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When students are on a break, they are no longer working their brain at full capacity all day, every day. The brain acts just like a muscle, and needs regular exercise to keep working at its best.Just as when you stop working out at the gym for a few weeks and you drop back your fitness levels, it takes time to get back to the level you were once at. Doing low level study throughout the break allows your teenager to keep their brain active and helps stay accustomed to working on problems, meaning when they return to school, they’ll be the first in their class to pick up where they left off.

 Routine, not willpower

The first time a student sits down to study, it takes a lot of willpower. They need to convince themselves that the time and effort they spend will have a payoff, and the first few times are always the hardest.

The more they engage in study and establish habits and a routine, however, it becomes not only easier to maintain long-term, and it helps give them the willpower to keep going, because they see real results.

 Get prepared, get ahead

For most high school year levels, each student will have a good idea of what is coming up next term across their subjects.

For subjects like History, encourage your teen to use this lull as a chance to start collecting topic resources now, at a leisurely pace, so that there isn’t a frantic rush to the library just before an assignment is due. This will reduce stress levels and make study, and assignments, a much easier task next term.

 Social study

Your teen is on holidays. So are their mates. Why not encourage them to combine both by hosting a study group day with their friends? It may sound boring, but it doesn’t need to be!

Group study can be more effective than studying alone, helping students learn in a different style to solo study. Plus, they can make a day of it – a nice study session, followed by a movie or two and some pizza and ice-cream.

Study is fun!

What your teen studies in class is often a very linear, focused exploration of an important concept, and there will always be moments when they were intrigued by a concept and wanted to learn more.

Now is their chance to extend their knowledge in the subjects they’re truly interested in.

Students educating themselves outside of the core subjects they learn at school is a fantastic way to train them about new and bigger contexts.

So during the school holidays, it’s essential to encourage your teen to enjoy time outdoors or socialising with friends, and it’s just as important to ensure the hard work they’ve put in over the first half of the school year isn’t lost because of major disruptions to their study routines — Yourtutor.