The easiest way to beat this cycle is to fill your September toolbox with study skills that will get you through the slump. Try these study skills for the first two weeks of school – the ones in which you are the most driven to stay on top of things – and do so without faltering, and hopefully, the habits will be set in stone this time.

Make a routine – We are creatures of habit because we actually like to be stuck in a rut. Even though the first few times of studying your history notes before you go to bed will not be fun, the satisfaction that will come from forming a positive habit and accomplishing a goal will be. See how creative you can get: do you have time to do two math problems over breakfast? Read your French book every time you take the bus. (Can we have a link to ‘read more’ after this paragraph)

Have a fun way of keeping track of your time – Buy a giant calendar – the kind your mom has in the kitchen – and use colours and sticky notes to plan out your life. This can give you the big picture, while a little agenda in your favourite colour can allow you to fill in details. Or go electronic- iCal and the Microsoft Office calendars are great ways to stay on top of things. Don’t be bound to your school agenda you always lose and have fun this year.

Turn your studying into accomplishable tasks – Instead of thinking Study for Socials, break this into tasks you can realistically check off a list. Read chapter one of my textbook aloud. Highlight important information from my class notes. Make flashcards of important terms. Meet with a friend to study for one hour. The more specific you can be, the more you’re going to get done and the more satisfied you will feel.

Lastly, study smart – Know what works for you and don’t waste time on what doesn’t. We are always learning to study, so work towards becoming an expert at what kind of studying works for you.

Take this September as a chance to change. Make study skills your habit! Join Nicky, Options Solutions “Coach,” at one of her Study Skills sessions, held at the West Vancouver and Vancouver offices throughout September and October. Nicky is also available for one-on-one coaching in Study Skills, English, French, and written and online university applications.

The capability of any learner to study successfully depends to a great extent on their study/learning skills. In other words, their ability to manage time, to concentrate, to understand correctly and accurately, as well as the ability to remember what they have learned. More importantly, it is critical that students have a full understanding of the connection between memory and learning. It is not a simple matter of “studying”. Concrete evidence supports the fact that if the correct pattern or review of material is followed, memory consolidation is significantly enhanced and the overall time spent learning is actually dramatically reduced.

Options Solutions is offering a series of intensive study skills sessions on Saturdays throughout the school year for just this purpose. These sessions are of benefit to all secondary and post-secondary students and will be instructional as well as practical, hands-on work sessions. Students will be academically well-prepared for what lies ahead – whether still at the secondary level, or just entering university – they will leave the workshop armed with knowledge, skills, strategies and reference material required to set them up for success. Topics to be covered will include the following:

• Study environment 
• Organizational systems
• Motivation &/or the lack of it
• Learning how to learn
• Effective note-taking
• How to prepare for class & tests
• Universal test/exam taking skills for various subjects
• How to properly read & study from notes &/or textbooks
• How to construct an effective study plan (i.e., time management)
• How to study efficiently, save time and do well

In addition, to further assist students to smoothly transition from high school to post-secondary education, Options Solutions has scheduled Writing and Application Workshops specifically designed to help prepare students for the standard of writing expected at the university level. We are here to help! Our Application Workshops provide students with support and guidance frequently needed to navigate what can be a complex and daunting application process.

Success in high school and beyond is primarily a factor of the students’ ability to learn effectively and efficiently. Without this fundamental understanding, together with the skills and strategies to enable them to put this knowledge into effect, the results can be wasted time, frustration and never fully realizing their full potential.

To learn more detailed information regarding dates and times of our Workshops, please refer to our calendar on our website at www.optionssolutionsed.com.

The survey, which sought to gain insight into college and career readiness issues, polled 160 guidance counsellors, 120 [university students] and up to 100 recent high school and [university] graduates who are in the workplace today.

Guidance counsellors indicated that they tend to focus on student populations who represent the extremes of the achievement spectrum, with more than 50 percent of their time spent dealing with students who may not graduate, and 36 percent of their time spent on those who are [university] bound. Guidance cousellors also pointed toward [university] ‘eligibility’ as a measure of student success, as opposed to ‘readiness’ with nearly 70 percent of respondents defining success as a student receiving a high school diploma. [University] students, however, indicated that they could have been better prepared to meet [university] academic standards and relied primarily on close friends and family members as mentors.

“Ensuring that our students are prepared to reach their academic and professional goals goes beyond closing the gap between what high schools teach and what [universities] expect,: said Jeff Livingston, senior vice-president of McGraw-Hill Education’s College and Career Readiness Centre. “This survey confirms what we’ve long believed and are striving to change in the educational system; the distinction between [university] eligible and [university] ready. Being eligible for [university] is simply not good enough in the global economy of the 21^st century; our high school students must be richly and rigorously prepared for a lifetime of learning and professional development.”

According to the survey, nearly half of recent high school graduates feel they did not choose the right career – 81 percent felt practical work experience would have helped then make a better choice and an overwhelming amount (96 percent) said that an internship would have made then feel better prepared for the work force. The top three areas where graduates would have liked to receive further instruction in high school/[university] included technology applications (31 percent) and communication skills (28 percent). Further, 72 percent of [university] graduates selected time management as the biggest differentiator between high school and [university], which remained a common theme, as the majority (43 percent) also identified time management as an area where they would have like further instruction in high school.

www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mcgraw-hill-survey-provides-insight-into

 

• Study environment

 

• Organizational systems

 

• Motivation &/or the lack of it

 

• Learning how to learn

 

• Effective note-taking

 

• How to prepare for class & tests

 

• Universal test/exam taking skills for various subjects

 

• How to properly read & study from notes &/or textbooks

 

• How to construct an effective study plan

 

• How to study efficiently, save time and do well

 

$120.00 per session plus GST 

It goes without saying that everyone is different. For some students, studying and being motivated to learn comes naturally; for most, however, this is not the case. Fortunately, there are strategies that can be modeled and, once implemented, students will gain a valuable edge in understanding material, preparing for tests, and, ultimately, learning. Students’ success in high school and post-secondary is dependent on their ability to study effectively and efficiently. Effective study skills must be practiced in order to improve. If not, the results will be wasted time, frustration, and low or failing grades.

There is no magic formula for success in preparing for tests and written assignments. Studying any material requires work! However, by being dedicated and applying the techniques and strategies learned in our Study Skills Tune Up workshops every day, students will be well-prepared to take on any course and succeed. These workshops are especially beneficial to grade 10 students attempting to navigate Provincial exams for the first time.

A student who wants to succeed will equip themselves with the tools to help them do so and take to heart the following expression: “Practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.”

Sign-up today.