WHAT IS STUDY? – Study is the skill of learning something independently of a teacher.
Obviously I did not mean that a 5 year-old should be reading and studying textbooks at night after going to school!
Being an independent learner in Kindergarten means things like being able to FOCUS on what the teacher is saying so the child is be able to COMPREHEND what is being said and to FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS given.
Many children are not capable of concentrating enough to be able to do this effectively when they first arrive at school so they miss a lot of the teaching in class – it just goes straight over their heads. These children are dependent on the teacher instructing and monitoring them individually . . . meanwhile the independent children are getting on with their work and learning things. The independent learners will have been taught good listening and oral comprehension skills by their parents, and just as importantly, they will have been taught the social and emotional skills needed to operate successfully in a room full of people – many of whom will be disruptive of the group as they have not learned good social and emotional skills before coming to school.
By the time your child is 10 years-old, study means a lot more. By then your child will need much more developed written and oral communication skills to be able to make the most of his/her time in class, and be able to do homework with minimal supervision – a child who is not a fluent reader for example will not be able to become a very independent learner. By this age, it is also important that your child has developed the positive Growth Mindset.
On entering Middle School it is important that your child has learned how to take full responsibility for comprehension at all levels. Your child should:
- KNOW WHAT SHE/HE KNOWS and
- KNOW WHAT SHE/HE DOES NOT KNOW, know what to do about it, and ACTUALLY DO IT. That might mean independent research or seeking help from an appropriate person.
So you can see, study skills are important right through school. As a caring parent it is important that you monitor your child’s progress very closely, and teach your child good study skills at home – if possible, BEFORE they are needed at school.