4 Simple Strategies to Improve Study Skills

We have all heard the typical study strategies for students. How about some new ideas that can make studying fun…or at least not so boring. Neil McNerney, M.ED., a Licensed Counselor, Certified Parent Coach, Community Speaker, & Author shares these 4 techniques to increase study skills and decrease boredom!

Play Question Catch

Instead of just quizzing your child, play catch while asking questions. Each time you ask a question, throw the ball to your child. When he has the answer, he shouts it out and throws the ball back. If he is correct, go to the next question. If he is incorrect, throw it back and ask him to try again!

Use Jenga for math facts

Put math facts (addition, multiplication etc.) on sides of Jenga blocks and have kids answer them every time they pull out a block.

 

Flashcard Elimination

Flashcards are a great way to learn, but have their limitations. When a student goes through a flashcard deck, she is spending as much time on material she already knows as she is spending on material she doesn’t know. When she correctly answers a card, place it in the “elimination” pile. Incorrect answers go into the “re-do” pile. After all cards have been answered, pick up the “re-do” pile and go through it, placing any correctly answered cards into the elimination pile. Keep going until there are no cards left in the “re-do” pile.

Use a Worksheet Hider

This is a great idea for kids who get easily overwhelmed by a long worksheet. Open only one section of the worksheet folder at a time so that the student doesn’t see all the work he has yet to do!