As children proceed through middle school and high school, the curriculum becomes more difficult. The material is more challenging, and quite frankly, it takes more effort to master the material.
Our gut deceives us.
It appears that most of us fall prey to this allusion. When we are studying something, we base our future recall on our present recall.
How do we know this? A recent article in a journal of experimental psychology by Dr. Koriat and Dr. Bjork confirmed that we overestimate future recall.
For students who tend to be excellent students, we often don’t find this. They understand that they need to over study and over prepare in order to be ready for a test. However, many students who find their performance dropping, and don’t appreciate why, do not understand the role of over preparing.
In my practice of working with families, I find that average to below average students often miss this point. They will study, feel like they have the information available to them at the time they’re studying, and believe that this is enough. It is not.
Long term learning is enhanced with repetition.
Regardless of your child’s IQ points, it is clear that long term learning is enhanced with repetition. It is much more powerful to study a topic fifteen minutes a day for a week, rather than studying for two hours the night before the test. Learning accumulates gradually, and the neuropathways in the brain are expanded and reinforced with each repetition.
So to enhance performance, the formula is not all that difficult. It doesn’t necessarily require tutoring, special aides, and all sorts of advanced technologies to help kids. What is often needed is a home where parents and students understand the power of repetition, in the form of preparation….preparation…preparation…class discussion…review of class discussion…review of class discussion…review and prepare for tests…review and prepare for test…take test.
When kids preview material prior to a class, they are prepared to absorb more information during the class discussion.
After the class, when students begin to regularly review material the neuropathways are reinforced and expanded, and long term learning is enhanced.
This doesn’t require hours and hours of time, but instead requires a disciplined effort at preparing for class, absorbing and being engaged in the classroom discussion, and then reviewing discussion and textbook materials repeatedly prior to an exam.
How students can know where they are at?
In this same research with Dr. Koriat and Dr. Bjork, they discovered that students who self tested had a much better idea of their mastery of the material. It also helped them to prepare for the test by not only using memory, but a process that scientist call “metamemory.” This is really a fancy term for our ability to organize what we have in our memory in a way to effectively use it to answer questions and to move through life.
Bottom Line:
If your son or daughter tends to study in spurts, and seems to know the material when they are studying, but yet they struggle on tests, a change in strategy is needed.
Here is the formula for success:
1. Do a preview of material prior to class discussion. Just look it over and become familiar with the information, and perhaps have some casual dialogue about it.
2. Make a few notes about the material, prior to the teacher’s instruction. For younger kids, parents could simply talk about upcoming chapters in a casual way, and begin to ask questions.
3. During class discussion and instruction, take notes and ask questions. Be engaged in the conversation.
4. After class, review notes and begin preparation for exam.
5. Every night, review and prepare.
6. Create your own self test, or take one from the back of the book or ask the teacher. Give the self test two days before the exam, and notice what weak areas need to be focused on. Concentrate efforts for the final two day on those areas of weakness.
If kids follow this formula, they’ll develop a good sense of their own knowledge and mastery of material. They’ll also have a way of assessing where they’re at, and correcting their own study habits.
Dr. Randy Cale, a Clifton Park-based parenting expert, author, speaker and licensed psychologist, offers practical guidance for a host of parenting concerns. His Web site,
www.TerrificParenting.com,, offers free parenting guidance and an e-mail newsletter.