Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
I guess high school must be harder these days. I always studied on my own, but in the last 10 or 15 years, it seems that most junior high and high school students need your help to study, especially before an important test.
First of all, make sure your teen has good study skills. There are classes that concentrate on developing good study skills and efficient use of time. Do this before your teen starts high school. We live in a very small town in Arizona and we were able to find such a class for our daughter. It's done her a world of good.
Once your teenager has good study skills, they should only ask you to help them study for a quiz or test. Nothing could be easier. You just have to be willing to spend two or three hours a month to make sure your teen is ready for his next test.
Here are some things that I do that have worked well with our teenage son:
*** For concept-oriented courses such as history, literature, and science, look through the chapters that will be covered on the test and concentrate on words you see in bold letters. These are usually basic concepts or definitions. Ask your teen the correct definitions for each one of these. If he is having trouble here, don't move any further until he has these ideas memorized. You may have to get him to write down the definitions on three by five cards and study them on his own.
*** Once your teen has the basic concepts down, move to the end of each chapter and ask him questions from there. Often, teachers will simply copy questions from this section or make up very similar questions. The thing to remember here is that your teenager's instructor has a teacher's edition, which includes the correct answers to all chapter questions. Once your student is able to answer the questions in the back of each chapter, it's time to move on.
*** Go through each chapter again and start to ask some “thought” questions. Word your questions like this: “Why did Washington cross the Delaware?” or “What did Washington hope to gain by crossing the Delaware in the middle of winter?” or “What would you have done if you were Washington? Would you have crossed the Delaware in winter? Why or why not?”. Making up questions like this helps your teen to think for himself and not just memorize the “right” answers. This will help him enormously when he starts taking subjective(essay) tests in college.
*** For math subjects or subjects that require a lot of math(physics, inorganic chemistry, any honors math course), the best way to help your teen prepare for any test is to have him do problems. Have him learn just one way to do each type of problem and make him check his work. Some math books have on line answer keys. Some sites will show how the problem was solved and give the right answer. Most math books have the odd numbered problem answers in the back of the book. Before the test, have your teen do all the even numbered problems and look up the answers on line. Once your teen can do well with each type of problem likely to be on the test, he is ready.
*** Discourage your teen from cramming for any test, even in high school. I realize that a bright high school student can get away with studying for a test the night before, but he will run into a wall the moment he gets to college. I've known many of my high school classmates that ran into this problem in college, including myself. Most of us just never learned good study habits. Make sure this doesn't happen to your teen. I remember one of my fellow high school classmates told me that his parents made him study two hours before dinner and two hours after dinner. This may not work for your teen; but the whole idea is to encourage him to study every day for at least one hour.
*** You should encourage good study habits from the seventh grade onwards. Limit the amount of TV your teen can watch or video games he can play. Tell him from the beginning that study comes first, then TV or computer games.
*** There is a big difference between homework and studying. The former is simply doing assigned problems or reading. This can sometimes be done in study hall if your high school has this. Studying, on the other hand, takes much more time. One of my high school teachers told us: “You are constantly reviewing”, which is true for any subject. So if your teen tells you he has no homework, ask him if there is any studying or review he can do. The old rule of thumb for college level courses is that if you sit for three lecture hours per week for Course A, you should be studying for six hours per week just for Course A. So for a typical full-time college student taking 12 semester units, he should expect to study for 24 hours per week at a minimum. It's never too early to encourage college-level study habits in your high schooler.
*** Most high school kids play sports or do some other type of extracurricular activity. Our high school also requires that students do 20 hours of volunteer work per year. If this is true where you live and you have an active teenager, he will have to learn how to use and budget his free time efficiently. Work with him and find out which subjects are easy for him and which ones are not. Encourage him to spend more time on the subjects he has a hard time understanding.
*** There are some high school subjects that will be boring for your teen. Make sure that if your teen says that a subject is “boring”, he doesn't really mean that he is having a hard time understanding the concepts. If you know that your teen can do well in a subject, but he simply does not like the course or the teacher or both, tell him to do his best and get through it. Let him know that if he lets truly boring(but not difficult) subjects slide, his GPA will be affected. The last thing your teen should want is to do poorly in a subject just because he doesn't like it.
Conclusions:
I wish someone had taught me good study skills before I attempted college level work. I was not prepared for college coursework at all, and almost flunked out. I had to change my major at least four times before I finally found a subject area where I could earn good grades.
Don't let this happen to your teen. Make sure he has good study skills NOW. If he does not, find a class he can attend on Saturday or after school. Make him keep going until the instructor tells you that your teen has learned efficient study habits.
Also, give your teen plenty of quiet time so he can study. Don't pester him to do chores or socialize with you until his homework is done. Leave him alone and let him do his work!
