Victus Study Skills

[My4arrows]

I’m considering using them for my 8th grade ps DS and 7th grade hs DS this summer. Has anyone used this or something else to help with study skills and time management?  Is the teachers manual needed or could I skip buying that?

[cbollin]

I tried using it a few years ago.  Did the book that was the DIY Student book.  Went through it with my dd.  Didn't feel like a teacher's manual was needed.  But I think something was lacking to use it best. so if it was the only thing the student had, I'm not sure....  but I didn't let them do it alone either.

I did not like the section about creating a mission statement for your life.  It's a small section. Not worth tossing the book over.  But this threw off my middle school children: "answer it in a way that your answer will be the same today, five to 20 years from now, and even when you're very old."oh please, that stumped her for over a week and was holding us back.  So I had her skip it to move the academic study stuff with test and study strategies, time management, taking notes, and the like.

once we did that, it was good enough.  I'm sure similar stuff is out there. and I don't know about all the bells and whistles that exist with it now.

[Mona]

I used the DIY student books for two of my kids several years ago and remember being disappointed. I don’t feel it helped them with time management or different study skills. Afterwards, I ended up purchasing DK Study Skills for a reference and choosing a few strategies to use with them. Your PS student may benefit from the Order Out of Chaos planner that helps them see their free time so they can plan their “free” time wisely. There’s a video explaining how it works here: https://products.orderoochaos.com/collections/academic-planners

Another helpful resource was The Learning Strategies Center at Cornell. Lots of topics covered here: https://lsc.cornell.edu/managing-time/

[cbollin]

Felt like sharing more. I had a little more time to dig up my copy of the DIY student book. And I found some old notes I made about the materials during the time I was using it.   Like Mona, the other poster, I had feelings of being disappointed in the materials. I’m looking at it 7 years down the road and trying to figure out why I felt that way.  A few more details to flesh that out.

It was not organized in a way that an average student in the suggested age range could go through it on their own. It needs some interaction for student that is more than a fill in some blanks and table cells. The idea is that this book came from some in-person workshop the author had at some point. Supposed to be a 5 session workshop with each session being one hour. (edit: some parts of website say it's 10 lessons? alright. )  Not sure how the average student is supposed to schedule that from just the DIY book. That was disappointing especially when taken with the whole write a mission statement for 20-50 years down the road. Knowing what I know now, I’d give that section about 10 minutes tops unless the student just knew.

Good points in the book: the student is introduced to the idea about Learning Strengths and approaches to use those to their advantage (and then reflect on that and which one they are). SMART goals and objectives are discussed. So that’s the idea of breaking things down into doable lists.  That’s a good thing to have them learn. Time management worksheets have the standard activity of making a daily and weekly schedule, and combining that with monthly assignment sheets.  That was something my oldest had to do in her college orientation class. somewhere in the samples, they show how to break down a research paper into getting it done on time.

Then you finally get to what you think you bought the book for:  Study skills. As can be seen in the table of contents of the DIY book, the focus is on the PQRST method.  If you need more on what that is, look here https://www.swic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SSReadingPQRSTtan.pdf

Then it moves to listening skills and note taking.  It’s very basics of note taking and not a specific style like Cornell notes.  And then, very basic strategies about test taking.  This way the student knows what kinds of tests are commonly used and some simple but common and effective ways to prepare.

It’s so odd to me that I was disappointed in this book. It covers the right stuff.  But I guess with my students at the time who were average middle school to high schoolers, I just know it was missing lesson planning information to make it a self-study workbook. Maybe the first two parts focus too long on who I want to be in 20 years. Maybe the price seems wrong to me. Value wise, it doesn’t seem like it’s a $25 book. It seems like 10 for new. It’s relatively thin book, spiral bound.  But then again, I imagine some parents would gladly pay for the in-person workshops at higher price too.  

Edited May 26, 2021 by cbollin

[Momto6inIN]

We're planning on using it next year with my 8th grader along with GC's How to Be a Superstar Student. I have both the teacher and the student books, although I bought them used so I don't know if I'd get both if I had to buy them new.

[My4arrows]

Hmmm....thanks for all the thoughts. I’m still deciding if it will be a good fit. I want something open and go so I can easily fit it in as well as it being helpful for both  hs and ps. 
 

it sounds great but I had my doubts before read responses. Especially for the cost. 

[Mona]

1 hour ago, Momto6inIN said:

We're planning on using it next year with my 8th grader along with GC's How to Be a Superstar Student. I have both the teacher and the student books, although I bought them used so I don't know if I'd get both if I had to buy them new.

I forgot about that one. My kids enjoyed watching How to Be a Superstar Student. 😀 Good choice!