4. Mix it Up
Even the best study method can grow
stale if used in isolation. Try a variety
of study techniques so that mastery will
come quickly and painlessly. Everyone
has a slightly different learning style.
Chanting;something;might;work;well;for
one person but utterly fail for others. Try
out;games,;flash;cards,;study;partners,
diagrams, silly rhymes, funny songs,
chalk drawings on the sidewalk, play
acting;on;videos,;and;even;audio;record-ings: be creative.
5. Do a Little Every Day
Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium
et artem saepe vincit,;“Constant;practice
devoted to one subject often outdoes
both;intelligence;and;skill.”;(Cicero)
The battle for mastery over a subject
is not won in a single night. How many
of us can recount times when we tried
to cram by pulling all-nighters in college? Trying to fill our brain with fac-toids to be poured out on an exam in the
morning is neither pretty nor effective.
To every cram-session success story,
you’ll hear a dozen sad tales of poorly
written essays and plummeting grades.
Help your student learn how to study
a little every day. 30 or 40 minutes of
clearheaded memorization over a week’s
time is far better than 4 fog-brained
hours the night before the quiz. Sleep
is as essential to organizing and storing
data as are short effective study sessions.
Alternating periods of both are key.
Study sessions should be conducted
in;a;distraction-free;zone.;Phones,;inter-
net,;television,;social;media,;friends;and
siblings will always win the competition
for brain time. Even little distractions
like music will conspire to rob a student
of subject mastery. 20 minutes with no
distractions will be far more effective
than 2 hours with them. Encourage your
young students to complete short effec-
tive study sessions with small rewards
and a nice break in between sessions.
Amy Barr is a homeschool mother of three
and a full-time instructor of other home-educated students as co-founder of The Luke-ion Project, www.lukeion.org. As an archaeologist, she spent more than a decade excavating sites throughout the Mediterranean
and teaching Classics at the college level.
Now she and her husband, Regan Barr, offer
their expertise through live online workshops
and college preparatory high school courses
about the Classical world, Latin, and Greek.
The two of them lead annual family tours
to the Mediterranean and invite you to join
them for a tour.
Endnotes:
1.;Mueller,;Pam;A.,;and;Daniel;M.;Oppenheimer.
“
The;Pen;Is;Mightier;than;the;Keyboard;Advan-tages;of;Longhand;over;Laptop;Note;Taking.”;Psy-chological Science N. pag. Web. June & July 2014.
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/25/6/1159.
The battle for mastery
over a subject is not
won in a single night.
