Where to study?

The learner must find somewhere to study within the home. It should be a comfortable place, with somewhere to sit and to put his books, ideally, a table and comfortable chair. The temperature of the place needs to be comfortable as well. If it is too hot then the child will feel sleepy, so allow for air to circulate by opening windows and putting on a fan. If it is cold, the child will get chilled and cannot think, so keep the windows shut, wear warm clothing, and have a hot drink. Make sure that there is good light where the child chooses to study.

For the evening when it gets dark, it might be good to have a study lamp rather than just the overhead light. Having said this, remember that circumstances can differ from house to house. Adapting to the circumstances to ensure that study is not disrupted is important. For example as a child, I used to timetable the study period during the cooler hours of the day as my exams were always during summer. The hot afternoon periods were kept for catching up with sleep as I studied early in the morning and late into the night. With power cuts it was necessary to study by candlelight. So I had a candle stand which could be used to light 5 candles. This was a lot of strain on the eyes, so make sure whatever lighting you end up with, is powerful enough to protect your eyes from strain.

It is important that others in the house know when you are going to be studying so that disturbances can be avoided. Remember that your work is stored away when you have finished. Parents can put away all our books and papers in the process of tiding up, which you have arranged in a certain manner to access information. It might be good to discuss this aspect with the parents and you can keep the corner of your study area as you want without it being tided up every time you turn your back.

What Study Skills?

Life long learning is an increasingly discussed issue at governmental level as well as professional groups and educational institutions. "Learning is the key to prosperity - for each of us as individuals, as well as for the nation as a whole. Investment in human capital will be the foundation of success in the knowledge-based global economy of the twenty-first century. This is why the Government has put learning at the heart of its ambition. Our first policy paper addressed school standards. This Green Paper sets out for consultation how learning throughout life will build human capital by encouraging the acquisition of knowledge and skills and emphasising creativity and imagination. The fostering of an enquiring mind and the love of learning are essential to our future success..." (Blankett 1998)

There are many different ways of learning and these are all thought of under a general heading called the study skills. The learning is of different kinds. There is the learning of physical skills like catching a ball and riding a bicycle, which can be perfected with practice of the related activities, till eventually you do not even have to think for these actions become automatic. But with reference to gaining knowledge there are different kinds of skills needed to learn. Some of these relate to forming habits of study. Like setting a timetable for the study, when to sit down to study, how long to study for, when to have breaks. For concentration is not held for long periods and having short breaks can help to feel more energetic. One also needs to develop own techniques to allow one to speed up particular tasks like making notes, filing information etc.
Study skills are ever more important to learning as they help us to develop our strategies for learning. Everyone learns in the manner most comfortable to him or her. Therefore it is essential to discover how YOU learn best. These will include:
• Reading
• Literature Review
• Preparing for Lecture
• Making Notes
• Use of Concept Mapping to aid memory
• Essay Writing
• Seminar Presentations
• Projects
• Time Management
• Exam Techniques
For example, knowledge can be gained by reading and understanding as well as applying it to reality, the skills can be gained by doing and practicing while attitudes are gained by reading and understanding and observation of the society around us.

You can go to Mriga Online Academic Support website to get practical feedback to help you develop your assignment.

Study Skills

Study skills are essential to academic achievement. We should have developed these skills as we progress through school. However, most of us need to revisit and refresh our study skills as we move through the academic years. Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about improving your study skills.

I shall make use of information available online and help you work also with your skills in using the internet for academic purposes. The how to studysite provides many tips with generic skills related to supporting school children. It can be good to have a quick refresher with specific issues and enable you to help younger people in the family. There is also another generic website on study skills which is actually on a business education website but again easy to use.


The following two websites provide some basic and general information about how to develop timetable and techniques that will help you study effectively.

Study Guide
Develop effective study strategies

You can go to Mriga Online Academic Support website to get practical feedback to help you develop your assignment.