Entries Tagged 'studying' ↓

Even just the name ‘Summer School’ comes with all sorts of nice connotations: summer = sun = holiday = fun = relaxation.

The irony is of course, is that summer school is anything but relaxing.

If your teen is about to embark on Summer School or a summer course, they may be about to have this realisation.

The whole point of summer school is to cram in a lot of work into a small amount of time. This will mean your teen won’t have the luxury of procrastinating nearly as much as they might do during the normal school year.

If this is something you believe your teen might find a problem, here are a few things you can do to help them squash their summer school procrastination.

1. Make sure they’re prepared for the intense workload before their courses start.

Forewarned is forearmed. Many summer school students don’t realise they don’t have the luxury of excess time until their half way through. And by this stage it can be very overwhelming to get back on top of things.

We suggest that you have a chat with your teen before they get started to make sure they realize what the work load is going to be like. They’re going to have to start with a hiss and a roar and won’t be able to take their foot off the gas.

2. Help them prepare a timetable for Summer School before it starts.

Working to a timetable is something that we advocate during the normal school year, and particularly when exams are looming.

Having a weekly timetable – and more importantly sticking to it – is possibly going to be even more important for your teen’s success at summer school.

It’s really simple – having a timetable makes students much more likely to stick to a regular study schedule. And this is obviously a pivotal part of doing well at summer school, because again, your teen doesn’t have any time to waste.

Your teen should plan out their weeks – noting down specific times when they’re going to study for a particular subject, complete assignments, and prepare for their exams.

3. Help them keep their spirits up!

From what we’ve described here about summer school, anyone who didn’t know better might think we’ve described a setting of boot camp!

As it would be with boot camp (not that we’d know), striking success at summer school will ultimately come down to how well your teen can find the balance of working really hard, without burning out.

Summer school can be really intense and really stressful, and stress isn’t something you want your teen to feel for the entire duration. It’s counterproductive.

But you can help them keep things in perspective when they’re freaking out, suggest fun or stress-reducing things they can do in their down time so they don’t go insane.

Plus, it’s important that you’ll just be there for general help and support. If your teen wants to ace their summer school exams, they’re going to need it!

 

Overall your teen should probably be looking at summer school as a trade off – it’s a lot of work and it’s pretty intense – but they will come out having done something really great and have gotten extra credits towards their academic career.

The trick to the success is simply to be organised, efficient, and to stay positive about it.

And with your help – they will be able to do these things much more effectively.

I graduated from UC-Berkeley in December, 2000 with a far less than stellar GPA.   But, I took everything I learned from my mistakes and  guided my younger sister to  graduating with honors in a much more challenging major. Looking back I really wasn’t prepared for the challenges of college life and if I had been aware of the advice below, which I gave my sister before she entered college, I would have easily graduated with a high GPA.

1. One Hour a Day

One of the most challenging things about college is time management. It’s not that you don’t have enough. In fact you usually have too much time, and as a result time gets wasted. In his home study course on success Jack Canfield identified a simple distinction between 3.0 students and 4.0 students. 4.0 students took good notes in class, and spent one hour reviewing their notes everyday before they went to sleep. By doing this they utilized the power of the subconscious to absorb information and by the time exams came around they knew all the material on a subconscious level. 3.0 students by contrast tried to cram the night before exams. Considering the amount of free time you usually have in college, one hour a day is not much considering the long term benefits.

2. Frontload Easy Courses

If there’s one tip I gave my sister that helped her most to graduate with a high GPA, it was to frontload easy courses. What does that mean exactly? In your first semester of college, load up on as many “easy A’s” as possible. There are several reasons for this. The first semester of college is full of distractions as it is, and there are probably even more today than when I was in college thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and more. The last thing you want to do is add difficult coursework to this. The other reason frontloading is powerful is that it allows you  to start off your college career with an extremely high GPA. Good grades have less and less of an impact on your GPA later in your college career and  raising your GPA becomes much more difficult.  Frontloading also leaves room for the occasional screw up when coursework becomes more challenging. By frontloading my younger sister finished her first semester with a 3.9, got a C later in college, and still graduated with honors.

3. Join (or Form) Study Groups

If you go to a large public school where classes often have 700 plus  people, study groups are an extremely effective way to ensure good grades. Study groups are often led by older students who have taken the course and received A’s in that particular course. They also often provide you with resources such as practice tests, practice problems, and many others that might not be provided by professors.  I had a friend who never attended lecture for organic chemistry (I don’t recommend this), but always attended study group, and ended up with an A- in the class.

4. Use Personal Development/Affirmations

I can honestly say I was not at all involved in personal development when I was in college. Looking back I realize that I suffered from low self esteem and a very unhealthy self image. Without a doubt this had a negative impact on my GPA. But, if I had combined personal development techniques with the 3 steps above, my college career would have turned out very differently.

If you have already started school, I recommend developing a strategy that incorporates these 4 ideas into your current schedule. If you haven’t started school yet, do some research on easier courses and what study groups might be available.  If you follow through and commit to the 4 recommendations above,  you’ll set yourself up for a very successful first semester, and hopefully a very successful college career. Good luck to all of you starting the college journey.

Share This