4 effective tips to help your teen study smarter, not harder 

As your teens get older, it’s only normal to expect their syllabus to get challenging with each passing year at school. Looking at the mere size of textbooks is enough to make one unenthusiastic about opening them. However, studying does not have to be a chore if done smartly- using techniques that help to make learning easier and more effective. Creating systems using habits which streamline the process of studying a specific topic makes the activity more structured, and easier. Here are a few tips to help your teen study smarter, not harder. 

Help him to space out his studies 
Many teens have a tendency of falling into the trap of cramming huge chapters of a specific subject into one day. This not only increases stress prior to the attempt of starting, but it is also unrealistic to follow through. The result ends up in a prolonged, yet mostly wasted study session. Help your teen to space out his studies by creating a schedule. For example, a long trigonometry chapter does not necessarily need to be completed within 3 hours straight. It can be done in bits throughout the course of a day, or even two days. This helps to concentrate on sub topics with more clarity, and retain information better. 

Ask her to seek out other forms of study content 
Re-reading notes and watching the same lectures over and over does very little to stimulate the brain to learn better. Instead, ask your teen to seek out other forms of content explaining the same chapter or topic. Learning the same thing from a different perspective helps the brain to understand better, and solidifies the information that has been already retained even better. For example, if she is asked to go through the textbook notes for a science chapter on photosynthesis, watching videos about it or performing experiments will help to broaden her understanding of the topic. 

Pair him up with a study partner 
One of the most effective ways to understand a topic is not to find multiple sources of information about it. Instead, it is teaching it to someone else. Teaching a concept to somebody else not only solidifies the information in one’s brain, but it also instils confidence about it. If your teen finds maths challenging, advise him to pair up with somebody who is good in math. If the partner is weak in another subject that your teen is well-versed in, he can explain it to the other. A bonus about this is that studying with someone else can break the monotony of being alone at the study table with books. 

Encourage her to connect the dots  
It is a true skill to have the ability to make connections between the different academic information consumed. Encourage your teen to think of the various ways in which the information she is studying is connected to other topics. Connecting the dots and forming links is a much more efficient way or remembering things, and is also referred to as contextual learning. Grouping information together on a flashcard is a great way to streamline learning as it breaks down complicated concepts.