Student Skills for Life Success: Parent Guide 2023

PARENT / FACILITATOR
GUIDE
Turn your child into a super student in 30 hours
Abstract
About half the Learners who go to university drop out in the first year.
Part of the problem is that they simply do not know how to study, but by then it is often too late
to change bad study habits.
Students who perform badly at school often assume that other children are smarter than they
are, but the truth is that natural brain power has little to do with scholastic achievement.
We believe everyone has an equal chance to achieve success when taught how to study
effectively
Jacques de Villiers
jacquesdevilliers@gmail.com

Contents
General Instructions to Parents ....................................................................................... 2
Session 1: The study process .......................................................................................... 3
Session 2: Develop a positive study attitude................................................................... 6
Session 3: Identify roles, appointments and priorities. ................................................... 9
Session 4: Use time responsibly. .................................................................................. 11
Session 5: Plan for homework and study. ..................................................................... 14
Session 6: Create a pleasant study environment. .......................................................... 18
Session 7: Passive listening .......................................................................................... 20
Session 8: Active listening ............................................................................................ 23
Session 9: Note taking. ................................................................................................. 27
Session 10: Bad reading habits. .................................................................................... 30
Session 11: Reading faster. ........................................................................................... 37
Session 12: Reading technique. .................................................................................... 39
Session 13: Identify and Organise. ............................................................................... 41
Session 14: Classify and present. .................................................................................. 44
Session 16: Creativity. .................................................................................................. 49
Sessions 17 and 18: Play a board game. ....................................................................... 53
Sessions 19: Remember to forget. ................................................................................ 55
Sessions 20: Write it out to recall it. ............................................................................. 58
Sessions 21: Visualise to remember. ............................................................................ 61
Sessions 22: Keys to unlock memory. .......................................................................... 63
Sessions 23: Hook to remember. .................................................................................. 66
Sessions 24: Links and diagrams. ................................................................................. 69
Sessions 25: Exam Stress. ............................................................................................. 71
Sessions 26: Exam planning ......................................................................................... 73
Sessions 27: Answering questions. ............................................................................... 76
Sessions 28: Building vocabulary. ................................................................................ 79
Sessions 29: Studying for math..................................................................................... 81
Sessions 30: Spelling and essays. ................................................................................. 84
1

General Instructions to Parents
You received this parent guide and the accompanying learner guide because your child did a “Basic
Study Skills Workshop” with “Student Skills for Life Success.”
This guide contains 30 learning sessions of about 45 minutes each, and are designed as follows:
• Preparation About 15 minutes.
• Information About 15 minutes.
• Activity About 30 minutes.
The information and activities that appears in this parent guide also appears in the learner guide.
Parents should familiarise themselves with the contents of both components before the start of a
session.
• Read through the entire guide at least once and complete all activities before attempting to
facilitate the course.
• Get the stationary required for a session ready before you start a session.
• Encourage your child to apply what they learn in this program in the classroom on a
continual basis.
2

Session 1: The study process
The child understands the study process.
The child is introduced to mental key notes.
The child identifies their existing study habits and study attitude.
Parent: Read the information and become familiar with the content of the pre-test.
Child: Workbook, pencil, and eraser.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class and know how to use the mental key notes. Expand as necessary and use
personal experiences to complement the material.
The study process can be divided into 4 phases depending on when the learning activities in each
phase take place.
• Phase 1 learning activities that take place Before Class.
• Phase 2 learning activities that take place During Class.
• Phase 3 learning activities that take place Shortly after Class.
• Phase 4 learning activities that take place Before the Exam.
The learning activities can be memorised by using the following mental key notes:
Phases 1 & 2: Before and during class
Good students PLAN before and during class.
• Plan, Listen Attentively and take Notes.
Phase 3: Shortly after class
Good students work according to a ROSTER at home.
• Read Objectively, Summarise, Think, Exercise and Remember
Phase 4: Before the exam
Good students can RAP any exam.
• Revise and Apply
The following list of good study habits was adapted from “Culbertson’s Academic Success
Strategies” from the website http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/success.htm and corresponds to the
learning activities explained above.
Before Class
• Read through the work you will be doing in class.
During Class
• Attend class.
• Ask questions and participate in discussions.
• Follow the teacher’s instructions.
• Know what you are supposed to study and how the questions will be asked.
• Confirm your understanding of the work with the teacher.
3

Shortly after Class
• Do work that’s in arrears before the next class (including incomplete
work and corrections)
• Do your homework neatly and completely.
• Do your homework thoughtfully and critically.
• Revise your homework before you study or complete assignments.
• Complete your assignments before the due date and hand them in on time.
Before the exam
• Join a study group.
• Start learning in time for tests and exams.
• Discuss assignments and concepts with your classmates.
• Explain the work to each other.
Students who perform badly at school often assume that other children are smarter than they are,
but the truth is that natural brain power has little to do with scholastic achievement. It is more likely
that the high achievers have already mastered more of the learning activities than their peers.
This program will help you to plan better, listen better and take good notes. It will also improve your
reading and teach you how to summarize work, how to think more effectively and how to memorise
work that you’ve studied. Lastly it will teach you to revise and how to “rap” for an exam.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 1.
• The child must not get stuck on any one question.
• There are no wrong or right answers in the pre-test.
4

Activity 1: Pre-test
Answer only yes or no to the following statements.
Statement Yes No
1 I study daily.
2 I study daily according to a timetable.
3 I always know when my homework must be completed.
4 My assignments are always handed in on time.
5 I do my homework as soon as possible.
6 I participate in sport and cultural activities
7 I always have enough time to prepare for a test.
8 I enjoy listening to all my teachers.
9 It is easy to keep my concentration in class.
10 I read the prescribed storybooks before we start with them in class.
11 My friends and I often discuss what the teacher said in class.
12 I always make notes while listening to the teacher.
13 I often ask the teacher to explain something again.
14 I study only the most important work and not everything that was taught.
15 I can easily repeat everything I need to study in my own words.
16 I enjoy doing Internet research.
17 I visited the library in the last week.
18 I love reading.
19 I can always read my own handwriting after class.
20 I always complete my homework neatly.
21 I know how to find a book in the library.
22 It is quick and easy to find information on the Internet.
23 I know the basic content of all my work before I start studying.
24 I can read more than 300 words per minute.
25 I only have to read though something once before understanding the work.
26 I always re-organise my work so that it makes more sense to me.
27 Planning an assignment takes longer than doing it.
28 I always have enough time to complete an exam paper.
29 I always do the questions I know best first.
30 I always read through a paper attentively before answering any questions.
31 I always study in the same room.
32 I always study at a well-lit desk.
33 It is peaceful and quiet when I study.
34 My family knows when I’m studying and will not bother me.
35 It is important to me to do well in school.
36 I belong to a study group.
37 My family situation is conducive to my studies.
38 I think that all my teachers like me.
39 I respect all my teachers.
40 I anticipate being asked questions in class.
5

Session 2: Develop a positive study attitude.
The child takes responsibility for their own studies.
The child develops a deeper appreciation for their teachers.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 2 &3.
Child: They will need their files, pencils, and erasers
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Some children will try to blame their academic failures on their teachers – Don’t allow the session to
deteriorate into a discussion of bad teachers, as the purpose of this session is to get the child to
take responsibility for their own learning.
There are three factors that will determine your attitude towards studies namely:
• Your attitude towards the learning content
• Your attitude towards your teachers
• Your self-image
Your attitude towards the learning content
You will be positive towards the learning content if …
• You understand why you must know the work,
• You know the work and
• You find the work valuable.
The purpose of a school is to assist parents as they guide their child to adulthood. A child’s survival
in the world is dependent on others and so no one wants to remain a kid forever. Your success as
an adult is dependent on how well you were prepared for it at home and at school. School subjects
contain the skills that are needed to excel as an adult and weren’t just picked to keep child busy!
Your attitude towards the teacher
Teachers are a special group of people tasked to transfer the cognitive skills that you will require as
adults to you. On average they study for four years after leaving school to fulfill this task and are
never fully rewarded for their efforts.
Remember the next time you sit in class that our society would collapse if it weren’t for people like
the teacher standing in front of the class.
Your self-image
Realise that you are valuable and unique. Only one person exactly like you will ever walk the earth
and there are certain things that no-one else in your class can do better than you, regardless of how
“amazing” they may seem.
The school system was designed for normal child, not just gifted ones and so there is no reason for
you not to master your schoolwork. There is nothing in the learning content that is above your
abilities.
6

Facilitate the completion of Activities 2 and 3.
Activity 2: Attitude towards the learning content
List all your subjects including the non-examination subjects underneath.
Place the subject you like most in the first position, the one you like least in the last position and
rank the others in between.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Give 3 reasons why you placed your first-choice subject in that position.
1.
2.
3.
Give 3 reasons why you placed the last subject in that position.
1.
2.
3.
What can you do to improve your attitude towards those subjects you dislike?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
7

Activity 3: Attitude towards teachers and self-image
Who is your favourite teacher? ________________________________
List 6 characteristics of this teacher that causes you to like him/her.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Think of a teacher you don’t like and list 6 positive characteristics of that teacher.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
List 6 positive characteristics that cause your friends to like you.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
List 3 personal characteristics that could cause someone to dislike you and say what you can do to
improve in this area.
1.
2.
3.
8

Session 3: Identify roles, appointments and priorities.
The child identifies different roles and the associated responsibilities.
The child realises the importance of keeping and being on time for appointments.
The child can use goal setting to help them prioritise.
Parent: You need a diary and a calendar
Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 4.
Child: They will need their files, pencils, and erasers
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
The child likely has homework guides and timetables already. Encourage them to use the resources
they have effectively and allow them to look through the diary and glance over the calendar.
We all have different roles to fulfill on a daily basis. For example: Student, family member, member
of a cell group or sports team, a drama student etc.
It is important to set goals for each role to fulfill that role effectively. For example: Your goal is to
maintain an 85% average through the year and to help your sports team win the league.
To achieve these goals, you will have to keep certain appointments and set certain priorities. Your
classes are nothing else but appointments with your teachers and if you really want to achieve your
academic goal you will have to keep these meetings and give attention during them.
Attending classes alone is not enough to maintain an 85% average and so doing your homework and
studying for at least an hour should become daily priorities.
As it is unavoidable that your priorities will clash from time to time, you need to weigh their relative
importance. For example: You need to study for a test, but you also promised a friend that you would
go with him to the movies. One way to solve the dilemma would be to call your friend and arrange to
go to the movie after you have written the test.
There are many resources available that can help you to prioritise and keep appointments, including
the following:
• Timetables,
• Diaries,
• Calendars,
• Homework guides and
• Notes.
Use the following guidelines when weighing your priorities.
• Make provision for the fact that things can change.
• Keep your goals in mind.
• Do the most important things first.
• Consider the consequences of your decisions.
• Consider others.
• Don’t try and do everything by yourself.
• Give attention to your spiritual needs as well.
• Remember the importance of a good diet, enough sleep and regular exercise.
9

