On track or off the rails: How is your teen's Study System going?
It's time for a check up. How is your teen doing? Are they on track or is the study train derailing?
Hi there,
At the start of this year I wrote Game plan 2023: How to help your teen develop their Study System and kick study goals, where I had a rant about how teens aren’t taught how to study before talking about how your teen can develop their own unique Study System to get them through their exams.
An now here we are in March already, so I thought it was time for a study health check-up.
More specifically, I want to make sure that your teen is at least starting to think about how their Study System is getting on, because exams are never that far away.
GCSE’s are scheduled to start in 9 weeks. Other Northern Hemisphere exams won’t be too far away either. And in the Southern Hemisphere our kids will be facing mock exams around June.
What’s a Study System again?
But first a quick refresher: A Study System is the steps, study methods and techniques that a student works through to prepare for exams.
Helping your teen to figure out their Study System is the reason I do Cram Lab.
As I said in January, by the time I finished high school I had developed my own Study System — a system for studying that I used every time I had to study for exams.
Here’s a quick overview of my Study System:
Prep work — making an Exam Study Timetable and Subject Maps
Working through topics I was struggling with
Using all of my school notes and resources to write study notes
Writing practice essays
Doing practice problems, particularly for Maths and Science subjects
Looking at past exam papers
Re-writing study notes
Making sure I had everything I needed for the actual exam (e.g. stationery and an exam strategy)
The very good news is that your teen can take my Study System, build on it and modify it to figure out their own.
That last bit — the figuring out what works for them — is a really important step for getting good at studying.
We all learn and study most effectively in our own unique way, and what works for me might not work for your teen and might not work for their mates.
So, time to assess.
Where is your teen at with their study?
Have they started working on their Study System? Have they started doing any prep for exams?
If the answer is a resounding “no”, or if they’re feeling disorganised or overwhelmed or unmotivated or a combination of all of those — here are some questions to talk through with them to get their Study System on track.
Do they know when their exams are this year? If not, it’s time to find out.
Do they have a study timetable to keep them on track during semester? A timetable can be a huge help for sticking to a routine, getting stuff done and keeping yourself accountable.
Do they have an idea of when they need to actually start their exam study? This will depend on when their exams are and how much time they’ll need to prepare.
Do they know how they’re going to study for their exams? How they’re going to approach their study? If not it’s time for them to start thinking about their Study System. I strongly suggest you head to my Study System page over at cramlab.org/study-system and download the free printouts for your teen to get them started.
Do they have some workbooks / practice questions / past exam papers they can use to practice? Practice is the only way to adequately prepare for exams.
Similarly, do they have some good study resources to help them better understand the topics they’re going to be examined on? For instance the BBC’s GCSE Bitesize and Khan Academy are superb.
Do they have a good study environment set up? I don’t care where it is or what it looks like, it just needs to help them focus.
Is there anything in particular holding them back at the moment? It’s important to identify what your teen’s stumbling blocks are. That’s the only way you can take steps to remove or overcome those barriers and move towards progress.
That list of questions should provide plenty of fodder for you and your teen to start working on their Study System.
But I do want to stress one other thing.
Yes I’m focusing on exams and exam study, but if your teen is struggling with school at the moment, it’s really important to set realistic goals and celebrate progress.
Your teen does not need to become a straight A student overnight (or perhaps ever).
Right now, the most important thing is to help equip your teen with some tools to make studying at least easier.
No matter where your teen is at right now, there is no reason why they can’t acquire study skills and start to develop their Study System. Every student has the potential to do better at school than they perhaps realise.
My mission is to help, so if there is anything I can do or you have any questions, reach out. Paying subscribers can ask questions in the comments below too :)
Wishing your teen all the very best with their studying.
Clare
