One of the biggest education obstacles for school age children is proper academic preparation. While students count on their parents for any number of things like housing, food, clothing, etc. even they will admit it’s been a while since they cracked a textbook. For students, the best help they can receive is to join their peers who are preparing for the same tests as themselves. If your child is struggling in school, these are some of the benefits they could gain by joining or forming a study group.
1.) Increased Retention- Often times, you can read an entire chapter of a textbook and not retain any of it. When the brain isn’t particularly interested in something, it’s often hard to retain as the brain will drift to something else it finds more interesting. With a study group however, it is often what someone says about a topic that will stick with your child when test time comes. Maybe it is a funny acronym someone drops or it’s the funny way in which they answered a question wrong. Regardless, students are likely to retain more of the information by talking it out loud.
2.) Expansion of Social Circle- If a student falls in with the wrong crowd, or just a crowd that doesn’t hit the books very hard, they could find it difficult to get into proper study habits. That’s because we naturally default to what those around us are doing at certain times, figuring it’s easier than carving our own path. But this is not the way to a better and higher earning future. When a student ventures outside their comfort zone and studies with peers they are less friendly with, it could open doors to long lasting friendships.
There are a multitude of reasons to join a study group and there are almost no negatives to the experience. If it’s the grades that matter most, find or form a study group.