With many schools across the world closing down for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus outbreak, the onus is placed on the students to continue with their education. While many educational institutions offer tools and resources to facilitate fuss-free learning at home, it can still be pretty hard for students to practice self-studying, especially if they’re not used to this kind of set up. After all, in school, you’re used to having teachers and other authorities who can steer them in the right direction. You may have even gotten used to receiving 1-on-1 tutoring.

At home, you mostly have to rely on yourself to learn the material, save for the occasional pointers from your parents or guardians. If you’re a student who is currently struggling with remote learning and self-studying, here are some proven and tested tips you can follow:

Create a plan.

For remote learning to work, you need to create a structure. For that to happen, you must make a plan that outlines how you’re going to allocate your time. Creating a plan and schedule isn’t so different from crafting a class schedule. A good tip would be blocking out hours per subject so you can focus on the learning material during those times. Don’t forget to schedule breaks, too, as studying for far too long without a break in between would only lead to burnout.

Practice note-taking.

Similar to taking notes while you’re listening to a lecture, you should also jot down notes as you participate in your online classes or when you’re flipping through your books and other course material. Writing down notes along with their sources allow you to remember the main points better when you review for exams. It also helps you retain whatever you’re trying to learn. If you encounter difficulty understanding some concepts, make sure to take note of them and their definitions, so you can consult your teacher later on.

Take studying seriously.

Just because you’re self-studying at home doesn’t mean you can stop taking your classes seriously. When you’re learning stuff at home, you may come across some distractions like the television or your smartphone. It would be in your best interest to steer clear of them so as not to coincide with your learning. It’s smart to put away whatever distracting item you may have—all it takes is one notification to derail hours of hard work.

Break down large projects into smaller tasks.

If you have a big project that you need to complete, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. To make it easier for you to tackle it, you can break it down into smaller tasks to make it more manageable. Take a research paper, for example. Instead of working on it in one go, you may find it easier to divide it into manageable mini-goals with realistic deadlines. Say you have it due on April 30, you may create a schedule that looks like: brainstorm topics by April 15, gather sources by April 18, make a detailed outline by April 23, finish your draft by April 27, polish the paper by April 29.

Following the tips above can make self-studying at home a breeze. Should you need more assistance with tackling your coursework, get in touch with us to see how we can help you by way of high school tutoring in Penrith!

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