How to Help Your Teen Develop Good Study Habits
By Amanda Morin
At a Glance
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Good study habits often have to be learned.
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Creating weekly and daily plans can help your child organize what he needs to study.
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Building in rewards for each task he accomplishes can help your child study more effectively.
Good study habits don’t always come easily or naturally. Most teens need to be taught how to develop them.
Learning effective study strategies can reduce your child’s stress about school and improve his grades. And it may even
help both of you avoid battles over his homework. Here are two useful strategies to share with your child, based on
suggestions in Academic Success Strategies for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities and ADHD (©2003 Brookes
Publishing Co.).
Over “C” tests and assignments.
Studying isn’t just a matter of sitting down to review notes. It also involves knowing what you need to study when and
keeping track of assignments and tests.
“Learning effective study strategies can reduce your child’s stress about school and improve his grades.”
Many middle school and high school teachers use an online grading program. Many will list daily assignments and due
dates, as well as grades. Your child can use this to plan his studying, using the following steps.
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Create a calendar. Show your child how to use a large wall calendar and a set of markers to keep track of all
the assignments. He can assign each class a different colored marker and write all of his assignments,
activities and appointments on the calendar. Or he can use an online calendar—and sync it with multiple
devices, including his smartphone and laptop.

Create a weekly planner. Your child can break down information on the calendar to make a study plan for
each week. Show him how to transfer his obligations for each week from the big calendar to a weekly planner,
making sure he includes time to work on each assignment a few days before it’s due. Or have him print out a
weekly list from his online calendar.

Create daily checklist. It may seem like overkill, but breaking down the weekly plan into a daily checklist can
also be very helpful. This to-do list helps your child keep track of his day and see how much progress he’s
making. It’s a good idea for him to list each day’s tasks in the order he should do them and to write down the
specific time of each class or appointment.
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“CHECK” in to studying.
Once your teen has a handle on what to study, the next step is learning how to study. This can be broken into a CHECK
list—with each letter in “check” standing for a step in the process of getting ready.

Consider location. Does your teen study better at school, the library or at home? Some teens work better
away from distractions, while others like to have someone nearby in case they need help. Whatever your child
chooses, when it’s homework time, that’s the environment he should study in.
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Have all materials on hand. It can be very distracting to have to look for a pencil or a calculator in the middle
of studying. Help your child find a place where he can store all his homework materials so they’re ready to go
before he starts working.
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Establish rewards. At first, you may need to help your child set up a reward system. For example, for every
chapter he reads, you might let him use the computer for 10 minutes. Eventually, though, he’ll learn to reward
himself, even if it’s just by eating a snack between English and algebra homework.

Create a study checklist. This includes all the steps your teen needs to take to get ready to do his homework
and what he needs to study that day. Having everything listed out can make it easier for him to get started and
prioritize his time. It may also make his homework load seem less overwhelming.

Keep a worry pad. A worry pad is a tool for teens who are easily distracted by their own thoughts. Instead of
trying to deal with all the distracting things that keep popping into his head, your child can write them down on
the pad. When he’s done studying, then he can deal with the things that distracted him.
Good study habits take time to develop. Having some strategies and using homework planners and time management
sheets are a good start. If your child continues to struggle, though, you may want to consider a tutor.
Key Takeaways
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Knowing what to study, organizing time and materials, and managing distractions are important homework skills.
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If your teen gets distracted when studying, he can write his thoughts on a pad and return to them later.
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If your child is having trouble developing good study skills, you may want to consult a tutor to help him.
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