8 Essential Study and Life Skills You Won’t Learn in School

by | Jan 23, 2017 | Grades, Parenting, School, Students, Study Skills | 0 comments

 

I can’t even count the number of teachers that I have heard say something along the lines of, “if it’s not on the test, I don’t teach it.” I don’t really blame them. We have created a culture in our schools that is completely focused on testing. Teachers are often reprimanded if they diverge from the tested content. But what is the result of this? Kids who know a lot of facts and academic content but often do not have the “soft skills” to use and apply that knowledge.This doesn’t seem very logical to me since we can find pretty much any fact we need using this thing called the internet. In order to succeed our kids will need to be able to ask the right questions.They will need research skills, the ability to synthesize information and think critically, and an aptitude for communicating effectively with others.So here are eight valuable “soft skills” to start working on with your kids today:

8 Essential Study and Life Skills You Won't Learn in School1. Set Goals for Your Own Achievement

We have a quote from Yogi Berra hanging in our office that says, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” I agree that sometimes the joy is in the journey, but there is not much joy in a never-ending journey on a road that leads to nowhere. Without goals what do you base your decisions on? How do you even make good decisions if you don’t know where you are headed? Goals help us define our path in life. The goal setting process makes our priorities clearer so we are able to make day-to-day decisions more easily in a logical and stress-free manner. Try to set specific and measurable goals and break them into manageable steps.

2. Effective Time Management

Once you decide what you would like to do, whether or not it is accomplished will be based on how effective your time-management is. People with good time-management can take a large task and split it up into manageable chunks.Try to estimate how much time each piece of the task will take and schedule it in on the calendar. Then also put these items on a daily to-do list so that the minutiae and chaos of everyday life does not interfere with getting more important tasks accomplished.

3. Stay Focused When You are Surrounded by Distractions

Scheduling time to complete a task is the first step, but your ability to stay focused will determine how quickly you can get it done or if it ever gets completed. Life is full of distractions. Learning to focus, with a goal in mind, is key. Try clearing your work space of potential distractions. Set your cell phone to silent and move it somewhere it is not visible. Try an app for your computer that blocks out potential distracting websites. Then start with the most difficult or creative task that you have to do. Set a timer and stay fully focused on that task during that time. Start small, like 15 minutes, and then extend the time as your focus improves. If you are distracted during the time, reset the timer. If you stay focused during the time, take a short (timed) break before setting the timer again.

4. Self- Motivation and Resilience

To succeed in life we all need motivation, drive, and initiative that comes from within. Children and young adults who have always received incentives to perform daily activities may have difficulty in the area of intrinsic motivation. Rewards have been shown to not only decrease motivation for activities that we don’t really enjoy, they also decrease motivation for activities that we do enjoy. Instead of rewards, try engagement. Studies have found that kids (like most people) like tasks to be interesting. They are willing to work harder and longer on boring tasks if they know why they are doing it and have learned some background information (cool stories) about the real-world application of this skill and how or why it works.

Regardless of how motivated we are, we will all fail at some point, probably many times. Learning how to bounce back from that failure is an important life skill. Instead of teaching your kids to focus on the results (straight A’s) or being good at everything, teach them to focus on the effort that they put in or on the process.

5. How to Take Effective Notes

In school and for most jobs you will need to be able to take effective notes during a Power Point presentation and also during a lecture. The key to good note-taking is becoming a good listener instead of worrying about writing everything down. Imagine that the speaker is reading from an outline. Listen to recreate that outline. Try the Cornell Method for note-taking. It creates a study guide. When you are taking notes, remember to handwrite your notes for better retention. This method works well for reading too, or you can add reading notes to lecture notes if you leave extra space.

6. How to Study When You are Not Provided with a Study Guide

The key to successful studying is not to treat it like a task to be completed right before the test. It is much more effective to study for 15 minutes per day, reviewing the material that was learned in class in a new way. Turn concepts from notes into questions and create a study guide, make flash cards or a game using a site like Quizlet, or teach the information to someone else.

7. Research Skills and How to Learn on Your Own

As adults, we must be capable of finding new information on our own. In order to do this, we must have research skills. Much of the research that we do in our day-to-day life is now online. Thus the ability to determine a credible source has become especially important. There are so many articles with false information because anyone can write something on the internet. It is important to teach kids how to tell a credible source from a non-credible source by asking questions such as: Who is the author and what are his or her credentials; Was the article published in a peer-reviewed journal or reputable news source; Is there bias or is the author trying to sell something; and Do they cite their sources so the information is verifiable as accurate?

8. Communication and Self-Advocacy Skills

Successful people surround themselves with a network of people who help them learn and grow into the person that they want to be. They seek out relationships or find the “tribe” of supporters who will best facilitate their personal and professional growth. In order to do this, one must be aware of their needs and able to speak up in order to have those needs met. This type of self-advocacy fosters independence and self-confidence as it allows kids to find and implement their own solutions to problems. When a problem arises, give your child a chance to solve it before stepping in. Be supportive by helping them to think of ways that they could work through the issue themselves. Teach them social skills and give them the opportunity to interact with a variety of people. Expect them to talk to adults and the people that surround them instead of distracting themselves with a phone or tablet during meals or other potentially social situations. And encourage them to surround themselves with friends who reflect the qualities they value in themselves.

