Good study habits vs. bad ones

Advice to help students get the most out of their study time

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – School has only just started but students already have homework, quizzes and tests. If your child is already struggling, the problem could be the way they're hitting the books.  We turned to the professionals at Huntington Learning Center to find out how bad study habits can effect your child's grades.

One of the first things the experts there told us that can sabotage your student is over scheduling. Between sports, clubs, social activities and school, you have to be able to create a balance. 

Chris Gonzalez is a Director at Huntington and said, "One of the biggest things I tell parents to do is create  calendar. Whether it's a desk calendar or wall calendar, put all of the kids activities on that so they can see the big picture going on."

The second step: Don't procrastinate. Instead of putting things off, just get them out of the way. That means parents need to make sure kids finish the important stuff first, before they get any type of reward.

This goes hand in hand with the next step: Don't leave the more challenging assignments for last.

Recommended Videos



 "Honestly, knock it out first. Just like a band aid, rip it off as fast as you possibly can," said Gonzalez. "A lot of times kids think I hate my history homework, I'm going to leave it to the end. Knock that out first because that's when you're going to have your most energy."

Gonzalez also tells parents, "Don't do your child's work for them. That's a big no. You always want to make sure your kids are doing the work. You can help them and guide them but you want them to come up with the answer themselves. Honestly, even if it's wrong. If it's wrong at least the teacher can know where they're struggling and work with them on that."

One more thing Gonzalez recommends, don't forget to learn. Try to help your kids figure out the answer instead of just memorizing facts.

Here's the full list of the Do's and Dont's of studying from Huntington Learning Center:

Good Habits:
1. Mutually come to an agreement with your child about studying.

  • Start/End Time
  • Break times
  • Method of study
  • Area of study
  • Create routine


2. Effective Planning

  • Create a monthly calendar (wall/desk)
  • Create a daily calendar
  • Set a schedule


3. Be Organized

  • Bring everything pertinent from school
  • Have all materials at study area


4. Goal Setting

  • Set SMART goals
  • Track goals


5. Seek help if needed

  • Contact teachers
  • Utilize peer group
  • Seek outside help if needed


Bad Habits
1. Don't over schedule your child.

  • Create a balance between school, sports, and social life.


2. Don't procrastinate

3. Don't leave harder more challenging assignments for last.

  • Knock out easier assignments early when you are fresh
  • Leaving for end will create desire to quit or not give 100% effort


4. As parents, don't do your child's work

  • Make them look up what words mean
  • If they get stuck, help them figure out how to do as oppose to doing for them.


5. Don't forget to learn.

  • Kids think studying is all about memorizing facts.
  • Try to get your children to figure out and tell you what their takeaways of the lesson should be.