[quote WeAllHaveWings]@Harriedharriet, I wish there was a one size fits all, very few WANT to study when they could be doing something better instead. ds also has this thing, probably quite a common teen thing, where he thinks his parents know nothing, and tends to listen to people "outside" the home instead.
I bought a book on how to study/revise, can't remember the name of it but I found it a boring and very dry read so didn't even show ds. I did a bit of internet googling and found bits and pieces but didn't find anything inspiring either that I thought would engage ds.
An American Youtuber, called Thomas Frank, ended up being the thing that worked for ds. The guy is very upbeat (and very irritating), but was better than any book or listening to me. Look for his videos on spaced repetition, flash cards, note taking, procrastinating, habit making (the "habit spiral" of starting small and building) and many more, they all mostly have the same theme - a lot are just common sense when you see them but they give you a direction to try and it helped ds to hear from someone else.
I used these to reel ds in, I would find/listen to a video first to see if it was any good, and started by saying come and see this and watching a 5-10 min video together and then leaving him to think about it. Then I would point him in the direction of one to watch himself and we would discuss after, even if it was repetition of the same sort of thing. Just plant seeds for them to think about every time - for example compare the good habit spiral of studying to the bad habits they have - they are both habits that develop starting small.
He probably watched around 10 of the videos I picked out. The final one I asked him to watch himself was the 13 Scientific Backed Study tips, with a note pad to note down the different tips/technics and then we discussed after which ones he thought would work for each subject. He listened to TF more than me and came up with his own ideas on what he thought would work best for him and for each subject. He was less resistant because he has some knowledge now of what he needed to do and it felt less intimidating.
French - he liked the idea of physical flash cards - so bought him a couple of boxes of ]] to write on (TF says writing the actual cards on paper is more effective than using apps). ds asked me to test him on them most nights before bed for 10-15 mins. We made it fun and it really made a difference to his french vocab.
Modern Studies/English - he liked making his own notes and mind maps to pull content or themes together.
Science - he created his own notes
Maths - he made larger A6 paper flash cards for specific topics/formula he struggled with, with a details/drawing and a worked example.
He found/learned 35-45 minute study sessions switching between types of subjects were more achievable and effective than studying for hours, phone out of room works, 10 minute walk outside between sessions helps. 2-3 sessions a night makes a real difference to his confidence on the subject. He worked out for himself studying with friends was not effective. He understood the recognition vs recall thing and worked out which tips to use to get to recall - flash cards, past papers, example questions, re-writing notes (combining class notes and revision guide notes), asking someone to test you, bullet points. He found youtube is a great resource to study too, there are lots of videos made by teachers, especially for maths and sciences. He would ask school for questions and answers resources so he could do and mark himself or I would buy books/help find things online to test himself.
We started early in S3 (Scotland, well before first exams), the earlier you start building that habit of doing little but often the better.
Sorry that was a bit of an essay of what worked for ds! Hope some of it helps get you started.[/quote]
This is EVERYTHING. Thank you so much. I am so grateful - I did not know where to start with mine.
Thank you!