So there you have it, eight life and study skills to teach your kids that they may not learn in school. Parents, what do you wish your kids learned more of in school? Students, tell us what you think about what you are learning in school; Are you learning the skills you will need most to succeed in life and your career?

-Nina Parrish, M.Ed.
Owner | Parrish Learning Zone, LLC

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                                       ~Nina

Nina Parrish, M. Ed.

Nina Parrish, M. Ed.

Co-Owner and Director of Education

Proud mom of two adorable girls. Teacher who has developed an education business that started at a kitchen table and has grown into a thriving small business... Click here to Learn more about Nina.

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Pam Cantrell Burton
Pam Cantrell Burton
2020-10-14T16:15:51+0000
Parrish Learning Zone helped my daughter with on-line SAT and college essay preparation. She not only scored in the top 90 percentile on the SAT after working with Lauren Cannavo, she especially benefited from the tutoring she received for her admission essays. My daughter was accepted at Notre Dame, UVA, William and Mary, and received scholarships to George Washington University and the University of Alabama. She was initially deferred at the University of Chicago and waitlisted at University of Michigan and Emory University. She eventually chose not to remain on the waitlists and committed to UVA.Lauren also advised our daughter regarding her submission of a 20 page essay on community service for DECA, a high school business club. Our daughter, along with her partner, won second place in her category at the DECA state competitions in 2019 and 2020, and received second place at the DECA international competition in 2019.Lauren was not only a top-notch professional, she really cared about our daughter and was so pleased about her accomplishments. We are so very grateful to her and Parrish Learning Zone.
Marijayne Kruus
Marijayne Kruus
2020-05-11T21:51:37+0000
Mr. Chaves is an extremely gifted chemistry teacher. It's such a difficult subject--my son was drowning by the time we found PLZ. This was truly a last ditch effort on our part. Mr. Chaves was able to turn that ship around after only 4 lessons and my son passed the SOL! He was able to distill difficult concepts in a way that made them comprehensible and he was patient and kind and gave my son the confidence to succeed. His actual eacher expressed surprise and made a point of telling him he didn't know how he did it but he was impressed. It takes a gifted teacher to get results like that.I only wish we'd found PLZ and Mr. Chaves in the beginning of the school year.
Wendy Zelazny
Wendy Zelazny
2018-06-08T02:05:15+0000
Highly Recommend
Anne Kater Reeves
Anne Kater Reeves
2018-06-07T22:46:05+0000
I highly recommend Parrish Learning Zone. My daughter was able to achieve the SAT score she was aiming for with the help of her Math (Mr. James Slane) and English (Mrs. Lauren Cannavo) tutors. Not only did they help her with practice tests but they also boosted her confidence in taking the SAT. The owners (Nina and Jay) were always prompt in answering my emails. They are very accommodating and worked around my daughter’s schedule (thank you Shiela for all your help in finding available dates for my daughter to meet with her tutors). Thank you Parrish Learning Zone for helping my daughter achieve her goal!
Beth Yankovich
Beth Yankovich
2018-03-23T20:29:18+0000
I can't say enough good things about Parrish Learning Zone. My son has historically suffered from low reading comprehension. I felt he needed a little extra help so I contacted Parrish Learning Zone. The owners at Parrish matched my son with the perfect tutor for him, they developed a rapport almost immediately. He is now in 8th grade and doing well in all his classes. My son is very active in school sports and the staff at Parrish are always very accommodating. They always reschedule with no problems. My son even likes to go early to chat with Sheila.
Beth Kent
Beth Kent
2017-11-08T18:59:11+0000
Awesome! Very structured and student focused - they identified the areas of weakness and turned those into areas of strength in a very short amount of time. I loved the communication from the tutor and the company. I received a specific report of my child's tutoring session including improvements and areas that needed continued work. I received reminders of upcoming tutor sessions - which I needed!! I felt the individual attention and service was worth every penny AND found the prices to be much more reasonable that other tutors in the area. I would HIGHLY recommend Parrish Learning Zone to any parent that needs to find highly competent tutoring help for their child. Parrish is simply the best!
Michele Hiltbrunner Freemyers
Michele Hiltbrunner Freemyers
2017-03-14T15:53:50+0000
An excellent place to take your kids for any tutoring needs! PLZ is a very personalized and hands on service! Both of my teenage boys have been through here for various reasons and I know we will continue to make use of them!
Tammy Elms Mosco
Tammy Elms Mosco
2016-06-02T12:20:59+0000
I am extremely thankful to Parrish Learning Zone. I have a son that is a freshman in college majoring in mechanical engineering. I am so glad that we found out about the Parrish Learning Zone because they were very caring and really worked hard around my sons high school football schedule to ensure that he received all of the needed instruction in order to do well on the SAT testing. It was a great investment for his future. I believe this experience prepared my son for the transition to college life. He was able to attend a top engineering college and to play football there. My daughter is a senior in high school now and was admitted into two of the top ranked public schools in Virginia. She will be a freshman at one of these schools next year. She also was enrolled in the Parrish Learning Zone for preparation for the SAT. I am again thankful to the Parrish Learning Zone and feel that this was a great long term investment into their futures. I would strongly recommend the Parrish Learning Zone to anyone looking for an environment that offers a caring and knowledgeable approach to educating students. They are the best.
Angela Jackson
Angela Jackson
2014-05-15T00:39:39+0000
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Andrew Powers
2014-02-09T12:32:29+0000

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