From the Sidelines

Establishing new habits is hard. Habit stacking helps you bring new routines into your life by using previous habits as a cue – something as simple as brushing your teeth will do!

Productivity is a loaded word, and sometimes, it might feel like we're never productive enough. But all we really need is good time management, uninterrupted focus and motivation!

When we recognise something as familiar, our brain makes us think that we know more about the topic than we really do. Familiarity can be the enemy of real learning… but it doesn't have to be this way!

By getting your child to make learning harder for themselves, they are creating exactly the right conditions in which to remember something. We call this a ‘desirable difficulty’.

One of the most interesting, but least well known facts about how our brains remember information, is that as human beings we forget 90% of what we have been taught within the first 7 days, unless we go back and do something with that information to enable us to remember it.

It is absolutely essential to form great study habits at home, so that even when your child is not at school, they can still continue their learning and take responsibility for their own success as a student. Developing familiar routines at home for when and where they will study throughout the week is an important factor in helping to make this happen.

It's hard to stay motivated when there's nothing to look forward to. Have you tried scheduling little rewards and treats throughout your child's study sessions? It's time to step up to your new role: study buddy!
 
 

Our children have a tendency to stay up late trying to cram in all of that last minute information. All this does is lead to stress and tiredness, meaning they can’t focus when it comes to the tough questions an hour into their exam.

During the night as we sleep, our body uses a lot of energy stores for growth and repair, so our breakfast is used to replenish our energy levels, helping with our focus, concentration and alertness. Therefore skipping breakfast is an absolute no no if you want your child to be a high performing student.

Think about a time when you’ve needed to get to sleep but you can’t. Lying there actively thinking about needing to get to sleep is actually one of the worst things you can probably do. Unfortunately if we’re not tired and our body is not used to going to sleep at that time of night, then there’s very little you can do.