Welcome back! As your child settles back into the routine of school, we thought it might be helpful to offer some helpful hints about study skills and time management. If you have any questions, please call your child’s school counselor for assistance.

The organization and study skills that your child learns in middle school lay the foundation for success in school and life. Middle school teachers spend a great deal of time teaching study skills and time management; many students need additional support at home. However, middle school students are at an age when they are least likely to ask for your help or support. Please help your child implement as many of the “successful student strategies” below as possible.

• Successful students have a place to study. It doesn’t have to be a desk; it just has to be a consistent place where your child can be comfortable, keep all necessary materials and spread out papers and books. Ideally, it’s somewhere relatively quiet where your child can be easily supervised.
  
  
• Successful students have a system to keep track of papers. The system can be a binder, a folder or a combination of things but it is important that the system is used consistently. A “homework folder” is a strategy used by most successful students to be sure that all of their assignments are completed and handed in to the teacher.
  
  
• Successful students use a planner. Rye Neck Middle School provides each student with an agenda book. Please check it to be sure that your child is writing down assignments each day. In addition to the agenda book, many children find a large calendar helpful to keep track of long term assignments, tests and quizzes.
  
  
• Successful students estimate how long each assignment will take. Encourage your child to take five minutes as they begin to do their homework to plan out how long each assignment should take and guess the difficulty level. Encourage your child to start with the most difficult, and end with the easiest to finish up homework on a “high note”. If assignments are taking significantly longer than your child has estimated, it may be a red flag that they need some extra help in that subject or that they need to be monitored more closely as they complete their assignments.
  
  
• Successful students break big projects into small pieces. Instead of putting “Social Studies Project” due on the calendar, break the assignment up into manageable chunks with different due dates leading up to the completed project.
  
  
• Successful students study for tests. That may seem obvious, but many middle school students are learning how to study for the first time. To be a successful test taker, students must understand where the test questions are coming from and how to apply the concepts. Many middle school students are just learning that “re-reading” and “studying” are not the same thing. To help your child study, don’t ask them to review the chapter; ask them to explain the difference between two topics or use a vocabulary word in a sentence. Do sample math problems instead of just reading the math book.
  
  
• Successful students realize their most productive time of day and plan their studying accordingly. Some students need to get their work done immediately after school so that they can enjoy the rest of their evening while others need some downtime between school and homework. Help your child to recognize what works best for them, and use it.
  
  
• Successful students receive support when they need it. Be sure you child is seeing teachers for extra help when they need it and taking advantage of all test reviews that are offered. School counselors are available to discuss study skills and time management.
  
  
• Successful students know the basics. Please be sure that your child knows basic math facts and the assigned vocabulary.
  
  
• Successful students reflect on what works. When students do well, go over what they did to be successful so that they can do it again!
  
  
• Successful students have parents who communicate with the school. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or school counselor. If your child is struggling with a subject, please encourage them to see the teacher for extra help or ask the school counselor to help set up a student tutor.
  
  
• Successful students have parents who ask lots of questions about homework! While it’s easy to ask if assignments are completed, successful students usually have to answer more questions. Some examples include:
          - What do you need to know to do this assignment?
          - Where will you get that information?
          - How do you start?
          - What’s next?
          - How did you solve this problem?
          - What did you try that didn’t work?
          - What makes you think this answer is correct?
          - Tell me more about this assignment.
  
  
• Successful students are less stressed out! Good study skills can lessen anxiety. Physical activity, good sleep patterns, a healthy diet and relaxation exercises can also help to reduce anxiety. If your child seems upset or unusually worried, talk to him or her about it. If the work seems too difficult, or if the workload seems too much, please contact your child’s school counselor. Ms. Sullivan works with the seventh and eighth graders; her email is csullivan@ryeneck.org and her phone number is 914-777-4732. Mrs. Lawlor works with the sixth graders; her email is mlawlor@ryeneck.org and her phone number is 914-777-4733.