How to create a Home Study Routine for your Child

Australian School Mums Facebook Live Presentation

Here is the Download: How to create a home study routine for your child

Many students procrastinate when it comes to studying. Some reasons students procrastinate are:

• The task seems complicated and they aren’t sure where to start
• They aren’t confident with their understanding or how to complete it correctly
• There is simply something more interesting to do, like playing with their friends. 

It can be really easy to leave it until later and forget deadlines. But preparing for exams or even simple maintenance to remember a topic/skill reduces stress and allows you to do more of the things you enjoy in the long run. 

Try these 7 Study Habits to be More Productive:

1. Time Management

When you’re at school or university, you are usually provided with a planner – use it! Time management is probably the most important thing you can do to reduce stress and still schedule in all the fun things you want and need to do. Write down your deadlines for assignments or some topics you really want to come back to because you didn’t fully understand it.

Plan out your time to study by day, week or month, or use a combination of all 3! Ensuring you study for approximately 1 hour blocks with a 5-15 minute break, minimum, between topics.

1. Use the monthly planner for all your deadlines and other important dates, like a day with friends. 
2. Use the weekly planner to work backwards from your deadlines and plan out each day of the week so that you can fit in everything you need to do. 
3. And the daily planner is for the details. The individual tasks you need to do per topic.

Break down your tasks into manageable size chunks will mean you feel like you’re getting through the work faster and paying more attention. Allocating time for each task will force you to be accountable but to concentrate as that’s all the time you’ve given yourself to complete it.

Download our Study Timetable here. 

2. Be an active learner

Being an active leaner means to have your brain participate and think about the task. Reading your notes simply isn’t enough.

• Highlight a passage and make notes 
• Rewrite your own notes in a completely new way (use synonyms to expand your vocabulary) 
• Dictate your notes then listen back to them when going for a walk 
• Have someone else read them to you, answer questions from a textbook. 
• Anything to actively participate in what you are studying.

3. Find the right place to study

We’ve all been somewhere that is too noisy and distracting and we don’t get anything done. Consider these factors when finding the right place to study for you:

• Well Lit
• Plenty of space
• All your stationary/books are at hand – you don’t need to go elsewhere to find them
• Limited distractions such as music, TV, construction, siblings

4. Turn Off Notifications 

Notifications come through our devices all the time, and their purpose is to distract you. Luckily Apple and Android devices have a “Do Not Disturb” or “Focus” function that you can easily turn on/off or schedule so that you are not distracted by your social media whilst studying.

Turn them off and you’ll be able to concentrate much easier.

5. Keep healthy – eat, sleep and move

Eating well rounded meals and getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night help to retain information better. Maintaining this routine means you’ll see the benefits over time rather than reaching for the caffeine or sugar for an instant wake-up.

6. Feedback, can be good

Feedback can sometimes feel like a dirty word, a criticism. But when it is framed correctly for you to learn from, it can be incredibly valuable as it highlights the areas you are missing or need to improve.

You can give yourself feedback by completing a quiz or answering questions from a textbook.Then you look at the answers you got wrong and study those concepts again. 

7. Find a study partner to study with regularly 

Find a friend or someone who is studying the same thing as you can helpful as you can quiz each other, bounce ideas or ask each other questions if you don’t fully understand something. The best part about a study partner is that they can keep you accountable and there is often a time limit to your study session too. Sometimes it is helpful to have someone else having your back instead of having to rely on yourself all the time.

Try each of these out to find what works for you, just remember to give it time to actually work. Keep at the routine and you’ll see the results. 

At Eye Level we work with you to develop a study routine with our Maths and English Programmes. Eye Level is a 5 day a week programme with classes 2 days per week so that you child has time with a trained Instructor to help them with a concept and develop their study habits. 

See our other post: 5 Hurdles to Avoid when Studying, for even more tips!