From 9th grade to 2nd grade - Study Habits

Today is the day. He is off to his first year of high school and therefore only 4 short years from graduation and college (hopefully!!). I am still taller than him and can do more pull ups in a row than he can but how much longer will that last? When did my little boy suddenly become a young man? Along with the emotional turbulence from pride in his growth and maturity conflicting with the wish that I could still carry him on my shoulders is the anxiety about how the next 4 years will impact his future. In the oft quoted book (at least here on my site), How Children Succeed, the author points out that success in college is very closely linked to a child's GPA in HS (regardless of the quality of that HS). This is contrary to the theory behind standardized testing which puts a premium on SAT scores. The explanation for this statistic is that a good GPA is achievable only through discipline and good study habits. Both of which are important to doing well in college and graduating. So while today is all about my growing 14 year old and his new adventures, I find myself thinking more and more about my daughter. She also starts this week but is only a 2nd grader. We have 7 more grades with her to get her ready for HS. To be completely mercenary and quantitative about goals, what can I be doing NOW with her to help her get a better GPA when she goes to HS?

As with any goal planning process, we start with the quantitative goal (in this case let's say a 4.0 GPA at the end of HS for my daughter) and then break it down. To get a 4.0 she will need an A in every class. Typically, to get one A, she will need to be able to reproduce 90% of what is required on any sort of graded work for that class (tests, reports, homework). Study.com lists 3 steps to getting the grade: 1) Be motivated. Find something that drives you to get the work done. 2) Stay organized. 3) Develop good study habits. In my view, being organized could easily fall under "good study habits" so there are really only 2 steps. Motivation is a big one so let's procrastinate like we tell our kids not to do and leave that for a future article. Study habits are much more concrete. If we include organization, the good study habit list is something like this:

1. Be organized
2. Attend class and be on time
3. Review
4. Don't procrastinate
5. Break large projects into smaller ones
6. Give yourself plenty of time

The common myth about habits is that it takes 21 days to make one. However, the non-anecdotal studies have shown it can take up to 8 months depending on all sorts of factors. Hopefully we can make some progress in 7 years! This buffer also allows us to break down our big project of teaching my daughter study habits into smaller projects. For example, I don't think she will be getting any multi-week homework assignments in 2nd grade requiring her to create a project plan for completion. Also, attending class and being on time are largely out of her control at age 7. Perhaps this year we can work on organization and procrastination. 

We actually started last year with some lessons in being organized mainly because my daughter wanted to be just like her big brother who has a homework pad to keep him on track. She wanted one of her own so we designed and printed one out together. Which reminds me, I need to make an updated one for my son as well! You can see last year's version below. Simple, her own design, easy to use.

Procrastination is a more difficult challenge. Number 5 on the list, piano, is easily her least favorite subject. I think it is because practicing the piano is not a chore that is easy to evaluate. Is it OK to set a time and as long as she is plunking away at the keys she can stop at the end of that time? Apparently not. As Gladwell pointed out, deliberate practice is what is needed to improve. Deliberate practice when it comes to the piano is more qualitative than quantitative so it is harder to judge when enough is enough. So, with that 7 year window in mind, maybe we can work on a better way of encouraging her to stop putting off her piano practice to the end of the day. If we can get past procrastination in the 2nd grade I have high hopes for tackling the rest of the study habits in grade 3!