All through our lives we need to know how to study. The foundation for how to study should start in the upper elementary grades. This foundation is then built upon through middle school and high school and by the time you are in college you are still learning how to study. There are several how to study skills that should be mastered in order to attain the grades desired. Two of the important how to study skills are organization, and time management. These are in no particular order of importance, all of equal value. There are other study skills but these are the mainstay of good grades and ease of study. Each skill will be briefly discussed to give and idea of the importance of each.

The principles of organization can be connected to time management because they go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. Establish a study area where it is free of distraction, you have all the tools necessary to accomplish your homework. However, one of the first things is to organize your backpack, locker or wherever your papers will be handy for review. A suggestion in is to color code your folder for each class for instance RED for English, BLUE for Math, ORANGE/YELLOW for History and GREEN for Science. Each folder will contain handouts, notes and the syllabus for each class but some teacher may require a three notebook which is fine, just so you keep that class work in the notebook. The study area should contain all the tools you need such as pencils, pens, dictionary, computer paper and whatever else you may need. Time Management is crucial for any student who is involved in many activities. The first thing is to get a calendar with blank spaces for each day of the semester. Once you have the syllabus for each class you need to plot paper due date, dates of exams, due dates of projects and then plot all of the other activities you have in that semester. You need to put dates for fun times. Remember to include break time into your review and study times; study time should not last more than an hour. Ten to fifteen minute breaks are a must to give yourself a chance to reflect on what you are studying. As a reminder cramming for a test does is will only get you lost sleep. Manage your time wisely and stay organized. These are two skills that teach you how to study.