Facilitate the completion of Activity 4.
• The purpose of this session is to help the child to prioritise.
• Do not focus too much on the quality of the stated goals
but only give informal guidance as needed.
Activity 4: Roles and Responsibilities
1. List all the roles you will have to fulfill during the next quarter or term.
2. Write one goal (or the reason for the activity) next to each role.
3. Use the goals as guide to rank your roles from the most to the least important.
Nr. Role Goal Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
4. List your roles from the most to the least important.
5. Write the appointments that relate to each role next to it.
6. Write a priority (with a time commitment) in the last column.
For Example
Nr. Role Appointment Priority
1 Karate Student Mondays 15:00 – 16:00 2 hours/week
In the case above the child has karate on Mondays for an hour after school and commits to
practicing an additional two hours per week.
Nr. Role Appointment Priority
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
10

Session 4: Use time responsibly.
The child develops an appreciation for time by tracking their current time use.
The child discovers that they often have less time available than they need.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 5.
Child: They will need their files, pencils, and erasers
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Now that you have an idea about your appointments for the next term and have set goals for each
of your roles you are almost ready to draw up a time use chart, but before you can do that you need
to keep track of how you are currently using your time. You might find that you simply don’t have
the time to fulfill all your roles and must give up one or more of your lower priority roles.
When doing the following activity, remember to make provision for the time that the appointments
and priorities that you identified in the previous exercise will take up.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 5.
The child will need a lot of assistance in the completion of this activity.
• Make sure that they indicate the time committed to all activities correctly in
hours or part thereof.
• Make sure that they indicate the time committed to all activities correctly in
hours or part thereof.
• Make sure that they familiarise themselves with the key to the activities
before they start the exercise.
• Allow enough time for feedback.
11

Activity 5: How are you using your time currently.
How many hours do you spend daily on each of the following activities during a
normal school week?
• Remember there are 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a 7 day week
• Express the time in hours or part of it. (For example, 1 or 1 1 / 2 or 1 1 / 4)
Sleep
Personal Care
School
Intellectual
Chores
Physical
Spiritual
Culture
Hobbies
Social
Relaxation
Commuting
Other
Total
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun Total
Key
Sleep: Includes the time that you lie in bed before you fall asleep or get up
Personal Care: Eating, bathing, dressing, hygiene, doing make up etc.
School: Sitting in class, the hall, breaks etc.
Intellectual: Read for information, study, homework, active thinking, writing, listing, watching
documentaries etc. (after school)
Chores: Washing dishes, gardening, ironing, sweeping, cleaning your room etc.
Physical: Organised sport practices and games, social sports, jogging etc.
Spiritual: Sitting in church, bible study, prayer, quiet times, small groups, youth, evangelism
etc.
Culture: Organised cultural activities, practices, and performances, modelling etc.
Hobbies: Arts and crafts, collections, scrap booking etc.
Social: Visiting friends and family, attending parties, chat rooms, games, movies etc.
Relaxation: Watching TV, leisure reading, listening to music, PC Games, daydreaming etc.
Commuting: Sitting in the car, bus, or taxi, cycling, or walking to school or home
1. Something like ice skating will be a physical activity if you’re going for the skating, but a social
activity if you’re going only to chat with your friends.
2. "Shopping" can be a chore if you’re assisting your parents or a social activity if you’re hanging
out at the mall with your friends.
3. The use of the Internet can be an intellectual activity if you’re doing research or a leisure activity
if you’re just browsing.
Place the example of a typical grade 7’s time utilisation after this page in your file.
Distribute the example of a typical grade 7’s time utilisation at the end of this session. The example
is not the product of extensive research but rather general observation, so the child’s charts may
differ considerably.
12

Sleep
Personal
Care
School
Intellectual
Chores
Physical
Spiritual
Culture
Hobbies
Social
Relaxation
Commuting
Other
56
Weekly time utilisation of a typical, well balanced, grade 7 child during a normal school week
54
52
50
48
46
44
42
40
38
34
32
30
28
36
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
% 33% 6.0% 19% 4.8% 3.6% 3.6% 4.8% 2.4% 2.4% 4.8% 9.5% 3.6% 2.4%
13

Session 5: Plan for homework and study.
The child can draw up a generic weekly plan.
The child makes sufficient provision for homework and study in their weekly plans.
Parent: You need a diary and a calendar
Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 6.
Child: They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
They also need their homework guide and class timetable.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Make sure that the child understands the guidelines.
You may think that planning for homework and study is difficult for the following reasons:
• You don’t get homework in every subject every day.
• On some days you get a lot more homework than usual.
• You don’t know when you will receive major assignments.
• You haven’t received your test timetable yet.
After completing the time utilisation chart, you probably realise the following:
• You are not using your time as well as you could.
• You are busier than you thought.
• Some of your roles are being neglected.
• You worry since you don’t know where you are going to find time for all your activities.
• Your life seems unbalanced.
In this session you are going to learn how to plan properly for homework and study. In the rest of
the course, you are going to learn how to study effectively so that you can achieve the best results
in the shortest amount of time.
Use the following guidelines when drawing up your roster:
• You get an opportunity daily to do at least some of your homework at school – use it!
• Do homework on the day that you receive it.
• Allow at least one hour for homework and one hour for study daily regardless of whether
you receive homework or not.
• If your homework is going to keep you busy for more than an hour, borrow time from your
study session.
• If you have less than an hour’s homework, use the time to study.
• You will know about an assignment at least a week in advance. Allow at least two hours per
weekend for assignments. If you don’t have assignments, then use the time to study.
• Do assignments as soon as possible and hand them in as soon as you’ve completed it.
• Use as small a time scale as possible. It will help you to utilise your time better.
• Indicate al other activities on your roster but indicate homework and study blocks clearly by
using a highlighter or a different colour.
14

Facilitate the completion of Activity 6.
• Hand out the completed example, so that the child will
know what is expected.
• If your child cannot complete the activity during the session, make sure that
they complete it before the next session.
Activity 6: Weekly planning sheet
1. Study the example that you received and then complete your own weekly planning sheet.
2. Place the example after this page in your file and paste your own sheet on your room’s door.
15

School
School
School
School
School
Example: Weekly Planning of a Busy Grade 7 Girl
Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
05:00
05:30
06:00
06:30
07:00
07:30
Personal
Care
Personal
Care
Personal
Care
Personal
Care
Personal
Care
Commute Commute Commute Commute Commute
08:00
08:30
09:00
09:30
10:00
10:30
Personal
Care
Chores
Personal
Care
Church
Service
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
13:00
13:30
14:00
14:30
15:00
15:30
16:00
16:30
17:00
17:30
18:00
18:30
19:00
19:30
Chess
League
Hockey
Practice
Hockey
Practice
Hockey
Game
Small
Group
Commute
Pers. Care
Social
Engagement
Pers. Care
Work on
Assignment
Commute Commute Commute
HW/Study
Commute Pers. Care Pers. Care Pers. Care Free Time
Pers. Care
Vocal
HW/Study HW/Study HW/Study
Class
HW/Study
Ballet Free Time
HW/Study
Free Time Class
Practice for
HW/Study
Musical
HW/Study HW/Study Chores
Free Time
Personal
Care
Personal
Care
Personal
Care
Personal
Care
Pers. Care
Free Time
Free Time
Free Time
Free Time
Free Time
Free Time
Personal
Care
Chores
Physical
Exercise
Personal
Care
Free Time
Free Time
HW/Study
Family
Time
Church
Service
20:00 Practice for Free Time Practice for
Personal
Cultural
Cultural HW/Study
20:30
Youth
Activities Free Time
Care
Activities
Program at Family Time
21:00
Free Time Free Time Free Time Free Time Church
Free Time
21:30
Quiet Time Quiet Time Quiet Time Quiet Time Quiet Time
22:00
Quiet Time
16

Weekly Planning of ____________________________
Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
05:30
06:00
06:30
07:00
07:30
08:00
08:30
09:00
09:30
10:00
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
13:00
13:30
14:00
14:30
15:00
15:30
16:00
16:30
17:00
17:30
18:00
18:30
19:00
19:30
20:00
20:30
21:00
21:30
22:00
17

Session 6: Create a pleasant study environment.
The child can create a pleasant study environment.
The child develops an appreciation for their study aids.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 7.
Child: They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
By now you have probably realised how important time management is. You don’t have the time to
spend 10 minutes looking for your books before you do your homework or to try and keep a smaller
child quiet before you start studying.
One of the ways to ensure that your homework and study time is used better, is to create a pleasant
study environment. Please use the following guidelines to do so:
• It must be quiet when you do homework or study so that you can concentrate better.
• Your weekly schedule must be where you can see it all the time so that you are reminded
of your appointments and priorities.
• Your bag must be neat so that you don’t have to search for things in it.
• Your place of study must be clean and neat so that you can study effectively.
• Your stationery should be readily available before you study or do your homework. This
includes the following:
o Pens and pencils,
o Glue,
o An eraser,
o A calculator,
o A ruler,
o Scrap paper, etc.
• Your study environment must be well lit with the light falling over your shoulder. If you don’t
have proper lighting, it’s more reason to do your work during daytime.
• Sit at a table and not on the floor when you’re working. Lying on the bed while studying is
looking for trouble as you are more likely to fall asleep than to study.
• Don’t stick things on your wall that can distract you or that have a negative connotation.
Rather laminate a couple of inspirational sayings and stick them to the wall.
• Treat your bag and its content with respect. Don’t throw your bag around and take good
care of your books.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 7.
• Make sure that the child doesn’t rush these tasks but ask them leading
questions so that they will be able to do a comprehensive audit of their study
resources.
18

Activity 7: Your Study Environment
Describe the current state of your study environment.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
List everything that can make your study environment better with specific reference to actions that
you can personally take and commit some time to those actions.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Make a list of all the homework and study resources you’re going to need in the next quarter.
Indicate the state of the item, until when it will last or if it’s something new that you need.
Example
Nr. Item Condition Replacement / action
1 Calculator Lost Need new one
2 Pencils Good for the next quarter None
Nr. Item Condition Replacement / action
19

