Helping 1st and 2nd Year Students get in the Study Mood | Parent Centre

By Eimear Dinneen - 4 minute read

For those not that long in secondary school, the idea of studying is something that’s still new and strange. We've put together a few tips on how to get the process going and to set students up for studying in the long term so that they’ll be well able for the bigger exams in 3rd and 6th year.

Start small

In 1st and 2nd year, students don't have big exams to worry about just yet so they don’t need to give themselves a big workload or stress themselves out. They should try studying small bits of information at a time to introduce themselves to the process.

After finishing their homework, they could pick a subject to try and study. If they pick Irish, for example, they should spend 20-30 minutes studying an irregular verb like “abair” in the past, present and future tense.

Important: students should make sure to only study something they've covered in class as there’s no point in tackling something new by themselves.

Make a plan/timetable

A study plan or timetable can make it much easier to study, especially before the exams. Students can print out a template timetable below.

Print timetable here

Having a timetable makes it easier to commit to studying a certain subject and students will also save time because they won’t be fretting about what to study next as it’ll be all laid out in front of them.

Important: students must stick to a plan if they make one so that they don’t miss out on studying a certain subject.

Highlight or underline

This is a great way to remember information. Students should buy themselves a nice bright highlighter and when they’re studying a certain topic, highlight the words or phrases they think are important. This will make the words jump out at them when revising them next and they'll remember them more easily. For example, if they’re studying science, they would highlight a sentence such as “The normal temperature of an adult human body is 37⁰C” so that this piece of information will stick in their mind because it’s an important thing to remember.

Practice past exam questions

This is an important study tip as having access to past exam questions lets students test if their studying is paying off and what topics they need to go over. In 1st and 2nd year, I recommend just looking at the ordinary level questions.

This process also helps students be prepared to face any exam question. Having access to all the past questions by topic from the last ten years lets students pick out obvious trends and be ready for the kinds of questions that will be asked (a BASIC account gives you the last two years' questions on each topic).

Teachers make tests for students by using the questions on Studyclix. PLUS+ access gives students all marking schemes for all questions, allowing them to practice questions and quickly see where they’re going wrong and how to improve their answering style. PREMIUM☆ has even more mock paper questions to practise from.

Flashcards

Flashcards can be a helpful way of studying because they break down big chunks of information into small, condensed pieces. At Studyclix, we have digital flashcards available in multiple subjects and topics with definitions, vocabulary and equations already broken down, ready for students to test themselves. They can share, print or view the whole deck at once. Here is a breakdown of which subjects have a flashcard deck.

If your child would like to make their own, it's an easy thing to do. Flashcards should be available in any good newsagents or stationery shop (I recommend buying coloured ones as they help your brain remember better). Then, when studying a subject, students can make out a flashcard on a certain topic and write only bullet points or vital pieces of info on it, for example, for science, it's a good idea to write down how to test for certain things such as "fat = brown paper test".

Do the homework

Doing homework is one of the best methods of study, so it shouldn't be neglected. Even if your child fails to do any other form of studying (hopefully this won’t be the case), if they’ve done all their homework throughout the year, they should still be able to do reasonably well. The homework students are given is to prepare them for the exams so if they get a question to do at home, it’s really like practising for the exam because a similar question could come up in the exam paper.

Stay organised

A neat work/study area is really important when it comes to studying well. If students try to study in a place where there are books, papers, folders, cups, pens, etc. everywhere, then their brains will find it harder to focus on what they’re studying. If everything is neat and tidy, however, it will be much easier to concentrate and they’ll feel better and more focused in a clean environment.

Nothing’s going in?

Some people just can’t study by looking at books all evening and that’s pretty normal. Some people are not visual learners, meaning they don’t learn well by reading or seeing things. This means they need to try different tactics of studying. Try watching videos on a certain topic instead. There are so many resources on the internet now that almost every topic imaginable can be taught over YouTube. Students could also try drawing large, colourful diagrams or mind maps to make the topic clearer to them, instead of just reading words off a piece of paper.

Quizzes are a feature that students can use to test themselves. Based on past exam questions, our Quizzes are a great tool for gauging how much students know about a particular topic and what they still have to learn.

Take breaks

Studying for hours on end with no break is useless. Students need to take regular breaks. The human brain can only concentrate for 25 minutes at a time so any longer than this and the information they’re trying to learn just won’t go in properly. Take a walk, watch a little TV or have a cup of tea and then come back to it. They’ll feel more refreshed and ready to learn more effectively.

If you think your child would find this information useful, send them this student version.