The Importance of Having Good Study Habits

Having good study habits is crucial for children to learn and do well at school. In this article, you'll find some helpful tips to identify and encourage good study habits in children.

Having good study habits is important to achieve an optimal school performance. But these habits aren’t acquired naturally. It’s necessary for children to implement them until they fully understand them, so they become part of their study routine.

This allows children and young people to develop enough abilities to study in an autonomous and efficient way. In fact, academic success depends mainly on effort, work and perseverance.

“Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work.“

– Albert Einstein –

Does my child have good study habits?

Knowing if your child has good study habits depends on six aspects:

• General attitude towards studying.
• Study place.
• Physical condition.
• Study organization.
• Study techniques.
• Exams and work completion.

6 tips to identify good study habits in children

General attitude towards studying

This refers to the predisposition, interest and motivation the student shows towards studying. The child must have strong reasons to study. It must be he or she, and not other people (parents, teachers, etc.) who decides to make a great effort to study and pass the different subjects.

Study place

This is the physical place where the study process develops. The conditions of this place can determine the concentration and performance of the student. So, this place must meet the following characteristics:

• Always the same place.
• Good lighting.
• Good ventilation.
• No external distractions.
• Nice temperature.
• A table and a chair with backrest.

Physical condition

This refers to the physical conditions of the student, which directly affects their school performance. The student must do the following things to keep a good physical condition:

• Take rests: it’s important to relax and concentrate better, which makes study time more productive.
• Sleep between 7 and 8 hours: it’s essential to have a good performance in the daytime. It can be said that sleeping is a key factor for learning.

Study organization

This is related to planning and structuring the study time. To organize study time properly, children should:

• Have a planner to write the dates of exams, assignments, and homework.
• Devote a few minutes everyday to study or review the subjects.
• Set a regular time and place to study.
• Have in mind the amount of subjects and the difficulty of each of them.

Study techniques

These are learning strategies that make studying easier. Some of them are:

• Taking good notes.
• Understanding what is read.
• Highlighting.
• Summarizing.
• Creating outlines or conceptual maps.
• Using mnemonics for memorization.
• Making drawings that represent the lesson.

Exams and work completion: Important in the development of good study habits

Exams and work completion are also part of forming good study habits. In fact, normally, this kind of test is used to evaluate the learning process and it’s fundamental to know how to pass them successfully. For this reason, it’s a good idea to follow these steps to prepare for an exam:

• Have the necessary materials: pen, pencil, eraser, ruler, calculator, etc.
• Pay attention to the teacher’s instructions.
• Read the questions carefully.
• Ask questions to the teacher when necessary.
• Control nervousness and start with the easiest question.

On the other hand, regarding work completion, it’s necessary to follow these guidelines:

• Create an outline or draft.
• Make a clear presentation.
• Avoid spelling mistakes.
• Cite the sources.