins; study something else. But remember to complete all required work.

o Don’t wait until the last minute. Plan well in advance. Use your calendar. It’s better to have time left over than to be rushed.

o Learn to skim material

o Learn to study tables and charts

o Learn to summarize what he has read in his own words

o Learn to make own flashcards for quick review of dates, formulas, spelling words, etc.

Parent Tip Sheet

How do I help my child study in the subject areas?

In math it is helpful to:

□ Drill your child on basic facts. This could be done in a game-like fashion using flash cards.

□ Provide real-life opportunities for your child to work with money, time, and measurement. Show your child how grocery clerks add the items (i.e., use the computer!), take money, and give change. Tell your child to be home at specific times. Make your child aware of lengths of time for activities such as soccer games and ballet lessons. Allow your child to help measure in cooking and household projects. Keep a growth chart.

□ Ask your child to describe how to work a problem, step by step. Doing this may help the child to identify any errors. While the child is doing this, look for patterns in errors because one misunderstanding may cause others like it.

□ Ask if your child has “too much” or “too little” of something and if an object is “too short” or “too long.” A typical comparison might be: “Which will require more paper to cover, the bulletin board or the door?”

□ Practice estimation with your child. “How many marbles do you think are in the jar?” “Who is taller, your father or mother?” “Which is wider, the door or the table?”

□ Teach your child to measure time. Discuss time with your child rather than “telling time.” For example, say: “It takes Mother about 45 minutes to get to work. When should she leave the house to get to the office by 9:00? When should she leave the office in order to get home by 6:30?”

In language arts it will help your child if you:

□ Visit the library with your child. Arrange for your child to get a library card if he or she doesn’t already have one. Be aware of special, free library programs.

□ Read to your child and have your child retell the story.

□ Set aside family reading time without distractions.

In spelling it will be helpful to:

□ Make sure your child can pronounce and read every word on the spelling list.

□ Review words from the weekly spelling list on a daily basis.

□ Give your child a practice spelling test.

□ Make practice fun. Use shaving cream or whipped cream to write with!

In writing it will be helpful to:

□ Encourage your child to write letters and thank-you notes to relatives and friends.

□ Encourage your child to keep a journal or diary.

□ Allow your child to write captions for the family scrapbook or photo album.

In science and social studies it will be helpful to:

□ Ask your child what the class talked about in science and social studies.

□ Have your child share class notes and explain them to you.

□ Assist your child in looking for details. Ask your child who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.

□ Give your child opportunities to explore details in the environment such as comparing types of flowers, noticing patterns in nature, and pointing out interesting sites while traveling.

□ Discuss current events (local, national, and world news) at home. Introduce your child to newspapers, magazines, and newscasts.

□ Take field trips. Find the local points of interest and visit them.

Parent Tip Sheet

How do I help with test taking?

Help your child reinforce learning.

□ Make it easier for your child to remember what was learned by having him or her say it, hear it, and/or write it. A lesson can be recited, taped, and played for review.

□ Help your child turn statements from notes and texts into questions.

□ Help your child remember by drawing pictures and icons, making up mnemonics (memory devices).

Help your child manage study time.

□ Help your child set study goals. For example, ask your child to study until he or she learns 15 spelling words or can locate 5 state capitals on a map-the more specific the goals, the better.

□ Plan a short break during studying. Encourage your child to participate in a physical activity such as shooting baskets or jumping rope.

□ Avoid last-minute cramming by encouraging your child to review notes daily.

If you feel comfortable with the material being studied, the following suggestions might help your child prepare for a test:

□ Survey the chapter with your child to get an overview of the materials covered. (To survey, pay close attention to subheadings and note the meanings of words in special print.)

□ Discuss any questions at the end of the chapter with your child.

□ Review class notes with your child.

□ Assist your child in relating his or her life now, in the past, or in the future with material covered.

□ Encourage your child. Give praise for things done well. If they feel good about themselves, children will do their best. Children who are afraid of failing are more likely to become anxious when taking tests and more likely to make mistakes.

□ Don’t judge a child on the basis of a single test score. Test scores are not perfect measures of what a child can do. Remember that one test is simply one test.

□ Make sure that your child is well-rested on school days, especially the day of a test. Children who are tired are less able to pay attention in class or to handle the demands of a test.

