Quiver0f10 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I am looking for books or a course on How to Study. We have already watched TTC Super Star Student, but my son still needs help in this area. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Our favorite is Study is Hard Work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted June 6, 2012 Author Share Posted June 6, 2012 Our favorite is Study is Hard Work. This looks great, Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Not books, but some of my favorite websites for college success. Toward Success in College How to Study for Biology Exams and Quizzes How to Study Physics Best wishes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 How to Study in College by Pauk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 Not books, but some of my favorite websites for college success. Toward Success in College How to Study for Biology Exams and Quizzes How to Study Physics Best wishes How to Study in College by Pauk. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Learning to Learn is a good book for middle school students. What Smart Students Know is by far the best book I've seen for high school and college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjarnold Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Thank you for this thread! Tiffany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I like What Smart Students Know because it teaches how to simulate what happens naturally when one is interested and really trying to figure something out. It shows the student how to artificially create situations that force one to figure out how something really works (or worked), make connections between things, and put things together into the whole picture, instead of just focusing on a few interesting bits or getting bogged down in a wash of details or memorizing things without really making the connections. Beware, though - the whole system is overkill for most situations. I told mine that this was one person's process and that they had to develop their own. There is no way that all good students do all those steps for all subjects. There isn't time. Good students know which of those steps they do unconciously and develop their own method of dealing with the rest. I liked the book because it didn't just say, "You have to be interested. Ask yourself questions. Take notes. Combine your lecture and textbook notes. Make flashcards. Try to anticipate what will be on a test." Instead, it was much more specific. It listed questions. It demonstrated a very active study method which has one rewriting one's notes in various different formats. My boys do better with something to *do* rather than just something to read and memorize. HTH Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 Thank you all for the recommendations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I second What Smart Students Know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 (edited) Suggestions from "The Overnight Student" - - take notes; i.e. the author took notes in outline form - verify w/prof test content; i.e. lecture only -- study the lecture notes, combo of lecture & text -- not from this book, but cross reference or study all - "teach" your notes to an imaginary class - active rather than passive reading This is an oop book, so it doesn't cover new trends in the classroom; i.e. study guides for tests, various types of lecture aids; i.e. outlines from prof or Powerpoint summaries, but the last suggestion would still apply - "teach" your notes. Edited June 7, 2012 by 1Togo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I second Study is Hard Work. My daughter rereads portions. I ordered a separate one for my son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 So for those of you who recommended books, did you not just like the book, but did your student actually learn how to study just from reading a book? I always thought study skills could only develop if the student has to deal with material that makes them actually necessary, but not from having somebody tell you "how to". So, would you say reading these books really works? Not meaning to be snarky - just curious. I breezed through (a challenging, German college prep) high school and never learned how to study until I hit freshman physics in college, and it took me a whole semester to figure it out. If there is a shortcut in book form that would save this time, great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week is a good book to talk to parents about how to teach organization skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 (edited) Regentrude, Our children have used the simple suggestions (or adaptations) from the book I suggested. Those suggestions were starting points, and they definitely weren't shortcuts. We haven't found any of those. I have two of the books suggested on this thread, and they languish on our shelves. Edited June 7, 2012 by 1Togo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValRN Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 TPS has a Study Skills course that uses How to Study in College by Pauk. Ds took it last summer. The course gave very good tips; however, not enough practice was incorporated into the summer offering. I'm pretty sure that there are more assignments if you take the course during the year, therefore making that class much more effective. I cannot say that the course helped ds only because ds is very set in his ways and wants to do things his way. He is not open to suggestions. If your dc is open to instruction and guidance and willing to incorporate what is taught into his/her daily practice, then this class would be very useful. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Cal Newport's Study Hacks blog has a lot of good material in it, but you'll have to spend some time mining the site to get it out: http://calnewport.com/blog/ He also has books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 So for those of you who recommended books, did you not just like the book, but did your student actually learn how to study just from reading a book? I would ask my son but he is in Switzerland for the summer, so I will try to answer your question myself. We went through the book in June and the following fall he applied it to chemistry at the community college. I think essentially you are right and you can't learn to study by just reading a book. I think you can, if you are a homeschooler, have the process shortened by being given suggestions of things to do, being shown someone else's version of the process so you have an idea of how long it should take and what is involved, and having the goal clearly explained (not just to read the book but to learn). It took my youngest (the one who was home after we went through the book so I could observe the results) a little over a semester to become good at studying. He has a system, now. I think the biggest difference the book made was that while he was developing the system, he was getting A's. Instead of doing too little, then a little more and still finding it too little, then a little more and still finding it too little, he started with a fair amount of studying and then adjusted it. I think it was very helpful that he belonged to a study group first semester because he got to see how other people studied. One of the group was an older adult who had very good study skills. They turned out to be very different from my son's (lots of high-lighting, for example) so I'm not sure he learned any actual techniques from her, but he got to see how much work she was doing, which was pricelss. Does that answer your question? Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 So for those of you who recommended books, did you not just like the book, but did your student actually learn how to study just from reading a book? I always thought study skills could only develop if the student has to deal with material that makes them actually necessary, but not from having somebody tell you "how to". So, would you say reading these books really works? Not meaning to be snarky - just curious. I breezed through (a challenging, German college prep) high school and never learned how to study until I hit freshman physics in college, and it took me a whole semester to figure it out. If there is a shortcut in book form that would save this time, great. It's a combnation. Like much else in our homeschool, it was more effective when I absorbed the information in the book and then brought up concepts when they applied. I don't think most students could just read through the book and then use it effectively. It would take at the least discussion, and ideally some help in application. I liked What Smart Students Know, because that really is the issue. Some students naturally know these skills, and others can learn them. My dd will never use everything in the book, or even everything I teach her in the ralm of study skills, but I like to give her as many tools as possible and then let her pick what works for her. Like you, I breezed through and then I had to figure it out in my second year of college. It would have been easier if I had practiced the necessary skills long before I really needed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leibniz Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Josh Waitzkin's The Art of Learning takes apart the essence of mastery from a really accessible first person perspective. Josh was a chess prodigy during his youth. Upon reaching adulthood he transferred the knowledge about how he learned to master to chess to an entirely different skill: push hands Tai Chi. It's the best overview on what learning skills generalize that I've ever found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 What Smart Students Know here too. My slacker students definitely improved after reading it and they all maintained above 3.8 in college and two maintained 4.0s. I attribute part of that to their learning how to figure out the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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