It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged a new study tip, but that is not to say we haven’t been talking about them around here….
With lots of tests and report card season ahead of us, we have been reviewing all the other tips I’ve written about here and here and here and here, for example. You can read why this study series all came about here.
But this is an easy one that I do with all my clients, and now that my kids are older, have started to get them to do.
It’s so simple, and such common sense. So that means most people never do it:
Make a grade/mark tracking sheet for each course.
Label a sheet with its appropriate course name (e.g. Math, English, French)
If you know what assignments you have in each class, then mark them all down, with due dates.
If you don’t know (younger guys won’t know), just make 3 columns : DATE, WHAT IT IS (test, project, homework) and GRADE.
As you get assignments back, or tests back, or homework back, fill in each column.
By the time your report card comes along, you should have a pretty good idea where you are at and have no surprises!
I know this because last semester we had a little surprise with one of our kids. He had been saying how well he was doing, expecting an A overall.
Well lo and behold, the C arrived and he was shocked (maybe even more than us!). Of course, he hadn’t been keeping close tabs on “where he was at” with grades, so figured that the one 90 he got would carry him through the semester, and he didn’t have to worry about all the 60’s and 70’s….
He’s smartened up pretty fast, and the others have followed suit.
We used to be much more lax on grades when we first blended because everyone had different habits, expectations, skills etc. But now, we’ve worked really hard at establishing a good routine, a clear set of expectations and provided lots of support, and hey, even some study tips! So now a not-so-hot-grade- isn’t the best idea to bring home. If you are keeping track of your grades, you will know if your grade won’t be so hot and you better go chat with the teacher and come to us to have a little discussion.