Session 7: Passive listening
The child develops good listening habits.
The child is aware of their own listening mind-set.
The child capitalises on the difference between thinking speed and talking speed.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 8.
Child: They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Some cell phone ring tones can only be heard by young people, and it appears that, in general,
children can hear better than adults. Good hearing and good listening are, however, two different
things.
To be a good listener it is firstly important to have a good listening mind-set. Secondly, you must
unlearn bad listening habits by replacing them with good listening habits and, thirdly, you must
adhere to a couple of good listening principles.
Mind-set
• Decide in advance that the content of the lesson will be valuable and useful.
• React with caution before reacting to something you didn’t like to hear. Get all the
information before you respond.
• Consider difficult material as a good challenge.
• Respect the speaker even if you disagree with him/her.
• Show real interest in your teachers.
Good Listening Habits
• Concentrate on the words and the message.
o Ignore the teacher’s clothing, awkward habits, smile or the like.
o Bad listeners like to find fault with the speaker, while good listeners eagerly
embrace any piece of wisdom that might be forthcoming from the speaker.
• Don’t allow unknown or unwelcome words to stop you from listening.
o Bad listeners stop listening when they don’t like what they hear, while good
listeners suspend judgment on unwelcome or unknown words.
• Identify the “Big ideas” so that you can link all other information to it.
o Bad listeners only listen for the facts, while good listeners grab hold of the big ideas
and use them as anchor points for all the other information.
• Be awake and attentive.
o Bad listeners allow their minds to wander while good listeners remain focused and
attempt to absorb all the information.
Principles
• Always listen with a pen, pencil, highlighter, and ruler in hand.
• Adapt your note taking system to the teacher’s presentation technique.
• Use the difference between thinking pace and talking pace.
o We think at ± 400 words per minute and talk at ± 200.
o Bad listeners abuse this ability and think about other things.
− Good listeners utilise this ability by trying to predict what will be said next,
comparing what is said with acquired knowledge, and making key notes.
20

• Distinguish between the following:
o Facts
o Opinions
o Feelings
o Needs
o Expectations
o The meaning behind the words
Adapted from http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/listen.htm
Facilitate the completion of Activity 8.
• It is better if the child sits outside and not within hearing distance from others,
but so that you can keep an eye on them.
• If sitting outside is not an option though (like when it’s raining) then the
exercise can also be done indoors.
• You are the timekeeper for this exercise.
• Allow enough time for feedback.
21

Activity 8: Passive Listening Exercise
Sit outside in a quiet place.
List the first 20 sounds that you can identify.
• Identify each sound only once.
• Try to be as specific as possible.
• Discuss the results of the first exercise.
• Repeat the exercise and see if you can now hear the sounds that were mentioned by the
other child.
• Only rewrite the sounds you listed the 1 st time if you can hear them again.
Exercise 1 (10 minutes)
Exercise 2 (10 minutes)
Sounds
1. __________________________ ___________________________
2. __________________________ ___________________________
3. __________________________ ___________________________
4. __________________________ ___________________________
5. __________________________ ___________________________
6. __________________________ ___________________________
7. __________________________ ___________________________
8. __________________________ ___________________________
9. __________________________ ___________________________
10. __________________________ ___________________________
11. __________________________ ___________________________
12. __________________________ ___________________________
13. __________________________ ___________________________
14. __________________________ ___________________________
15. __________________________ ___________________________
16. __________________________ ___________________________
17. __________________________ ___________________________
18. __________________________ ___________________________
19. __________________________ ___________________________
20. __________________________ ___________________________
Now choose one of the last ten sounds on your 2 nd list and describe that sound in as much detail as
you can. Try to re-experience the sound instead of just recalling it.
Detailed description of one sound
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22

Session 8: Active listening
The child discovers the importance of being involved in class discussions.
The child appreciates the contributions of their peers in class.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 9.
Child: They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
In the previous session you learned how to improve your passive listening skills, but you will
remember even more when you actively participate in class discussions. The percentage of work
we can expect to remember using different observation methods is tabled below.
Passive Involvement
Activity Observation Method % Recall
Reading Seeing (Abstract Images) 10%
Listening Hearing 20%
Looking at a picture Seeing (Concrete Images) 30%
Watch a Movie or Demonstration Seeing and Hearing 50%
Active Involvement
Activity Observation Method % Recall
Do a talk or participate in a discussion Seeing, hearing, and speaking 70%
Do or simulate a task or do a dramatized Seeing, hearing, speaking, and doing 90%
presentation
You will notice that if you sit and listen in class you can expect to remember about 20% of the
information, but if you actively participate in class discussions you can expect to remember up to
70% of the information.
Your class participation should always be to the benefit of your classmates as well and must never
become disruptive. Follow the following active listing guidelines in class.
Give feedback to the teacher to see if you understood the message correctly.
• Paraphrase (State what was said in your own words)
Distinguish between real questions and rhetorical questions.
• The one demands an answer, the other not.
Ask if there is something in the message that is unclear.
• Wait until the teacher has concluded the point though and do not interrupt her in the middle
of a sentence.
Tell the teacher if you didn’t understand something.
• The teacher can’t smell something that you didn’t understand.
Ask the teacher to explain the same concept or principle in a different way if you don’t understand.
• Use “I” messages rather than “you” messages.
23

Example:
Miss, I didn’t understand, can you please explain it in a different way?
You didn’t explain properly, please try again.
√
X
If you don’t know the answer to a question - Guess!
• Even if you are wrong, it will give the teacher an opportunity to react to your answer.
Additional Listening Exercise
Listen to a favourite song or piece of music a couple of times.
• Try listening to all the words if there are words.
• Try to identify the different instruments being used.
• Try to anticipate what will happen next in the song.
• Try to play the music back in your mind.
Do the same with a favourite song of a friend. After listening to the music of some friends, organise
a party where you can listen to each other’s music and tell why you like a particular song or piece of
music.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 9.
• Make use of as many of the following sketches as time allows. If it’s clear
that the group is not going to solve the problem in the prescribed time, feel
free to lead them a bit.
• This activity works better if more children or other family members are
involved.
Here are a couple of good sketches, but you are welcome to come up with your own.
Problem 1:
The body of a man lies in the middle of the desert. There’s a bag on his back. What happened?
Solution:
The man died when his parachute didn’t open.
Typical questions and there answers
Is he alone?
Was he murdered?
Did he die from thirst?
Are there footprints around him?
Etc.
Yes
No
No
No
Problem 2:
The body of a man hangs from a rope in the middle of an empty room. There’s a broken window
and a pool of water on the floor. What happened?
Solution:
The man committed suicide by standing on a block of ice, putting a rope over the beam and around
his neck and jumping from the block of ice. The broken window is only a red herring.
Typical questions and there answers
Is he alone?
Was he shot?
Did he commit suicide?
Is there any sign of a ladder?
Etc.
Yes
No
Yes
No
24

Problem 3:
Romeo and Juliet are lying dead on the floor. There is a broken bowl and a pool
of water on the ground. What happened?
Solution:
They are fish that died when their bowl fell.
Typical questions and there answers
Were they murdered?
Did they drown?
Did they suffocate?
Etc.
Yes or no. It’s irrelevant.
No
Yes
Problem 4:
A man receives a package by post. In the package is an arm. He smiles and throws the package
away. What happened?
Solution:
Two men survive a plane crash in the desert. They don’t have any food and will surely die. The one
man (a surgeon) amputates the other’s arm, and they agree that whatever is done to the one will be
done to the other. They are, however, saved before any other amputations are required. The
contents of the package indicated that the surgeon honored the agreement.
Typical questions and their answers
Is it the arm of the recipient?
Does he know whose arm it is?
Can the arm be reattached?
Does the recipient also have only one arm?
Etc.
No
Yes
No
Yes
Another alternative is to play 20 questions.
For example
Think of an object (a hammer in this case) and tell the child to find out what it is by again asking
questions to which you will only reply with a yes or no.
1. Is it alive? No
2. Do people use it daily? Yes
3. Is it used in the kitchen? No
4. Do men use it more often than women? Yes
5. Is it hard? Yes
6. Is it sharp? No
Etc.
25

Activity 9: Active Listening Exercise
Listen carefully to the problem your parent is going to sketch. The problem will
only be shared once, so make notes in the space provided.
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If you ask the right questions, you will be able to solve the problem with ease, but your parent may
only answer yes or no to each question. Shortly list the questions that have been asked and
indicate the answer next to it. That will ensure that no questions are repeated and that you will
come to an answer much sooner as a group.
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26

Session 9: Note taking.
The child overcomes their fear of taking notes.
The child becomes acquainted with basic note taking principles.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 10.
This session requires 30 minutes of prep before the start.
Choose an appropriate passage that’s not too difficult and compile a list
of 15 questions from it. Try to keep the quality of the questions of one
standard.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
It was earlier mentioned that you must adapt your note making to the presentation style of the
teacher. A primary school child will rarely have to take notes of the type that a university student is
expected to take on a daily basis, but it is a skill that needs to be acquired sooner rather than later.
Be ready to take notes the moment you enter class. The teacher’s 1 st sentence when he says
“Today we are going to …” is probably the most important sentence of the lesson but is missed by
most students as they’re still speaking to a friend or taking things from their bags.
If you have the material from which the teacher is working before you, taking notes might entail no
more than following along and underlining or highlighting when something is emphasized. Do make
notes when something additional is mentioned. - Listen when someone asks a question and make a
note of the teacher’s reply.
Don’t write down everything that is said, only make a brief note and elaborate on it as soon as you
get home, while the information is still fresh on your mind.
Note Taking Principles
• Get two A4 exercise books for notes. (One for class and one for home).
o Do not use the books for anything else.
o Work page for page in the first book, but
o Divide the second book according to your subjects.
• Write down the main ideas and important facts in book 1, while in class.
• Organise your notes at home by transferring it from book 1 to book 2.
o Do it as soon as possible after class, and work neatly.
o Eliminate everything that’s repeated.
o Write in your own words.
• Revise your notes in preparation for tests or exams.
o If the teacher emphasized something in class, it is likely to be in the test or exam.
• Make additional notes.
o If something is unclear so that you can ask the teacher about it the next day.
o If you disagree with something.
o Make references to the pages of the corresponding work in your textbook.
• Consider the completeness of your notes.
o Compare your notes with that of a friend.
o Add to your notes if something is lacking.
27

Facilitate the completion of Activity 10.
• You will notice that provision for only 10 questions is
made, but that you were required to compile 15. Mark the
questions you didn’t ask in this exercise as you will use those in Activity 22.
Do not simply leave out the last five questions, but rather leave every third
question for the latter activity.
• Allow the child to mark their own answers. Remember that the purpose of the
activity is not to embarrass anyone, but to show that it is easier to recall facts
if you made notes.
• Read through the passage slowly to make the note taking easier, but do not
repeat any part of the passage. The child must learn that it is impossible to
write down everything in detail and that notes must be short and to the point.
• Limit the passage to one page.
• Hand a copy of the passage to the child on completion of the exercise
28

Activity 10: Notes and Recall
Listen attentively to the passage that the parent is going to read and make
concise notes in the space provided. You are going to write a little test afterwards
to see how well you listened and took notes.
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Test
Question 1.
Question 2.
Question 3.
Question 4.
Question 5.
Question 6.
Question 7.
Question 8.
Question 9.
Question 10.
29

