Study Skills Coaching in Calgary

What differentiates StudySpot Calgary from other companies is our focus on skill development.  Similar to the expression, “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”, we believe that teaching students how to learn is far more important that merely re-teaching them content.  Through weekly one-on-one support, our coaches’ help their students develop and practice the study skills that are essential for success in school, and prepare the student for the future challenge of university.

Independent learning at home usually involves one of, or a combination of the following skills;  reading, note taking, writing, or studying.  These study skills make up the core of our academic coaching service.  To become a more effective student, the coach works collaboratively to apply these skills to the student’s current school workload.  This makes our sessions productive in both the short-term and long-term.

“My high-school teen has poor study habits and study skills”

Reading Comprehension

As students progress into high school reading demands increase, and the ability to comprehend complex ideas and concepts through reading, becomes very important to independent learning.  We will teach students the difference between active and passive reading.  Strategies, such as SQ4R will be presented to help students read textbook material more effectively and assist in identifying main ideas and concepts.  Students shown how to annotate their text and how to be more deliberate in their approach to academic reading.

Note taking

Whether information is taken from the classroom or a textbook, students are required to learn and develop their note taking skills.  The goal of this skill development will be to visually organizing information to facilitate understanding.  By exposing students to several note-taking techniques, they will see the qualities of, and benefits of having, effective notes.  The Cornell note-taking system is a format for condensing and organizing notes.  This strategy will be introduced and practiced with each student.  Students will try out these strategies in the context of their current school work and receive feedback from the coach.

Writing

Many students struggle to get their ideas on to paper in an efficient manner.  Students will develop their pre-writing strategies such as brainstorming, thesis development, and outlining as they form the foundation of planning. We will also assist students through the drafting and editing stages by paying particular attention to the areas where many papers break down.   To help organize ideas for typical essay assignments, the use of templates will be used.

Studying

One of the most common referral concerns is for students whose test results do not match their capability or efforts.  We will introduce students to active study strategies for test preparation. Shifting students away from passive study and review techniques and toward more interactive and meaningful approaches is the primary goal of this study skills development.   We will students how to create and execute an exam study schedule.   Test writing strategies and post-test analysisare taught and practiced. Students will experience these techniques in the application to their actual tests and examinations.