Getting Ready for Finals

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, the only thing standing between your child and a lengthy winter break is a pesky little period we like to call "finals". While this time is also known as "midterms" for some classes, the situation is the same. Studying, reading, note taking, and stress all cumulate in mid-to-late December as students prepare for one of the biggest, and most important, grades of the year. It is important to realize, however, that just because students are told frequently to study, take notes, or summarize, it does not mean these activities have ever truly been defined for them. Work with your child on these active reading strategies to help them prepare for upcoming finals. You'll see that they earn grades truly reflective of their abilities.

Active Reading Strategies

A whole host of tools is at our disposal for interacting with what we are reading. Together they are known as active reading and they all work to increase comprehension and retention. The time you have and how much information you need to get will guide which and how many of these practices you will use:

Three Color Highlighting: By using different colors to identify main points, supporting details, and terms, color taps right into visual memory.

Bookmarks and Flagging: Identifying important textual locations means that you don’t have to take up space in your gourd remembering page numbers. Bringing a textbook covered in flags and full of bookmarks to class is also the surest way to send a message to your teacher that you are committed enough to the class to interact with the reading.

Marginal Notes: Questions or comments jotted in the margins next to relevant paragraphs provide visual cues when you go back over the book before finals.

Summary Writing: Reiterating and condensing information is time-consuming, but it is the best way to be sure that you understand, can remember, and can apply in writing the information that you have read. Written summaries are most useful for readings that you know will be the focus of a paper.

Reading Notes: Identifying the progression of arguments helps to commit the thesis to memory and provides a reference for future use. This is also very useful to have if you need to write about a specific reading.

If you have any questions about any of these strategies, please feel free to email me at sarah@ectutoring.com. If you feel that your child would benefit from instruction in these strategies as well as other time management, study, and long term planning skills, please contact us or view our webpage for more information. The trademarked Educational Coaching Process will help your child achieve the grades they want by strengthening time management, study, and organizational skills.