Session 10: Bad reading habits.
The child becomes aware of their own bad reading habits.
The child develops an appreciation for and discover the secrets of fast, accurate
reading.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 11.
Make copies of the sentences in the table below and stick them on
cardboard. Cut out the sentences and practice holding them up for
about two seconds without getting your fingers in the way.
In this session more time is spent on the information part and less on
the activities, so discus the information with your child and make them
aware of their individual reading habits.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Reading is a lifelong activity, regardless of whether you read the newspaper, your SMS’s, a letter,
or a novel. Reading is a skill and like all other skills can be developed and improved through
practice. It is of much more importance to read fast and effectively than to run fast or hit a ball well.
It is likely that you have picked up some of the following bad reading habits that you will have to
unlearn before you can become a good reader.
Bad Habit 1:
You read every word.
You began reading this way, so the habit is not through any fault of your own, but the problem is
that it causes you to miss the overarching ideas. Both your reading speed and your understanding
will improve if you read word groups instead of individual words.
Reading word groups is easy; as you’ve been applying the principle all along in any case. First you
were told how to read letters, then some sounds are represented by a group of letters and now you
simply read the word. You don’t read the separate syllables, do you?
Bad Habit 2:
You’re speaking each word in your mind.
When you try to “listen” to the words in your mind, you waste a lot of time as it takes much longer to
say a word than to understand it. This habit will limit your reading speed to about 250 words per
minute as that is the fastest speed at which an individual can talk.
• Teach yourself to look at a word without thinking about its pronunciation.
• Read bigger word groups as it makes “mind speak” impossible.
Bad Habit 3:
You focus on one word at a time.
Even someone with a limited eye span can see and recognize at least 4 or 5 words at a time. Once
you’ve unlearned the first two bad habits you can improve your reading speed by simply practicing
your eye span.
• Sit still and try to relax your facial muscles so that your gaze can relax as well. Now simply scan
the page in front of you and you’ll be surprised at how much you can remember.
30

• Start reading narrow columns and then broader ones until you can almost
read an entire line with one look.
Bad Habit 4:
You go back to parts already read.
Don’t allow yourself to reread parts of the sentence you’ve already read! Not even if you’re unsure if
you’ve read correctly or not. When you re-read parts of a sentence you lose the logical flow and
structure of the text and your understanding decreases. Rather read through a passage a second
time if you think you missed something.
• Read a passage aloud but keep going back to re-read part of the sentence. See if you can still
understand what you’re reading. Then read the passage normally and see how much easier it is
to understand.
• Use a pointer like your finger, a pencil or a ruler and pull it along under the line you are reading.
The faster you read the faster you’ll be able to pull the pointer, the faster you pull the pointer the
faster you’ll be able to read, the faster you read …
Bad Habit 5:
You’re not concentrating
It is important to read in a quiet environment, where there aren’t many things that can distract your
attention. Don’t try and read where a radio or TV is playing. If you claim that you can study better
when you’re listening to music, you’re probably guilty of bad habit no 2 – speaking the words in your
mind – as well.
Be careful of internal distractions as well. Forget about the argument you had earlier and stop
daydreaming! Eat before you start studying so that you won’t be distracted be hunger pains and
take regular breaks.
Read something of interest to you in a quiet environment and see for how long you can read before
your mind starts to wonder. Keep record of this time and try to improve on it in the following days. It’s
useless to plan for an hour-long study session if you can only concentrate for 20 minutes!
Bad Habit 6:
You read indiscriminately.
If you read every word, sentence, or paragraph from left to right and from top to bottom; you are
paying equal attention to all the material, while everything on the page is not equally important.
First scan the passage for headings, parts printed in bold or italic and listed or bulleted information,
as test and exam questions often come from these parts. If you understand the principle the writer
is trying to convey, then you don’t need to read the example or illustration as well.
Choose a passage with lots of information, but also with a lot of headings, lists, bold print etc.
Guess how long it would normally take you to read the passage and then only allow yourself half of
the time to read it focusing on the mentioned areas.
The secrets of speed reading
• Practice daily. It is better to practice improving your reading speed for ten minutes per day than
to practice for once a week for an hour.
• Start with simple passages that are easy to understand. A grade seven learner can start with
the prescribed books of a younger sibling.
• Everything is not to be speed read. The letter from your girlfriend or a piece of poetry is
supposed to be “heard” in your mind and must be read word for word.
• Use a reading card to improve your reading speed.
• Always read the structure of the text before you read the information.
31

• Keep record of your improvement. Set your cell phone alarm to go off after
five minutes and count the amount of words you’ve read afterwards. You
don’t have to count every day – once a week is sufficient.
Adapted from the ©Mind Tools Ltd web site.
I’m hungry.
John is sad.
2975
$43-89
Sally is reading
a book.
32

Peter has 84
marbles.
There’s a
mistake on
page 23.
33

Martha must
buy bread and
milk.
Bread costs
R5-43 and Milk
R6-30 per litre.
34

Could you read
all the
sentences, or
did you
struggle?
35

Facilitate the completion of Activity 11.
• The purpose of this exercise is to convince the child that
they already have the required eye span for speed
reading. Keep the phrases aloft for no more than two or three seconds.
Activity 11: Eye span exercises
The cause of all the bad reading habits we discussed is the fact that we don’t have enough trust in
the amazing abilities of the brain. You can observe a lot more than you think.
Do the following exercise a couple of times:
• Stretch your arms in front of you with your palms together.
• Move your arms to the side.
• Move your fingers and see how far you can pull your arms back while still seeing the fingers on
both hands move.
• Wow, what an eye span!
Your parent is going to keep a couple of cards with words, sentences, and numbers aloft, for about
two seconds each.
• Write what is on the cards in the space provided each time.
• Write everything in words, even the numbers.
Card 1.
Card 2.
Card 3.
Card 4.
Card 5.
Card 6.
Card 7.
Card 8.
Card 9.
Card 10.
36

Session 11: Reading faster.
The child realises that their ability to remember facts is not impaired when they read
faster.
The child masters some basic reading exercises.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 12.
Choose two appropriate passages that are not too difficult and compile a
list of 15 questions from it, trying to keep the quality of the questions of a
similar standard. It’s recommended that something from the grade 7/8
syllabus is chosen.
Try to make use of material that is printed in columns as it requires a
narrower eye span and will install confidence in the child.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
It might be necessary to recap the information from the previous two sessions.
Now that you are convinced of your amazing eye span and aware of all your bad reading habits,
there is only one way to improve your reading speed and that is by practicing.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 12.
• You will notice that provision for only 10 questions is made, but that you were
required to compile 15. Mark the questions you didn’t ask in this exercise as
you will use those in Activity 22. Do not simply leave out the last five
questions, but rather leave every third question for the latter activity. Allow
the child to mark their own answers.
• Remember that the purpose of the activity is not to embarrass anyone, but to
make the child comfortable with the speed-reading concept.
• Limit the passage to one page. If the child reads through the whole passage
in two minutes, they can simply start reading from the top again.
• Since the child will have to count the number of words, they’ve read
afterwards it’s a good idea to mark the 50th, 100th, 150th word etc. as the
child will often count incorrectly and then time is wasted with the recounting.
37

Activity 12: Speed reading exercises
Read the passage that you received with your hands behind your back.
After two minutes you will be told to stop – stop immediately and mark the place in the passage
where you got to.
Count the amount of words you read, divide it by 2 and fill the number in, in the space provided.
Passage 1 (1 st Read)
Passage 2
Passage 1 (2 nd Read)
Words: ___________ / 2 = _______ wpm
Words: ___________ / 2 = _______ wpm
Words: ___________ / 2 = _______ wpm
Now answer the questions relating to the passages you just read.
Question 1.
Question 2.
Question 3.
Question 4.
Question 5.
Question 6.
Question 7.
Question 8.
Question 9.
Question 10.
38

Session 12: Reading technique.
The child can make a reading card.
The child can use a reading card to improve their reading technique.
Parent: You need an A4 piece of cardboard, a ruler, scissors, and Cello Tape.
Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 13 &
14.
Choose two appropriate passages that are not too difficult and compile a
list of 15 questions from it, trying to keep the quality of the questions of a
similar standard. It’s recommended that something from the grade 7/8
syllabus is chosen.
Try to make use of material that is printed in columns as it requires a
narrower eye span and will install confidence in the child.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
The information component of this session is kept to a minimum.
The following tips will help to improve your eye span.
Tip 1: Sing songs from a hymnbook – It will force you to look up from the words while you’re
singing.
Tip 2: Keep the passage you are reading a bit further away from your eyes.
Tip 3: Make more flashcards like those we used in session 10 and test each other.
Facilitate the completion of Activities 13 & 14.
• Make a reading card like this:
o Divide each A4 card in 2 (Thus A5)
o Get the centre on one of the long sides and make a mark.
o Measure the width of the column that’s going to be read.
o Cut out a piece that’s 1 cm deep and just a bit longer than the column width,
o
keeping your mark as the centre.
Stick cello tape over the hole on both sides so that there’s no sticky stuff on
the outside
• You will notice that provision is made for only 10 questions, but that you were required to
compile 15. Mark the questions you didn’t ask in this exercise as you will use those in Activity
22. Do not simply leave out the last five questions, but rather leave every third question for the
latter activity.
• Allow the child to mark their own answers. Remember that the purpose of the activity is not to
embarrass anyone, but to make the child comfortable with the speed-reading concept and the
use of a reading card.
• Limit the passage to one page. If the child reads through the whole passage in two minutes,
they can simply start reading from the top again.
• Since the child will have to count the number of words, they’ve read afterwards it’s a good idea
to mark the 50 th , 100 th , 150 th word etc. as the child will often count incorrectly and then time is
wasted with the recounting.
39

Activity 13: Making a Reading Card
Follow your Parent’s instructions and make a Reading Card.
You will need the following.
• 1-piece white cardboard (A5)
• A Ruler
• A Pen
• A pair of Scissors
• “Cello tape”
Activity 14: Further Speed-Reading exercises with the aid of a Reading Card
Read the passage that you received with the aid of your reading card.
After two minutes you will be told to stop – stop immediately and mark the place in the passage
where you got to.
Count the amount of words you read, divide it by 2 and fill the number in, in the space provided.
Passage 1 (1 st Read)
Passage 2
Passage 1 (2 nd Read)
Words: ___________ / 2 = _______ wpm
Words: ___________ / 2 = _______ wpm
Words: ___________ / 2 = _______ wpm
Now answer the questions relating to the passages you just read. Use an additional page if needed.
Question 1.
Question 2.
Question 3.
Question 4.
Question 5.
Question 6.
Question 7.
Question 8.
Question 9.
Question 10.
40