John Soares
Extracurricular activities for your teen
Dating tips for your teenage boy
First of all, make sure your teen has good study skills. There are classes that concentrate on developing good study skills and efficient use of time. Do this before your teen starts high school. We live in a very small town in Arizona and we were able to find such a class for our daughter. It's done her a world of good.
Once your teenager has good study skills, they should only ask you to help them study for a quiz or test. Nothing could be easier. You just have to be willing to spend two or three hours a month to make sure your teen is ready for his next test.
Here are some things that I do that have worked well with our teenage son:
*** For concept-oriented courses such as history, literature, and science, look through the chapters that will be covered on the test and concentrate on words you see in bold letters. These are usually basic concepts or definitions. Ask your teen the correct definitions for each one of these. If he is having trouble here, don't move any further until he has these ideas memorized. You may have to get him to write down the definitions on three by five cards and study them on his own.
*** Once your teen has the basic concepts down, move to the end of each chapter and ask him questions from there. Often, teachers will simply copy questions from this section or make up very similar questions. The thing to remember here is that your teenager's instructor has a teacher's edition, which includes the correct answers to all chapter questions. Once your student is able to answer the questions in the back of each chapter, it's time to move on.
*** Go through each chapter again and start to ask some “thought” questions. Word your questions like this: “Why did Washington cross the Delaware?” or “What did Washington hope to gain by crossing the Delaware in the middle of winter?” or “What would you have done if you were Washington? Would you have crossed the Delaware in winter? Why or why not?”. Making up questions like this helps your teen to think for himself and not just memorize the “right” answers. This will help him enormously when he starts taking subjective(essay) tests in college.
*** For math subjects or subjects that require a lot of math(physics, inorganic chemistry, any honors math course), the best way to help your teen prepare for any test is to have him do problems. Have him learn just one way to do each type of problem and make him check his work. Some math books have on line answer keys. Some sites will show how the problem was solved and give the right answer. Most math books have the odd numbered problem answers in the back of the book. Before the test, have your teen do all the even numbered problems and look up the answers on line. Once your teen can do well with each type of problem likely to be on the test, he is ready.
*** Discourage your teen from cramming for any test, even in high school. I realize that a bright high school student can get away with studying for a test the night before, but he will run into a wall the moment he gets to college. I've known many of my high school classmates that ran into this problem in college, including myself. Most of us just never learned good study habits. Make sure this doesn't happen to your teen. I remember one of my fellow high school classmates told me that his parents made him study two hours before dinner and two hours after dinner. This may not work for your teen; but the whole idea is to encourage him to study every day for at least one hour.
*** You should encourage good study habits from the seventh grade onwards. Limit the amount of TV your teen can watch or video games he can play. Tell him from the beginning that study comes first, then TV or computer games.
*** There is a big difference between homework and studying. The former is simply doing assigned problems or reading. This can sometimes be done in study hall if your high school has this. Studying, on the other hand, takes much more time. One of my high school teachers told us: “You are constantly reviewing”, which is true for any subject. So if your teen tells you he has no homework, ask him if there is any studying or review he can do. The old rule of thumb for college level courses is that if you sit for three lecture hours per week for Course A, you should be studying for six hours per week just for Course A. So for a typical full-time college student taking 12 semester units, he should expect to study for 24 hours per week at a minimum. It's never too early to encourage college-level study habits in your high schooler.
*** Most high school kids play sports or do some other type of extracurricular activity. Our high school also requires that students do 20 hours of volunteer work per year. If this is true where you live and you have an active teenager, he will have to learn how to use and budget his free time efficiently. Work with him and find out which subjects are easy for him and which ones are not. Encourage him to spend more time on the subjects he has a hard time understanding.
*** There are some high school subjects that will be boring for your teen. Make sure that if your teen says that a subject is “boring”, he doesn't really mean that he is having a hard time understanding the concepts. If you know that your teen can do well in a subject, but he simply does not like the course or the teacher or both, tell him to do his best and get through it. Let him know that if he lets truly boring(but not difficult) subjects slide, his GPA will be affected. The last thing your teen should want is to do poorly in a subject just because he doesn't like it.
Conclusions:
I wish someone had taught me good study skills before I attempted college level work. I was not prepared for college coursework at all, and almost flunked out. I had to change my major at least four times before I finally found a subject area where I could earn good grades.
Don't let this happen to your teen. Make sure he has good study skills NOW. If he does not, find a class he can attend on Saturday or after school. Make him keep going until the instructor tells you that your teen has learned efficient study habits.
Also, give your teen plenty of quiet time so he can study. Don't pester him to do chores or socialize with you until his homework is done. Leave him alone and let him do his work!
John Soares
Extracurricular activities for your teen
Dating tips for your teenage boy
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