There are some people who just seem to be great in school – no matter what the subject matter is, nor the teacher. Everything appears to be so easy for them, and straight “A’s” are the norm rather than the exception. Certainly, for some people, studying does come easy, but for other’s it’s a struggle for every single class. However, there’s good news because there are some good ways to study, but it’s even more effective when the student learns to Study Smart.
Starting from the Beginning
When children are small, everything is new. Numbers, alphabets, colors, shapes, names, foods, clothes. It is during this time that they begin to put everything together and start to understand how each thing fits. Bananas and socks are both equally great things to know about, but they are hardly interchangeable, and each fits into a specific category. Children learn the assorted pieces of information, and then understanding comes and they are, eventually, able to put the pieces together. A lot of this comes from the practice of memorization. Words, shapes, colors, and purpose all total into the formula that creates the building blocks to learning. This type of learning has been around since the beginning of time when humans started naming everything and began the next step to Study Smart.
Continuing with the Education
Once all the words and shapes are associated, the next step that people have when they want to Study Smart is to linking the information together so that it fits into a bigger picture. There are several tricks that students can use when they are struggling with a subject, which includes the following:
- Create Comparisons – Find the relationship that can be compared with an already understood element, and come up with an analogy that makes sense. (Note, not all analogies make sense to other, so make it something that the student can relate to and remember.)
- Create Vivid Images – Come up with vivid images that help the mind remember the idea or the facts. For example, if a list of items are to be remembered, create a visual list of one item on top of another. One way is to use the first letter of the words to make a sentence, or if trying to remember how to spell a word, make a sentence out of the letters in the word.
- Don’t Procrastinate – In order to Study Smart, by all means don’t wait until the last night before the test to read the material and cram it all in – it won’t last. Learning the material over the course of several days (or sometimes weeks) is much more effective than trying to cram it all in overnight.
- Notice Patterns – It’s a great help when studying to find patterns in the text that is being studied. These could be patterns in dates and times, locations (if they are moving around) get in a plane or car and imagine flying or driving to the geographic location and notice what is seen on the way as part of the history that is occurring there.
- Practice – Another way to Study Smart is to practice reciting the material or recalling what was on the page aloud. For many people “hearing” the information aids the studying even more than just reading it.
- Read the Entire Assignment – When preparing for a test on the first four chapters of the material – READ all of the material! Don’t skim through it because important information is missed when entire paragraphs (or pages) are skipped in the effort of “saving some time”. There is no speed without accuracy and no passing of tests when the material has not been studied.
- Teach the Topic – The best way to Study Smart is to try to teach the material to someone else who has never heard the topic before. It forces the mind to get organized and allow the topic to be explained. It also helps solidify the topic in the mind so that it’s easier to remember.
Discover the Effective Methods
When trying to Study Smart and learning different methods to reinforce remembering the topic, there’s usually a few of these methods that work best. There is no perfect solution for everyone because everyone learns in different manners. Some people prefer hearing or auditory methods, others would rather sit down and read, while the third group needs to read it, hear it, and go play with the information for a while before it sets in their head. Find the method that works best, and don’t be afraid to try other methods occasionally.