Session 13: Identify and Organise.
The child can identify the main points and key words in a text.
The child can organise the main points and key words according to appropriate criteria.
.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 15.
Choose an appropriate passage that is not too difficult for the purpose of
the activity. It’s recommended that something from the grade 7/8
syllabus is chosen.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the
class. Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
The older you get and the further you are going to study, the thicker your textbooks will become and
the more important the ability to summarise the work will become.
The summary process has four phases namely:
• Identification
• Organisation
• Classification and
• Presentation
In this session you are going to learn how to identify main points and key words and how to choose
appropriate criteria against which to organise it. Classification and presentation will be discussed in
the next session.
Identification of main points and key words
The following is a handy method to follow when trying to identify main points and key words.
• Read attentively through the passage once without making any notes.
• Read it a second time and highlight all the main points so that you can identify the
underlying structure of the text.
• Read it a third time and underline the key words.
Organisation
If you’re not allowed to make marks/notes in your textbooks try one of the following methods:
• Copy the page.
o This could become expensive.
• Scan the page if you have access to a computer.
o This will make the marking of the main points and key words very easy.
o Only do it if you are very comfortable with the word processing program.
• Use a template like the one in Activity 15
o Redraw this one.
o Design your own on a computer.
o Work neatly if you decide to draw one by hand.
After pinning the main ideas, you might find that the order in which they appear doesn’t make
sense. If so reorganize them by rewriting them on a new page in a more logical order.
41

If you transfer information from one page to another throw the old page away so
that you don’t end up with a pile of paper.
Get a summary file as soon as possible. At this stage one file will probably be enough but
remember to include dividers so that you can clearly distinguish between the different subjects.
Compare your class notes with your summaries before the exam and add to the summaries as
needed so that you end up with only one set of papers to learn from.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 15.
Give a copy of the selected passage to your child and guide them as necessary.
42

Activity 15: Identification of main points and key words
Read through the text you received once attentively.
Read through it a second time and highlight the main points.
Rewrite them in your own words in the space provided.
Now underline the key words and write them in the space provided.
Tip: If you have more than five key words in a main point, see if you can’t identify a second main
point!
Heading / Theme
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Main Point 1
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Key Words
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Main Point 2
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Key Words
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Main Point 3
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Key Words
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Main Point 4
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Key Words
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
43

Session 14: Classify and present.
The child can group and weigh information.
The child can use lists, tables, diagrams, sketches, and anagrams to present summarized
information.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 16.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Classification
Classification entails the following:
• Choosing criteria
o Before you can group information, you must decide which criteria to use for the grouping.
For example: Common characteristics, form, colour, subject etc.
• The grouping of facts and ideas
o It may happen that after listing the facts under the criteria you chose that there are still
facts left over.
o If there are many additional facts, you must reconsider your criteria or add to it.
o If only a few facts remain, you can simply add a category that says, “Other facts.”
• The weighing (ranking) of facts and ideas
o
Within the created categories all the facts will not be of equal importance. Therefore, you
might have to weigh the relative importance of the facts and organise them as such or
just in a more logical order.
o Often you will find that the writer of the article repeated some of the facts and then you
can eliminate the repeated facts.
• The subgrouping of facts and ideas when too many facts appear in a category.
o
If you have more than 10 facts under a category it could make later memorization more
difficult, and it might be better to create sub-categories.
Presentation
After classifying the work, you must be able to present it in such a way that the memorizing and recalling
of the facts is made easier. You can use combinations of the following to present the summarized work.
• Lists
o
o
Page back and notice how many lists are used in this guide.
In some lists the order of the facts will not be important, but sometimes it’s very important
when you have to list the different steps in a process.
• Tables
o A table has rows and columns and is a very good summary presentation.
o Try to restrict your tables to one page or you will lose the overview you are trying to
create with a table.
• Diagrams
o
A diagram is used when there are clear and specific relationships between different
pieces of information.
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• Sketches
o You learned earlier that pictures are easier to remember than
words. You will also be able to understand better how something
works if you have a picture of that thing in front of you.
o You don’t have to be an artist to make use of sketches. If you understand the sketch, it’s
a good tool.
• Anagrams
o An anagram is the root of a mental keynote that will be discussed later. Normally the first
letters of the key words are rearranged to create an anagram.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 16.
Give the child a sheet of paper for rough work.
Activity 16: The classification and presentation of information
We are going to make a list of 40 words by taking turns and writing down the first word that comes to
mind each time.
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
Now classify the words according to any suitable criteria and present it in the form of a table.
Tip: Do your classification on rough and only draw the completed table on this page.
45

Session 15: Effective questioning.
The child can use questioning as a tool when summarising a passage.
The child is familiar with the 5WH method of questioning.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 17.
Choose an appropriate passage that is not too difficult for the purpose of the
activity - Preferably a piece of narrative prose from the grade 7/8 syllabus.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
By simply asking the right questions, using the 5WH method, you can already summarise a passage quite
easily. (There are 5 Windows in the House)
• Who are the people in the passage?
o Appearance
• Refers to the external features of the person.
• For example: She has blue eyes and a petite nose.
o Characteristics
• Refers to the inner features of the person.
• For example: She is friendly and sharing.
o Background
• It tells us something about the person’s history.
• For example: She is 12 and grew up on the farm.
o Motivation
• It gives us the reasons for the person’s behaviour.
• For example: She wants to prove that farm children are just as smart as city children.
• What is being described? or
o Features
• It tells us more about an object.
• For example: Her bicycle is red with a white saddle and blue peddles.
• What happened?
o The order of events
• An event or a series of events is described.
• For example: She was riding her bicycle, then a car turned in front of her, then she crashed
into a tree, then she ended up in hospital.
• Where did the events or actions take place?
o The physical environment
• The place where the events are taking place is mentioned or described.
• For example: The accident happened in the road that passes by the school.
• When did it happen?
o The date or time of the event
• This doesn’t always have to be expressed in terms of numbers.
• For example: The accident happened in the afternoon after school but before the debate
competition.
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• Why did it happen?
o The reason or cause of the event is given.
• The reason is sometimes given only later in passage.
• For example: If she didn’t end up in hospital, she would not have met her best friend.
• How did it happen? or
o Describes what happened in more detail.
• For example: She was daydreaming about the debate competition and wasn’t paying
attention to the cars at the side of the road.
• How does the thing that’s being described work?
o Describes the working of an object or a process.
• For example: A bicycle will change direction quickly if you suddenly pull on the handlebars.
It may happen that not all the questions are answered in a passage. In that case only fill in the information
that you do have.
This method is very handy if you’re summarising a story book.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 17.
Give a copy of the chosen passage to your child.
Guide them as necessary if they struggle with the exercise.
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Activity 17: Application of the 5WH method
Read the passage that your parent gave you attentively and then complete the
following table by using the 5WH method.
Who? Person 1
o Appearance
___________
Person 2
____________
Person 3
__________
o
Characteristics
o
Background
o
Motivation
What?
(What happened)
1. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
What?
(What is described)
o Features
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
48

