SOAR® is changing the way students commonly think about study skills! Below is a list of the special “SOAR® Lingo” that provides a glimpse into our beliefs, approach, and strategies that make us truly unique!
Strategic Learning™ – the process of using strategies to learn; avoiding the long, laborious process of rehearsing and memorizing; maximizing the strengths of the brain to learn as efficiently as possible.
Power Strategy™ – a strategy, system, or process that yields large benefits for a proportionately small investment of time. “Power strategies” are the cornerstone of SOAR®.
Silverware Sorter Theory™ – the principle that organizational systems are easy to maintain when items have a defined storage location (similar to the concept of a silverware sorter).
Chip Clip System™ – a process for organizing and managing school papers at home; implementing a routine that all members of the household can utilize to share and manage papers that must be transported between home and school.
Last Minute Syndrome™ – a condition that plagues most children and young adults, preventing them from informing their parents about important needs or events with advanced notice. “Last minute syndrome” also plagues adults…preventing them from informing their children about plans, events, or errands with advanced notice.
lm=2x™ – SOAR®’s law of time-management; anything that is done at the “last-minute” will automatically take “two times” longer to complete than it would have if the situation had been planned out ahead of time.
Take Ten™ – a daily SOAR® routine that prompts students to organize their papers and review class notes for all classes in less than ten minutes.
Sunday Meeting – a specific weekly routine that prompts families to plan ahead together to avoid Last Minute Syndrome…and reduce (or eliminate) school-related arguments and fights.
SOAR® Binder System™ – a specific organizational strategy that helps students condense piles of folders and notebooks (typically 12-18 inches high) into a 1.5” binder.
Study Central – a specific location in a student’s bedroom or home where they can complete homework, organize school papers, and maintain their Paper Station.
Paper Station™ – a specific location for storing school papers at home.
Think Forward™ – the process of training oneself to imagine future situations and ensure that one is prepared with the proper supplies and time-management plan.
Communicate Forward™ – the process of thinking about future plans and sharing those plans with other key people.
Two-Way Communication™ – the concept that cooperation will emerge from communication that is reciprocal. For example, parents can reduce the “nagging” effect of asking lots of questions by also being willing to talk about their own day, experiences at work, etc.
The Learning Pyramid – also known as “Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning,” a hierarchy of learning levels in which the brain can engage, beginning with the lowest, most basic levels and progressing to higher, more advanced levels of learning.
Low-Gear Learning™ – the process of learning that is long, laborious, boring, and inefficient; this process usually involves repeated rehearsing and memorizing. The process of functioning in the lowest levels of the “Learning Pyramid.”
High-Gear Learning™ – the process of learning that is fast, efficient, interesting, and utilizes strategy to maximize the brain’s greatest potential. The process of functioning in the higher levels of the “Learning Pyramid” (Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking).
Power Down™ – the process of working more efficiently by turning off cell phones, computers, televisions, and other electronic distractions for a short period of time to allow the brain to engage in the most effective levels of “High-Gear Learning.”