Why Your Teen Needs A Study System To Guarantee Good Grades
Probably the most important article I will write.
If you are looking to help your teen learn how to study and get the grades they are actually capable of, this might be the most of important post of mine there is.
It mystifies me completely that high school students are expected to know how to study (usually) without any input from school or anyone else.
Studying is a learnt skill, just like learning an instrument. We don’t expect teenagers to sit down at the piano for the first time and blast out a Beethoven concerto, so why do we expect them to do well in exams without teaching them study skills?
Knowing how to study effectively does not have to be complicated (as I hope my articles and resources demonstrate), but there are still a lot of moving parts, particularly when it comes to exam study.
High school students have multiple different subjects to study for, essays to write, facts to memorise, formulas to wrap their head around, study notes to write, class materials to look over, websites to check out, text books to ponder — and they have to juggle all of these things at once during the school year alongside other extracurricular activities.
Really, are we surprised that so many teens have no idea where to start when it comes to school and studying?!
There is good news though...
There is a way to navigate through the maze of studying effectively.
I call the solution a Study System.
Students who have a Study System can approach studying in a systematic, purposeful, efficient and effective way, particularly when it comes to studying for exams, and there is no reason why your teen can’t develop their own Study System.
What is a Study System?
Students who get good grades follow a process when they study, particularly in the lead up to exams.
They follow certain steps. They have a pattern, a process, and they apply this process every time they sit down to study, and particularly when they're embarking on exam study.
That process and all of the study techniques they use during that time is what I call their Study System.
Students who consistently get the grades they are capable of apply their Study System every time they study for exams.
What study techniques should your teen have in their Study System?
What is absolutely KEY is that every student’s Study System is different. The combination of study techniques and methods that make up your teen's Study System will be unique to them.
That’s not to say every Study System is wildly different; most students’ Study Systems will share similarities, and most will (and should) including things like study notes and past exams.
It’s more the minutae of your teen’s Study System that should be unique to them (green or blue coloured highlighters?!), and it’s also really important that your teen is using study techniques that work for them, and that they are tapping into the techniques that work for someone with their predominant Learning Style.
(Your teen can take my free Quiz to find out their Learning Style and what study techniques might work for them over at cramlab.org/start-here)
Example Please
Here is a list of study techniques, methods and considerations that would be likely to feature in a robust Study System:
Making a list of all the topics that you need to study (i.e. making Subject Maps)
Looking at past exams to get an idea of the exam format
Making study notes
Researching topics you don’t understand well enough
Making diagrams and flow-charts
Consolidating study notes
Attempting practice exams using past exam papers
Using flash cards to memorise facts
Thinking about how you’re going to allocate your time in the exam
This is not an exhaustive list. It’s a list of what I think are the main components of exam study. My own Study System more or less followed this process, and included all of the little things I would do during exam study that made my Study System unique to me.
For instance, your teen’s Study System should also include:
The length of time they tend to study productively for before they need a break (what’s their optimum ‘study chunk’?)
How they organise their study desk
What type of resources they prefer to use (more book based or computer based or both?)
What times of day they are more productive
Listening to music — productive or distracting?
Handwriting or typing study notes, or a mixture?
Studying with friends sometimes or too distracting?
What your teen should do next
With your help, your teen’s task is to assess the state of their Study System.
Do they have one already? Do they have the beginnings of one? Have they even thought about how they go about studying before?
If they have no idea what study techniques and processes they find effective, either because they’re going to be sitting exams for the first time this year, or because they’ve never properly studied before, that’s okay.
They need to do these three things:
If they haven’t already, take my free Learning Styles Quiz over at cramlab.org/start-here to find out what their predominant Learning Style might be, because this will help them figure out what study techniques are more likely to work for them.
Go through the free Study System resources over at cramlab.org/start-here for guidance and inspiration on what their Study System might look like.
Start developing their own Study System. The only way to do this really, is to start studying. From now on, every time they sit down to study, I want them to be thinking about what study techniques they think work for them.
When will you see results?
A robust Study System is not something the average teen will have, ready to go, the first time they sit exams at high school.
Just like developing any type of skill, it’s a process.
Your teen should develop their Study System as they progress through high school. My hope is that by the time they are in their last 1-2 years of high school that they have a solid idea of how to go about studying and preparing for exams.
No one’s Study System should be set in stone either, because that would mean that you are not receptive to adopting new ways of learning that might make studying easier. Every student’s Study System should be a work in progress.
If your teen is struggling at high school, or if they have no idea where to start when it comes to studying, I hope that this article and the resources linked will give them the tools they need to get going.
Every teen is capable of developing a Study System, but teens need to be given the study tools required to figure out how they study best.
I’d love to hear how your teen is going in the comments. Do they have a Study System? What’s working (or not) for them? What’s their biggest struggle at the moment?
Clare x