Session 16: Creativity.
The child discovers that they are creative already.
The child use brainstorming and forced lateral thinking to improve their creativity.
The child can use creative thinking in problem solving.
Parent: You need a pen, a couple of dictionaries and some sheets of white paper.
Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 18 – 20.
Write down a couple of objects on folded pieces of paper before the time so
that there are more choices and less chance of repetition for Activity 18.
These creative exercises work better if more children or family members are
involved.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
All the information you need about creativity is the following.
1. You are creative already!
2. Creativity, like any other skill, can be developed.
3. The best way to develop your creativity is through creativity exercises.
LET’S DO SOME CREATIVITY EXERCISES!
Facilitate the completion of Activity 18, 19 and 20.
Do not provide too much guidance for these exercises. Remember that the purpose is for the
child to discover how creative they are, not their paren.
Make sure that all the words chosen for Activity 20 are both recognizable and acceptable. If
not, simply make the child choose another word.
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Activity 18: Brainstorming
Divide into groups of three or four.
Write the name of any object on a piece of paper, fold it and hand it to your parent. Each group will
randomly pick a piece of paper and write the object written on it, in the space provided.
____________________
Now list at least 50 uses for that object in your groups. Don’t debate the suggestions, but list all of them.
You only have about 10 minutes to complete the exercise.
1 18 35
2 19 36
3 20 37
4 21 38
5 22 39
6 23 40
7 24 41
8 25 42
9 26 43
10 27 44
11 28 45
12 29 46
13 30 47
14 31 48
15 32 49
16 33 50
17 34
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Activity 19: Forced Lateral Thinking
Randomly choose 2 more pieces of paper and write the objects written on it, in
the space provided.
____________________
____________________
Find at least 30 similarities between the two objects in the next 10 minutes.
1 16
2 17
3 18
4 19
5 20
6 21
7 22
8 23
9 24
10 25
11 26
12 27
13 28
14 29
15 30
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Activity 20: Creative Problem Solving
Choose the last piece of paper per group and formulate any problem relating to
that object. (If you’re struggling, ask the parent for help.)
Now open the dictionary and pick any known word wherever you open it. List the first 12 words selected
in this way in the space provided.
1 7
2 8
3 9
4 10
5 11
6 12
Now think of ways in which each of the selected words can help you to solve the problem.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
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Sessions 17 and 18: Play a board game.
The child can identify the use of and apply the High-Level Thinking Skills of logic, deduction,
analysis, and synthesis when playing a board game.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 21.
Choose an appropriate board game and familiarise yourself with the rules so
that you can explain them briefly to the child before starting to play.
Don’t choose something where a good general knowledge will advantage
anyone, but rather choose something that requires both luck and skill, like
any of the following:
o Monopoly
o Careers
o Penny Coat Lane
o Labyrinth
Board games are best when played by between 4 and 6 players.
Child:
They need to bring excitement and a positive attitude.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
The further you progress academically the more important the application of high-level thinking skills
becomes. Like all other skills, high-level thinking skills can and must be developed. The high level
thinking skills are:
• Logic:
o
o
Identifying the correct sequence of cause and effect.
For Example: In a chess game there is a reason (cause) for every move and every move
will require a different response (effect) from your opponent.
• Deduction:
o Actively changing the direction of your thoughts based on logic.
o For Example: A chess player will be planning the whole time, but when his opponent
makes an unexpected move, he will have to abandon the plan he had and make another
one.
• Analysis:
o The critical investigation of something or
o Breaking the whole down into smaller parts.
o
For Example: A Grade 7 pupil needs to study 50 pages in preparation for the SS exam
and it looks like an overwhelming task. After analysing the work, he discovers that he has
to study 3 Geography and 2 History chapters of about 10 pages each. Now the task
seems a lot easier.
• Synthesis:
o Forming a “big picture” from bits or parts of information
o
For Example: Knowing the rules of soccer doesn’t turn you into a good player. A game is
always more than the combining of the rules.
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Facilitate the completion of Activity 21.
Make sure that the child always keeps to the rules of the board
game.
Activity 21: Board Game
All the high-level thinking skills are developed by playing a good board game.
• Firstly, you need to combine all the rules before you can start to play. (Synthesis)
• Secondly you must consider your options all the time and do certain things first before you can do
others. (Logic)
• You must consider what your opponents are trying to do, because if any other player achieves his
goal before you do, then you have lost the game. For example, a move that is to your advantage
might cause your opponent to move closer to his objective and so you decide to make a less
obvious move. (Analysis)
• There are certain things in a game over which you don’t have any control, like the number on the
die, and so you must change your plans the entire time. (Deduction)
Follow the instructions of your parent and play the board game. You must still try to win, but also try and
see if you can identify the use of the high-level thinking skills during the game.
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Sessions 19: Remember to forget.
The child understands that forgetting is a natural process that they can use in their studies.
The child understands that it is important to start your studies well ahead of time.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 22.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
You are probably wondering how forgetting is going to help you in your studies? Forgetting is a natural
process and if you understand how the process works, then you will also understand why you are having
difficulty to recall information in an exam that you thought you knew.
According to the learning table we only remember about 20% of what we read. The problem is that there
is no way to know which 20% you are going to remember and which 80% you are going to forget, ahead
of time.
It takes about 9 hours for this process to occur and therefore you need to give yourself time to forget. Say
you read through a piece of work in the morning and continue with your daily tasks. If you then read
through the same work that evening, you will enhance the 20% that you remember from the morning and
master another 20% of the remaining work.
The following table indicates how many times you need to read through a piece of work before mastering
it.
Readings 20% Added Effect
1 20% 20%
2 16% 36%
3 13% 49%
4 10% 59%
5 8% 67%
6 7% 74%
7 5% 79%
8 4% 83%
9 3% 86%
10 3% 89%
11 2% 91%
12 2% 93%
To pass you will therefore need to read through the work at least 3 times and hope for the best, but if you
want a distinction you need to go through the work at least 7 times. If you’re working for an 85% you will
have to read through the work 9 times.
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Since you need to give yourself nine hours to forget it is only effective to read
through a piece of work twice a day, nine hours apart. So, if you want a
distinction you must read through the material eight times and will have to start
your studies at least 4 days before an exam.
Fortunately, you don’t have to count on the readings only, for if you pay attention in class and you do your
summaries regularly you will have a lot less to read and you would need to read through it fewer times.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 22.
• Choose any of the 10 questions that you didn’t ask in Activities 12 and 14 as your first
five questions for this exercise. Use the 5 questions you didn’t ask in Activity 10 as the
following five questions and then choose any 5 questions from Activities 10, 12 and 14 you
asked before as your last five questions.
• What will typically happen is that the child will do worse in those questions where they
were only required to read through the work, than those they summarized or answered
before.
• Allow the child to mark their own questions. Remember that the purpose of the activity is
not to embarrass anyone, but to indicate that we naturally forget some of the things we
already learned after a period.
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Activity 22: Information Test
You are now going to answer 15 questions from readings you did previously in
this course: 5 questions on work you only read, 5 on work you read and
summarized and 5 questions you already answered.
Question 1.
Question 2.
Question 3.
Question 4.
Question 5.
Question 6.
Question 7.
Question 8.
Question 9.
Question 10.
Question 11.
Question 12.
Question 13.
Question 14.
Question 15.
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Sessions 20: Write it out to recall it.
The child’s attitude towards writing out work improves.
The child can use the rewriting of selected work as an effective summary method.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 23.
Recap on the work that was done in Sessions 8 and 9 so that you can
assure the child is on the right track when they complete Activity 23.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Writing out of work can be an effective study method, but unfortunately most students associate it with
punishment.
Many teachers use this technique in the classroom. They project an image with the information on a
screen and then expect you to copy the work in your workbooks.
Tip:
When a teacher goes through the trouble of preparing a slide, you can be sure that the information is
already a summary of work you are required to master! So don’t daydream but copy the work from the
board or screen as neatly and accurately as possible so that you can file the work that same afternoon in
your summary file.
This method is not an example of active involvement and is more comparable with “looking at pictures”
and so you can only expect to remember about 30% of work copied in this way. Let’s look at another
table to illustrate the effect of writing the work out.
Copy
30% of Added Effect
Opportunities the work
1 (in the class) 30% 30%
2 21% 51%
3 15% 66%
4 13% 79%
5 6% 85%
So, if you are working for 85% and you had the opportunity to copy the work in class you will have to write
it out again another 4 times at home and start studying at least two days before the test or exam.
It is sometimes possible to summarise a piece of work by simply rewriting the most important points and
leaving out the rest.
For example: Here’s a summary of the work we did in Session 7. The unimportant parts were deleted and
in some cases the word order was changed, or a punctuation mark was changed to make it easier to
read. All the changes are indicated in italic writing.
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Passive Listening
It is important to have a good listening mind-set.
You must unlearn bad listening habits.
Adhere to good listening principles.
Mind-set
• Decide that the lesson will be valuable.
• Get all the information before you respond.
• Consider difficult material as a challenge.
• Respect the speaker.
• Show interest in your teachers.
Good Listening Habits
• Concentrate on the words and the message.
• Don’t allow unknown words to intimidate you.
• Identify the “Big Ideas“.
• Be attentive.
Principles
• Always listen with a pen in hand.
• Adapt your note taking system.
• Use the difference between thinking & talking pace.
• Distinguish between facts, opinions, feelings, needs, expectations and meaning.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 23.
• Guide the child if they find the activity difficult.
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Activity 23: Literal Summaries
Sum up the work we did in Sessions 8 and 9 by using the same method that
was used in the example above. (Try to do it in the provided space only.)
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Sessions 21: Visualise to remember.
The child can use visualization to recall facts.
The child can apply the principles of visualisation to improve their own visualizing skills.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 24.
Choose a good story that can easily be visualized for this exercise and keep
the reading to about one page.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
You remember more when you see a picture than when you just read. Furthermore, you remember a lot
more when you experience something than when you are only told about what happened. For example,
you can be told about the sea or see a thousand pictures but will only understand what the fuss is about
once you experience it.
There is however one way in which you can visit exotic places and faraway countries, without getting on a
plane and flying there and that is by using your imagination.
Using your imagination can also help you in your studies!
People’s ability to visualise differs, but everybody can learn how to improve this ability by applying the
following principles.
• Relax; stress is not helpful when you’re building images in your mind.
• Build clear images.
• Use all your senses.
o
Don’t only see things in your mind, but also hear, smell, taste and touch things if it is
possible.
• Give your images colour
• Add movement.
• Exaggerate – It’s your thoughts in any case!
Facilitate the completion of Activity 23.
• Read the story slowly and clearly so that the child will be able to visualise easily.
• Afterwards ask them to repeat the story in their own words.
• If you involve more children, you can let one carry on where the previous one finished
until the entire story is told.
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Activity 24: Building Images
No paper is needed for this exercise. Your parent is going to read you a story.
Don’t just listen to the facts but create mind images as he/she reads, and you will
discover that it is much easier to recall the facts later.
Listen carefully and build clear images as you will get the opportunity afterwards to retell the story in your
own words.
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Sessions 22: Keys to unlock memory.
The child can change an anagram into a memory key.
The child can use memory keys to recall a list of facts.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 25 & 26.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
In Session 14 we noticed that memory keys originate from anagrams. An anagram is a word that is
created through the rearrangement of the first letter of several words.
Example: Take the principles for visualisation that was used in the Previous Session.
• Relax; stressing is not helpful when you’re building images in your mind.
• Build clear images.
• Use all your senses.
• Give your images colour
• Add movement.
• Exaggerate – It’s your thoughts in any case!
The 1 st step, as with all summaries, is to identify the key words.
• Relax
• Images
• Senses
• Colour
• Movement
• Exaggerate
The 1 st letters of these words are R I S C M E, but as there is not such a word as “riscme”, we will have to
rearrange the letters.
