School is where you establish the foundations for healthy study practices and strategies to last you a lifetime.
By developing these strategies and habits early on, they will be intuitive and natural to you the older you grow.
They will make you more likely to be productive, timely, and efficient in further education and your professional lives.
Let’s take a look at the best study tips for students in grades 4 -12
10 Best Study Tips for Students in Grades 4 -12
1) Schedule Specific Times for Studying
Think of studying as anything you do related to schoolwork.
Studying includes doing the assigned reading, completing a homework assignment, working on a paper or project, and studying for a test.
Studying should be one of your main priorities.
If you do not schedule specific times for studying, you will find it challenging to accomplish all that you need to do for school.
You may have assignments from many subjects, several tests in the same week.
By scheduling time specifically for these things, you are more likely to stay on track and less likely to feel distracted.
2) Study at the Same Times Each Day
Doing this will help you establish a study routine that becomes a regular part of your day.
When your study times come up during the day, you will be mentally prepared to begin studying, and less likely to grow distracted or prone to procrastinate.
3) Set Specific Goals for Your Study Times
It is essential to be clear about what you want to accomplish during your study times.
Setting goals will help you stay focused.
Think of the acronym SMART when you set your study goals.
Your goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and within a Time Frame.
Don’t set huge or unrealistic goals, like finishing all the compulsory reading for all your exams in two hours.
You will end up putting too much pressure on yourself, worrying that you are not getting your work done, and overall demotivated when you are unable to meet your goals.
Instead, using the SMART strategy, set goals that are realistic and attainable, and maximize your productivity.
4) Consider Your Mental Energy When Scheduling Study Times
You know that you can only do so much physical activity at one time.
The same is correct for mental activity, such as studying.
Your schoolwork will become careless and sloppy if you try to do too much at one time.
Rather than scheduling one long study time session, break up your study session into several shorter sessions.
A well-known learning strategy for this is the Pomodoro technique.
It involves studying for 25 minutes at a stretch, timing yourself during this period, and then taking a break.
The brain works best when it has time to digest new information – whatever you learn during your 25 minutes of studying will settle and consolidate better when you are taking a break.
Taking breaks throughout studying to do things you enjoy also makes the process more enjoyable and, therefore, more likely to keep you energized.
5) Figure Out Your Learning Style
You could be hitting the books every day, sitting down to study at the scheduled times, and still failing to do as well as you think you could.
This could be because you are not using the right learning style that best fits you.
Learners can be visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (typically, some combination of the three).
Depending on your learning style, you will have a higher success rate with certain kinds of learning than others.
For instance, visual learners can quickly grasp charts and diagrams and may benefit from drawing or mapping their thoughts.
Auditory learners, on the other hand, may retain information from reading it aloud or listening to recordings of it.
Figuring out which learning style best works for you can let you develop study strategies that best optimize your study time and help you understand and retain the material better.
6) Work on the Assignment You Find Most Difficult First
The assignment you find most difficult will require the most mental energy than will other assignments.
You will have the most mental energy at the beginning of your study session.
This is the time to tackle the work you find most challenging.
Again, it is easy to procrastinate and put off what you dislike or find hard to the end.
But as you can see, this would be unwise, especially as you would be tackling material you already find challenging with an exhausted mindset than at the beginning of your study session.
7) Use Your Class Notes When Doing an Assignment
Your assignments will often relate to information covered in class.
The information in your class notes will help you complete an assignment with information you may have noted down but had forgotten hearing about in class.
Teachers often mention pertinent points they expect to see you talk about in homework or tests, which your textbooks might not cover.
Thus, it is essential to take notes in class and review them after school.
8) Study Uninterrupted
Ask your friends not to call or text you during your scheduled study times.
A call or text message from a friend will interrupt the flow of your work. It is not always easy to get back to where you were if that happens.
Also, a call or text may distract you by getting you thinking about something not related to your schoolwork.
If you have serious trouble getting distracted by your devices, you can turn off your cell phone during your study sessions, to better focus on work.
9) Work with A Study Group on Difficult Assignments
One or more students in your group may understand something you do not.
Working with other students can encourage you and make studying fun.
Limit the study group to three to five members.
You may find that discussing the material with others helps you remember it better.
Similarly, if you can explain the topic to your friends, in your own words, and they can understand it, it’s a good sign of your understanding of the material.
10) Review Your Schoolwork Over the Weekend
Weekends should be fun, you might be thinking miserably.
But there are 48 hours in a weekend.
Devoting one or two of these hours to reviewing your schoolwork will not interfere with your fun.
By doing some review, you will be ready for the next school week.
Learning consistently over time builds better long-term knowledge and memory, rather than cramming before the day of the test.
We call this process chunking – learning a chunk of information, consolidating your understanding of it, and then building another piece on top.
By doing this, you build a sounder foundation for knowledge and a better understanding of the material.
Let’s think about it like this – chunking is like building a high-rise, laying the cement foundation, waiting for it to set, then making each floor brick by brick.
Trying to memorize everything all once in a short amount of time is like building a house of cards – it can topple over far too easily.
School is where we establish many of the learning strategies and habits we carry on later into our lives.
How we do in school also plays a part in determining which college we go to, the careers we can get, etc.
With these study tips for students in grades 4 to 12, school kids can find the best ways of maximizing their time and efforts to perform better in school and develop lifelong learning skills.
Which of these 10 ways in which students in grades 4 – 12 can study best did YOU find helpful?
Which are you thinking of trying out first?
Drop a line, I would love to hear back from you.
Stephen S. Strichart, Ph.D. has more than 30 years experience as a university professor in the field of education.
He is the founder of How-To-Study.com and has authored numerous textbooks and instructional programs for major publishers in the areas of study skills, reading, writing, and learning disabilities. On Dr. Strickhart’s website you will find a great deal of free study skills information. At this site you can learn more about Dr. Strichart and the study skills curriculums he has developed, which are used throughout the United States, Canada, and many other parts of the world. Having specialized in study skills for the past fifteen years,
Dr. Strichart is a recognized expert in best study tips for students in grades 4-12.
[ Updated – October 5, 2020 ]
Recent Comments