Effective Study Habits for School: Classroom and real-world skills

Effective Study Habits for School: Classroom and real-world skills

young girl sitting at a table in her learning center doing a worksheet

To be successful at school, children need effective study habits. It’s never too early to begin thinking about the skills needed in and outside of the classroom.

Here are 7 effective study habits that are essential for students of all ages.

  1. Establish a study area at home.
  2. Communicate with the teacher.
  3. Keep assignments organized.
  4. Avoid procrastination.
  5. Take notes in class.
  6. Highlight key concepts in the reading materials.
  7. Prepare your book-bag before going to bed.

plants and globe on a desk

Establish a study area at home.

Find the perfect place to designate as the homework station. Stock the study space with school supplies including pencils, sharpeners, erasers, highlighters, and index cards. Remove distractions such as the TV and portable devices like cell phones.

Communicate with the teacher.

It’s important to understand the assignments and the expectations for class. Students should ask the teacher questions for clarity when needed. If homework is missing, it’s important to speak with the teacher about the reason.

Keep assignments organized.

Students should keep the details of their assignments organized in a planner or notebook and write down the dates for tasks, tests, and projects. Some work requires multiple steps to finish. Thus, making a plan is essential.

Avoid procrastination.

Many students wait until the last minute to do their work, but procrastination must be avoided. Unforeseen problems occur like getting sick, a family emergency or even another school assignment due at the same time, which could make it hard to complete the task.

a young boy leaning into his worksheet working out a math problem

Take notes in class.

Listening and note-taking are important study habits for school and careers. Students identify the most relevant information they need to retain and write it down in order to review it later.

Highlight key concepts in the reading materials.

Students can use different color highlighters or sticky flags to highlight key points, Keywords, definitions and other important information that might need to be referenced later. Creating a color-coding system is not only great for organization, it is also fun!

Prepare your book-bag before going to bed.

Forgetting to bring back completed homework leads to poor grades. Students should ensure their bookbag is prepared with homework, books, and school supplies before going to bed.