1. Put into practice a regimented pattern of sleep.
a. Set a goal for evening bedtime to morning wake-up to equal about 8 consecutive hours, noting that 6-9 hours is within a normal range.
2. Eat a balanced diet without skipping meals and snacks when needed. School age students tend to eat more junk food during the school year. Meal skipping is also very common because of increased workload, extracurricular activities and sports. Do your best planning ahead.
3. Apply positive self-talk and thinking, so you don’t sabotage yourself into over-thinking things and take you away from a steady focus on the work at hand.
4. Schedule your time for doing school work and stick to it. If you get too far behind in reading, projects, studying, etc, then you will end up cramming for tests which is never a good idea. Studying comes first as a student in school. Some subjects may even require extra help from a teacher’s aide or after school work session.
5. Find your method for memorizing course material.
a. Read your textbook before you go to class.
b. Take good notes during lectures.
c. Highlight important points on instructor handouts.
d. Try writing a succinct summary sheet of your notes, class handouts and textbook material.
e. Ask questions before, during or after class about subject material.
f. If you have trouble hearing lectures or inadvertently missed hearing what was said, always let the instructor know in order to remedy the situation.
6. Overall, planning ahead is key to the plan, so pocket planners with calendars can be very helpful too.
Have a great school year!