The Learning Styles Quiz

Check only those statements that accurately describe your child’s behavior. A large number of checks in one category indicates a strong learning that direction. It is important to note that many children are a blend of all styles and that learning styles are developmental. Although most children have a stronger preferred sensory channel, infants through grade one are mainly kinesthetic in style, visual skills are more fine—tuned by grade two, and auditory skills are stronger by grade six.

|( |Visual Learners |( |Auditory Learners |( |Kinesthetic Learners |

| |Your child is quiet; he rarely volunteers | |Your child loves to communicate; he talks | |Your child relates to you more in body |

| |answers. | |a lot. | |and action than in words. |

| |Your child loves putting together | |Your child remembers jingles, poems, and | |Your child is in perpetual motion; he |

| |difficult puzzles. | |television commercials. | |rarely sits still. |

| |Looking neat and being color- | |Your child is easily distracted by | |Your child tries to touch everything he |

| |coordinated are important to your child, | |background noises. | |sees. |

| |Your child is especially observant to | |Your child is very verbal and can express | |Your child has a messy appearance and |

| |details. | |his feelings, | |keeps an untidy room and cluttered desk. |

| |Your child has a vivid imagination. | |In his spare time, your child enjoys | |Your child stomps or slams the door |

| | | |listening to a radio, record player, or tapes. | |when angry. |

| |In his spare time, your child would most | |Your child sorts out problems by talking about them. | |Even as he gets older, your child prefers to try things out by |

| |of all like to watch television or a movie. | | | |touching and feeling. |

| |Even when most upset, your child holds | |Your child naturally sounds out words and is a good speller, | |In his spare time, your child would prefer |

| |his feelings, | | | |to be playing, jumping, running, or wrestling. |

| |Your child can assemble almost anything | |Your child hears oral directions and | |It is hard to hold your child’s attention. |

| |without help from printed or pictured instructions. | |follows them readily. | |especially for reading. |

Reprinted with Permission ( 1994 Cheri Fuller. Unlocking Your Child’s Learning Potential:How to Equip Kids to Succeed in School And Life (Pinon Press)

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I Am A Kinesthetic Learner

• Act out/role play

• Lay on floor to work

• Stand to answer questions

• Transition wheel

• Standing work station

• Errands for teacher

• Beach ball seat

• Work done on chalkboard

• Act out or role play

• Quiet area

• Work stations

I Am An Auditory Learner

• Sounds to gain attention or to make a transitions

• Working with a peer

• Listening to music

• Listen and retell information

• Tape record

• Positive self talk

• Headphones

• Books on tape

• Lecture

• Repeat steps

• Sing

I Am A Tactile Learner

• Fidget objects

• Puff paint or markers

• Magnets

• Shaving cream

• Post-it notes

• Clip boards

• Pen light to follow along

• Highlighting tape

• Check lists

• Building things

• Trace with finger

• Playdough

I Am A VISUAL Learner

• Color coding

• Transition wheel

• Highlighter

• Highlighting tape

• Overhead

• Reminder notes

• Visualization

• Video

• Check lists

• Secret signals

• Graphic organizers

• Colored markers and pencils

• Success charts

• Hide, write and check

• List steps

• Timers

An Agreement:

I, ___________________, am going to make a special effort to use my time and place to study. The place where I will study is: ________________________________________________

The times when I plan to study are flexible, but best times are:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekend

Student’s Signature/Date Parent’s Signature/Date

An Agreement:

I, ___________________, am going to make a special effort to use my time and place to study. The place where I will study is: ________________________________________________

The times when I plan to study are flexible, but best times are:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekend

Student’s Signature/Date Parent’s Signature/Date

Time Savers

Time Wasters

[pic]

An Agreement:

I, ___________________, am going to make a special effort to use my time and place to study. The place where I will study is: ________________________________________________

The times when I plan to study are flexible, but best times are:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekend

Student’s Signature/Date Parent’s Signature/Date

An Agreement:

I, ___________________, am going to make a special effort to use my time and place to study. The place where I will study is: ________________________________________________

The times when I plan to study are flexible, but best times are:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekend

Student’s Signature/Date Parent’s Signature/Date

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Family and School Partnerships • Dunn Loring Center for Parent Services • 703-204-4300 • fcps.edu/cco/fam

Department of Communications and Community Outreach • Fairfax County Public Schools

Family and School Partnerships • Dunn Loring Center for Parent Services • 703-204-4300 • fcps.edu/cco/fam

Department of Communications and Community Outreach • Fairfax County Public Schools

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