Establishing Healthy Study Habits
High school brings on a unique sense of responsibility. Sports become more competitive, academic performance more crucial, and involvement more necessary than prior years. In the midst of all these commitments, it’s important, as a student, to learn now to navigate and manage your world to set you up for future success. At Resurrection Christian School, we set out to equip our students with all the necessary knowledge to create a healthy and solid foundation for them to launch from into their college years and beyond. To help do this, we know there are helpful habits we can put in place to streamline focus and success. Let’s take a look at some beneficial habits that can help students academically in their high school years, and ideally, ease the transition of what is needed to be successful academically in college.
Attendance
To properly prepare for tests, quizzes, and class in general, you need to be there. In high school, attendance is mandatory, but this is not always the case in college. Daily class isn’t common, and absences will often be permitted up to a certain point. However, being intentional in your attendance as much as possible will greatly benefit you. Hearing the professor talk through a lesson plan is helpful for visual and audible learners, and will often help you study the subject down the road if you can recall the in-class lesson.
A Place for Everything
Organizing is never a bad idea, nor does it set you up for failure. Keeping tabs on different assignments, taking detailed notes, marking down quiz and test dates, and organizing your binder regularly, will help you manage the ever-growing responsibilities of school. Using the calendar tool on your phone is a perfect way to schedule out important events that will notify you ahead of time. To help encourage your organization, try making it fun. Use folders and notebooks specific for each subject that are different colors, designs, or even ones you’ve made yourself. Developing this facet of studying during high school will not fail you in college years. Especially since classes meet less frequently, designating different areas for each course and marking different dates of importance in your calendar will ensure proper preparation.
Have Time on Your Side
This one is incredibly important to establish as a healthy habit. Understanding your responsibilities and allotting enough time to complete each one is crucial for success in the studying world. If you are a student who is involved in multiple extracurricular activities, sports and the like, you will want to designate study time for yourself throughout the week. Heading into college, professors will spend less time teaching and expect you to spend more time reading and/or studying outside of class. Knowing your physical limits and necessary time frames for studying is mandatory to set yourself up for success. For example, if you are a math wiz but struggle with history, you will want to allot yourself ample time to study for history quizzes and tests. Honing the craft of time management can be difficult, but is extremely beneficial.
Know Your Style
Did you know there are different learning styles? This means that even if flash cards work for some people, you may need to physically write things down multiple times to fully grasp and remember them. Whichever way you learn, do some research to find out what style of studying works best for you, and apply it. Most importantly, study ahead of time instead of the week, or even the night beforehand. You may surprised to hear that frequent, shorter sessions of studying are actually much more effective than studying for hours the night before. Which leads us to our next point.
Never Underestimate Sleep
All-nighters won’t benefit you in high school, nor with they in college. To maintain your health and a solid GPA, studies are showing sleep will have a direct correlation. For this reason, try to study harder earlier in the week, and then go to bed early before a big test. Establishing a mostly consistent sleeping schedule will have a prevalent effect on your studying success and overall academic success.
Power in Numbers
One of the most valuable ways to learn, is in a study group. Finding a few others who help you learn in new ways, and possibly ways you never considered before, will help strengthen your social skills and development in addition to your studying skills. As an added bonus, you will be more likely to study when you have others to keep you accountable to show up and go through certain subjects and areas of confusion you may have. Let’s be honest, studying for a massive test is always better with company.
Positive Outlook
Last but certainly not least, have a positive outlook on your academic goals. Parents, encourage your child in their studying routines and help them manage the difficult parts. Even in the instance that studying was started later than needed, help them devise a plan to cover all necessary material for the test ahead of time. The mentality going into the studying and test taking is just as important as, and can be directly correlated to, the outcome.
At Resurrection Christian School, we help each child grow and develop individually in their social and academic areas of life. With an average over 24 for ACT scores, and dozens of extra curricular activities to get involved in, you can be sure your child will find a place to thrive. Learning different studying habits, time management, and healthy scheduling tactics can be overwhelming and difficult, if they must be done alone. At RCS, we partner with our students to help launch them into the next stages of life through the establishing of a solid and healthy foundation. We have a passion for each student to grow into who they are, while learning who God is calling them to be. Visit our website today to learn more about our RCS family and take a virtual tour today.