MC RISE is more useful (As in “The MC asks the guests to RISE“) MC RISE is then a useful anagram,
but must now be linked to the subject, in this case “visualisation“ to turn it into a memory key.
A good memory key might then be: I can visualise myself as the MC, asking the people to RISE.
By remembering this sentence, preferably by creating a mind picture, it will be easy to write down the
principles of visualization. Simply write down the first letter of the words MC RISE underneath each other
and complete the key words.
Movement
Colour
Relax
Images
Senses
Exaggerate
Remember that a memory key will only work once you have already summarized the work!
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If all your keywords start with a consonant, it will be difficult to build an anagram.
There are two ways to solve this problem.
• Also use the 2 nd letter in the word if that is a vowel or
• Look for a synonym in a dictionary.
It’s good to use an anagram in a memory key if you need to list the features or characteristics of
something, but another method will be needed if you need to recall something in a specific order.
A common phrase to remember the order of the planets is My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us
Noodles
In this phrase the first letter in each word of the sentence represents a planet namely, Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The problem with this type of phrase is that they only make sense if you know their purpose beforehand.
One solution would be to first use a memory key to remember the list and then use the phrase to
remember the order, or alternatively one item on the list could be replaced with “the real thing” in the
phrase, so that you will know what the phrase is about.
Example: “My Very Earthly Mother Just Served Us Noodles.”
Facilitate the completion of Activities 25 and 26.
• The following memory key can be presented as the solution to Activity 25 if the child is
unable to come up with a solution themselves.
o “PAY 10 MACHO men from NY to name the world’s longest rivers “.
• The following phrase can be presented as the solution to Activity 26 if the child is unable
to come up with a solution themselves.
o “Not All Young Men Yodel, but Huang He Observed Peter Could Accomplish it”.
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Activity 25: Anagrams in memory keys
Here’s a list of the world’s 10 longest rivers. See if you can design a memory key
that will help you to remember them in any order.
Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi, Yenisei, Huang He, Ob, Parana, Congo, and Amur
Activity 26: Phrases in memory keys
Now, design a phrase that will help you to remember them in the correct order.
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Sessions 23: Hook to remember.
The child understands that it is easier to recall new information if it can be linked to existing
knowledge.
The child can use a standardised hook to link new information to existing knowledge.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 27 & 28.
Draw up 2 or 3 simple shopping lists of 10 items each.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Do you need to study a class picture with the names of all your class mates every morning before you go
to school because you fear that you will forget your friend’s names? I hope not!
Some knowledge is so deeply imbedded in our long-term memories that we don’t have to take any
specific actions to remember them. It is always easier to remember new information if we can link it to this
imbedded knowledge.
The better we know something, the easier it will be to link new information to it. The idea with Hook
System is that we make use of some very well known, standardised hooks to link new information to.
The folowing Hook Systems can be used:
• The number-shape system
o Associate a shape with a number.
o Visualise the shape.
o Hook the new information to the shape
o For example:
• The number 2 looks like a duckling
• I visualise a little yellow duckling with soft fluffy feathers
• The 2 nd item on my shopping list is milk.
• So now I visualise the duckling swimming in milk.
• The number-sound system
o Associate an object that sounds like a number, with that number
o Visualise that object
o Hook the new information to that object
o For example:
• Two sounds like shoe
• I visualise a black leather shoe
• The second item on my shopping list is a bread knife.
• So now I visualise myself cutting through the shoe with a bread knife.
• The room system
o New information is hooked to known objects in my room
o For example:
• If I lie on my bed the 5 th object, I always see clockwise is my chair.
• The 5 th item on my shopping list is bread.
• So now I visualise bread lying on my chair.
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• The alphabet system
o Associate each letter of the alphabet with an object.
o Hook the new information to that object
o For Example:
• B stands for bicycle
• The 6 th item on my list is orange juice.
• So now I visualise riding my bike and slipping on orange juice.
Facilitate the completion of Activities 27 and 28.
The following hooks can be used for the number-shape system but should only be
suggested if the child is unable to come up with suitable hooks themselves.
1 TV-antenna or Lamp Pole 2 Duck or Swann
3 Baby Face or Bird Flying 4 Triangular Flag or Sailboat
5 Snake or Gallows 6 Lasso or Golf Club
7 Ostrich Neck or Boomerang 8 Racecourse or Glasses
9 Helium Balloon or Basketball Pole 10 Skinny and Fat Person
Allow the child some time to come up with their own number-shape systems before you give them the first
shopping list.
The following hooks can be used for the number-sound system but should only be suggested if the child
is unable to come up with suitable hooks themselves.
One: Sun or Nun
Two: Shoe or Crew
Three: Bee or Tree
Four: Dore or Shore
Five: Hive or Clive
Six: Sticks or Bricks
Seven: Heaven or Devon
Eight: Bate or Skate
Nine: Wine or Swine
Ten: Hen or Pen
Allow the child some time to come up with their own number-shape systems before you give them the first
shopping list.
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Activity 27: Using a number-shape system.
Your parent is going to give you a 10-item shopping list. Remember the items on
the shopping list in the right order by hooking the items on the list to visualized
objects that look like the item’s number.
Step 1: Visualise the hook you intend to use.
Step 2:
Step 3:
Visualise the item on the shopping list attached to the hook.
Write all the items on the shopping list down in the correct order when your parent tells you to
do so. (You will have to listen to the entire list before you will be allowed to start writing.)
Activity 28: Using a number-sound system.
Your parent is going to give you a second 10 item shopping list. Remember the items on the shopping list in the
right order by hooking the items on the list to visualized objects that sound like the item’s number.
Follow the same steps that you did in the previous exercise but come up with different hooks.
Remarks:
If you found Activity 27 easier or enjoyed it more, you are most likely a visual learner. If you found Activity 28
easier or enjoyed it more, you are most likely an auditory learner.
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Sessions 24: Links and diagrams.
The child identifies the relationship between portions of information by linking them.
The child can apply linking techniques to diagrams.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activities 29 - 31.
To give proper guidance to a child doing Activity 31 you will have to draw up a
simple diagram for the subject “Social Sciences” yourself.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Linking also involves the connection of new information to existing information.
For example: Here is a list of the seven wonders of the ancient world:
The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of
Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the
Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Step 1: You visualise a big pyramid.
Step 2: You visualise a garden.
Step 3: You link the two by visualizing the garden hanging from the pyramid.
Step 4: You discard the pyramid and visualise a huge statue.
Step 5: You link the garden and the statue by visualizing the statue in the garden (And so you continue)
Remark:
The images that you visualise for the first and last item on your list must be bigger or more colourful than the
others to make them more pronounced.
Diagrams
Diagrams are in fact only a wider application of the link system. Although building images are less important
when we draw a diagram, it still entails the connecting of information.
I’m sure you’ve discovered that a part of the work you do each year in each subject, is only a repetition of the
work that you did the previous year.
New work doesn’t simply fall from the sky, but is always built on work that you did in the previous year. There is
also a presupposition that you in fact did master the work of the previous year.
Just think of a subject like mathematics: It would be completely useless if you try to do advanced calculations
when you haven’t even mastered the basic calculations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as
well as the order of operations.
The Linking Techniques can be mixed with the Hook Systems for a more effective diagram. When you enclose
the concepts you can use the shape of those objects you visualised in the previous session.
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Example
Here is a simple diagram that summarises the content of this study skills course.
Exams
Process
Planning
Memorising
Effective
Study
Listening
Summarising
Reading
Notes
The diagram can now be combined with the alphabet system by not using rectangular frames but instead
“Effective Study” can be framed by an Apple, “Proses” in a Book, “Planning” in a block of Cheese etc
Facilitate the completion of Activities 29 to 31.
Activity 29: Using a Linking System
According to the website “http://www.easy-quick-weight-loss-tips.com” the following is a list of the top 15 fat
burning foods to eat.
1. Almonds
2. Beans
3. Spinach
4. Low-fat milk
5. Oatmeal
6. Eggs
7. Chicken
8. Peanut butter
9. Olive oil
10. Whole grain bread
11. Whey powder
12. Raspberries
13. Green Tea
14. Vinegar
15. Apples
Memorise these foods in the order given by making use of the linking system.
TIP: Visualizing the chicken emerging from the egg would be good, but the chicken laying the egg would
not, as you would confuse the order.
Activity 30: Link Game
The game works like this: The 1 st person starts by saying: I am going on holiday and I’m taking a
_________ (object) with. The next person must repeat what the previous person(s) took along and must
add something. The list will get longer and longer, and a person drops out as soon as he/she forgets
something or names it out of order. The better you can link, the better you will do in this game.
Activity 31: Creative Graphics
Draw a simple graphical figure to present the subject “Social Sciences“ (or another subject of your choice).
Start with the most basic information by asking; “What is this subject really about?”
Connect additional information to the simple first concepts by drawing lines and arrows. Use different
shapes to enclose the concepts.
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Sessions 25: Exam Stress.
The child grasps the importance of optimal academic achievement during the exam.
The child can reduce exam stress through the application of certain basic principles and doing
some simple relaxation exercises.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 32.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Always remember that a degree of stress during an exam or cycle test is both normal and necessary.
Create the required tension by reminding yourself of the importance of each paper.
• You probably write one test per subject each quarter.
o This test will be written in less than two hours,
o Yet it contributes 50% of your marks for the quarter.
• At the end of the year, you will write only one paper per subject.
o This paper can make up as much as 75% of your final mark.
• It is of no use to work hard during the year and then do badly in your final exam.
o Then all your hard work would have been for nothing.
• Your marks at the end of each school phase could determine whether some of the better high
schools will accept you or not.
• Good marks could result in your parents getting some money off your school fees.
o That means more pocket money for you or a better birthday gift!
If you get too tense however; you will not be able to study properly and you will make unnecessary
mistakes in the exam. The following action will reduce exam stress.
• Know exactly when you will be writing what and where you will be writing it a month in advance.
• Know exactly what you will write about in each subject at least two weeks in advance.
• Draw up an exam and study roster on which you indicate your study sessions, the physical exams,
other activities, and relaxation times.
• Keep changes to your regular routine to a minimium during the exams.
• Get enough sleep and keep to your existing sleeping pattern.
• Make sure that you know all your work at least in part at least two weeks before the exam so that you
don’t have to learn any new work during the exam but can only concentrate on memorizing the work
you already know.
• Consult the test papers you wrote throughout the year.
o About 50% of the questions will reappear in the exam.
• Do some relaxation exercises when you get too stressed.
• Plan to do more study sessions that are short, rather than a few long ones.
• Form a study group that gets together for a couple of hours before each paper
o Compare notes.
o Encourage each other.
o Work through a couple of old papers together.
TIP: Study groups only work if all the members of the group have already prepared individually.
• Pray, or do a short relaxation exercise just before you write.
• Go through the paper thoroughly before you start writing and make sure that you know exactly what
is expected.
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Facilitate the completion of Activity 32.
Activity 32: Relaxation Exercises
When you are tense it doesn‘t only effect your brain but also your muscles. The following exercises should
help you to relax both. Do these exercises regularly so that you are comfortable with them when the exam
starts.
Exercise 1
• Sit in a comfortable position, with your eyes closed.
• Take a deep breath and hold it for about 5 counts.
• Exhale slowly (Repeat a couple of times)
• Think of a place where you always feel relaxed, safe and calm.
o For example, the sea, a campfire, a beautiful garden etc.
o If you don‘t have such a place, imagine one.
• See yourself in this place and take in your surroundings.
• Enjoy the moment.
• Count slowly to five and open your eyes.
Describe that place in detail so that you will be able to recall it more easily in the future.
Exercise 2
• Sit in a comfortable position, with your eyes closed.
• Take a deep breath and hold it for about 5 counts.
• Exhale slowly (Repeat a couple of times)
• Tense the muscles in your feet for about 5 counts and relax them.
• Tense the muscles in your legs for about 5 counts and relax them.
• Do the same with your buttocks, abdominal, back, chest, shoulders, neck, and arm muscles.
• End with your facial muscles
• Repeat the exercise several times as needed.
Prayer
Write down a prayer, with which you are comfortable, in the space provided so that you can pray in the
exam room, before the start of the exam or paper.
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Sessions 26: Exam planning
The child can draw up an effective examination roster.
The child can plan the answering of exam questions well.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 33.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Planning for an exam has two parts. Firstly, you must plan how you are going to study for the exam and
secondly you have to plan exactly how you are going to answer the questions after receiving the paper in
the exam room.
In the previous session I mentioned that it is not a good idea to change your routine too much before the
exam. The reason for this is that your body needs at least a week to adapt to a new routine.
The good news is that you will be able to use the regular study roster that you compiled at the beginning of
this program for your exam preparation as well.
• Remember that more frequent, shorter sessions are better than a few longer sessions.
• Remember that you must allow yourself time to forget.
• Remember to indicate your other activities on the roster as well.
• Try to stick to your regular routine as far as possible.
Regarding the planning of your answers in the exam, keep to the following guidelines:
• Make sure that your paper is complete
• Write your name on the question paper and answer sheet as soon as you get them.
• Read through the entire paper before you start answering any questions.
• Read through the instructions carefully and underline the key words in the question.
• Look at the mark allocation for each question.
• Use the mark allocation as a guide to establish the amount of time you have for each question.
• Answer the question you know best first.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 33.
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Activity 33: Examination Roster
Draw up and examination study roster with reference to the following case study.
Suppose that your exam will be written over a two-week period.
You must attend class until the Thursday before the exam.
You get only one day (The Friday before the exam) for additional preparation.
Your summaries are done, and you must only learn for the exams.
In the 1 st week you will write the following subjects:
• Second Language on the 1 st Monday,
• English on the 1 st Wednesday and
• Mathematics on the 1 st Thursday.
In the 2 nd week you will write the following subjects:
• Economic and Management Sciences on the Monday,
• Human and Social Sciences on the Tuesday and
• Natural Sciences on Thursday.
Now complete the examination roster on the next page and make sure that you learn at least 4 hours per
subject. You can not get up before 05:00 and you must be in bed by 22:30.
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Exam Study roster of ____________________________
Prep Week 1 Prep Week 2
Time Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
05:00
05:30
06:00
06:30
07:00
07:30
08:00
08:30
09:00
09:30
10:00
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
13:00
13:30
14:00
14:30
15:00
15:30
16:00
16:30
17:00
17:30
18:00
18:30
19:00
19:30
20:00
20:30
21:00
21:30
22:00
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Sessions 27: Answering questions.
The child realises the importance of accurate question identifiaction.
The child can describe, evaluate, and compare effectively.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 34.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
When you take an exam, it is very important that you know exactly what you are required to do. Even if you
know the work like the back of your hand and you misunderstand the question you will not do well at all.
Here is a list of the verbs that commonly occur in exams. Depending on your grade you will encounter only
some or all of these.
Action word
Describe
Discuss
Define
Evaluate
Identify
Illustrate
Interpret
Comment
Compare
Criticize
List
Name
Distinguish
Requirement
Write the properties of the matter or object in a logical structured way
down. Use full sentences.
Examine all aspects of an issue in a critical way. List, for example, the positive
and negative factors.
Give a brief, precise description of something. Definitions should normally be
given exactly as you have learned.
Give a judgment or opinion about something that is based on sound criteria.
Give only the main features of a matter or thing.
Give examples, a sketch or a graphical representation along with your
description to clarify what you described.
Explain the meaning of something in plain language and give a practical
application.
Give your own personal conviction or interpretation.
Indicate the differences and similarities between two views or things.
Indicate the positive and negative aspects and then give your opinion on the
matter.
Name, give attributes or itemise briefly in a specific order.
Name, give attributes or itemise briefly in any order.
Clearly indicate the differences between different things or matters.
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Investigate
Analyse
Summarise
Outline
Explain
Evaluate and critisize different aspects of a bigger issue.
Break something down in smaller parts or elements and then discuss each in
detail.
Only indicate the most important aspects
Give the information in a short, but in a logical and structured way.
Elaborate on a list of things so that it will be clearer. Give an example or draw a
picture if necessary
Facilitate the completion of Activity 34.
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Activity 34
Describe one of your friends in detail without naming the person.
Evaluate your school’s student leader’s model.
Compare two high schools in your area with each other so that you and your parents can make the most
informed choice regarding the school you should be attending.
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Sessions 28: Building vocabulary.
The child realises the value of a good vocabulary.
The child investigates methods to increase their vocabulary.
Parent:
Child:
Get some family friendly magazines and one or two dictionaries.
Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 35.
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
Sometimes you are well prepared, but then you encounter a word in the exam that you haven‘t seen before
and suddenly you don’t know what to answer. The reason for this is most likely a poor vocabulary.
Anybody with a good vocabulary will appear intelligent and will therefore attract other intelligent people.
Get a notebook in which you can write down unknown words. Whenever you encounter a new or unknown
word write it down and look up the meaning of the word in a dictionary as soon as you can. Try to identify
five new words a day and in a year your vocabulary will grow with about 1800 words.
If you do this for five years, you will know 9000 words more than your peers and are far more likely to get
the top job you desire. If you continue with the habit throughout your life, you can learn a new language
using this system every two to three years.
There are also informal ways to improve your vocabulary, like playing word games or completing crossword
puzzles, but these activities are time-consuming and addictive and should rather be kept for weekends and
holidays.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 35.
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Activity 35
Page through the magazine, that you will receive from your parent, and see how
quickly you can identify 10 unknown words.
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Write them down in the space below.
Ask your classmates if they know the meaning.
Look up the meaning of the words in a dictionary and write them down next to the word.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
If you still have time left after completing this activity you can start with one of the crossword puzzles in one
of the magazines.
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Sessions 29: Studying for math.
The child accepts that mathematics is a subject that can be studied like any other subject.
The child can summarise mathematics effectively.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 36.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
One of the biggest obstacles in mathematics is that children often struggle with the language of maths. As
indicated in the previous two sessions; you have to understand the question before you can answer it
correctly. For example, you might be asked “to factorize”, “to simplify” or “to solve.” If you do not understand
what is required there is no chance that you will get to the write answer.
Most children think incorrectly that mathematics is a subject that is simply understood by some and not by
others. The truth is, however, that mathematics, like any other subject, has a theory component and an
application component. You must master the theory before you will be able to apply the knowledge
successfully.
Go through your math textbook and identify all the theory.
Write it down cursively in a notebook, where you have divided each page in three columns:
• Write down the concept in the 1 st column.
• Write the cursory explanation in the 2 nd column and
• Give an example in the 3 rd column.
For Example
Concept Explanation Example
Integers Positive, Zero and Negative … -100 …0 …100 …
Adding Fractions 1. Write it down 3½ + 2¾
2. Improper fraction = 7/2 + 11/4
3. LCM = 14/4 + 11/4
4. Add = 25/4
5. Mixed fraction = 6¼
This type of summary has a dual purpose.
• It gives you an overview of all the work that you did.
• It serves as a handy reference guide whenever you get stuck.
Just remember what we said on Day 1.
• The learning content is designed for the average learner.
• There is nothing in the learning content of any subject you cannot master.
Remember as well that these types of summaries must be done before you start studying for the exam.
Tip:
Review the basic mathematical concepts regularly. You will battle with maths for as long as you haven‘t
mastered the basic concepts.
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Facilitate the completion of Activity 36.
Activity 36: Basic Mathematical Concepts
Complete the table by giving an explanation and/or example for the basic concept in column 1.
Concept Explanation Example
Symbols = means equal 1+1 = 2
< means … …
> means … …
≤ means …
…
≥ means …
…
Order of Operations (18/3) x 2 + 10
Brackets 1st
= …
Multiplication and Division 2 nd
= …
Adding and Subtracting 3rd
= …
Calculations with 0 0 x another number is … …
0 / another number is … …
Another number / 0 is …
…
Calculations with 1 Any number divided by 1 is … …
…
(x + y) / (x + y) = …
Fractions The numerator is … …
The denominator is …
…
Simplify
x and ÷ of the numerator and the divisor
with the same number doesn’t
change the value
900/800 = …
Add and subtract Identify the HCF 8/3 + 5/2
or Establish the LCM
Multiply numerators with the same number = …
Add
= …
Simplify
Positive & Negative Numbers without a sign is … 1 = +1
The sum of numbers with different signs is
calculated by subtracting the smaller
number from the larger number and giving it
the larger one’s sign
Positive x Positive = …
Positive x Negative = …
Negative x Negative = …
Solving equations Question: Determine x 2x/3 – x/2 + x = 4 + x
Multiply throughout with the LCM
Simplify to eliminate fractions
Write all unknown terms on one side of the
equation
Combine the unknown terms
Divide each side with the constant
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Possible solution to Activity 36: Basic Mathematical Concepts
Concept Explanation Example
Symbols = means equal 1+1 = 2
< means smaller 2 < 3
> means larger 5 > 3
≤ means smaller and equal x ≤ 0
≥ means larger and equal y ≥ 0
Order of Operations (18/3) x 2 + 10
Brackets 1st = 6 x 2 +10
Multiplication and Division 2 nd = 12 + 10
Adding and Subtracting 3rd = 22
Calculations with 0 0 x another number is 0 0 x 555 = 0
0 / another number is 0 0/456 = 0
Another number / 0 is impossible 0/0 ≠ 1
Calculations with 1 Any number divided by 1 is that number (2x + 3y)/1 = 2x + 3y
Any number divided by itself is 1 (x + y) / (x + y) = 1
Fractions The numerator is above the line 4/3
The denominator is below the line 4/3
Simplify
x and ÷ of the numerator and the divisor
with the same number doesn’t
change the value
900/800 = 9/8
Both were divided by 100
Add and subtract Identify the HCF 8/3 + 5/2
or Establish the LCD
Multiply numerators with the same number = 16/6 + 15/6
Add = 31/6
Simplify = 5 1 /6
Positive & Negative Numbers without a sign is positive 1 = +1
The sum of numbers with different signs is
calculated by subtracting the smaller
number from the larger number and giving it
the larger one’s sign
400 - 500 = -100
Positive x Positive = Positive 8 x 8 = 64
Positive x Negative = Negative 8 x (-8) = -64
Negative x Negative = Positive -8 x -8 = 64
Solving equations Question: Determine x 2x/3 – x/2 + x = 4 + x
Multiply throughout with the LCM (2x/3) x6 – (x/2) x6 +6x =
24 + 6x
Simplify to eliminate fractions
4x – 3x + 6x = 24 + 6x
Write all unknown terms on one side of the 4x - 3x + 6x - 6x = 24
equation
Combine the unknown terms x = 24
Divide each side with the constant
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Sessions 30: Spelling and essays.
The child can learn spelling by using the card method.
The child can write a proper essay.
Parent: Read through the information and become familiar with Activity 37.
Child:
They will need their files, pencils, and erasers.
This information is found in the children’s workbook. Become familiar with it before the class.
Expand as necessary and use personal experiences to complement the material.
The ability to spell corrrectly and write good essays is not just important skills to master for language
studies, but for all subjects.
The higher you progress in school, the more essays you will be expected to write. Long questions in all
subjects require the writing of an essay.
Spelling
Get another notebook like the one in which you write unknown words and write all the words that you spell
incorrectly during the day in it. Only write them in after you checked the correct spelling in a dictionary.
When you get to about 25 words, make use of the card method to memorise the correct spelling of these
words. The method works as follows:
• Write each word on one side of a separate card.
• Go through the cards trying to memorise the correct spelling of each word.
• Shuffle the cards and give them to someone to ask in the new order. Write down the words as
you think they should be spelled.
• Put the cards containing the words you spelled correctly away and go through the rest again.
• Repeat the exercise for the words you spelled incorrectly.
TIP: You can also use the card method to study definitions.
Essays
It is extremely important to plan your essay before writing the final product.
A 300-word essay will always look like this.
• An introductory paragraph of about 5 lines
• Three or four content paragraphs of 6 or 7 lines each
• A concluding paragraph of about 5 lines.
Remember to write on one topic only.
Your topic should be clear from the introductory paragraph.
Your content paragraphs must link with your introductory paragraph.
In the concluding paragraph your ideas must come together, and you must draw a conclusion.
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Example:
Topic:
Introduction:
Paragraph 1:
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 3:
Paragraph 4:
Conclusion:
My mother
My mother is the most wonderful woman in the world.
• Description • Why do I say so.
She does a lot for her child.
• Example 1 • Example 2
She works very hard.
• Example 1 • Example 2
She always put the interests of others first.
• Example 1 • Example 2
She loves animals.
• Example 1 • Example 2
I am lucky to have a mom like her
TIP: Keep your sentences short and so reduce the risk of making grammatical errors.
Facilitate the completion of Activity 37.
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Activity 37: Essay
Write an essay on the topic, “My mother” by expanding on the example given on
the previous page.
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