Research and Study

No time is too soon to help children learn to organize themselves and their environment for studying. What catches many of them by surprise when they reach the intermediate grades is the increased volume of material they are responsible for learning.

You can help get things organized at home by making sure your child has a proper space—with good lighting and limited distraction—to read and study. If you have computer access at home, that's great. Otherwise, many schools and libraries offer free access. In these early grades, however, you will see that a computer is convenient to have but is not a requirement.

Second and third graders need to develop a variety of research and study skills. Connecting these skills with everyday experiences, not just homework, helps children increase their proficiency for using such skills in any situation.

To begin, your child will need to be able to alphabetize words and have some general sense about how the ones being studied are spelled in order to use a dictionary comfortably. A thesaurus comes in handy for finding that perfect synonym.

"Hey, Mom! What's another word for good?"

One way for your child to make maximum use of his or her study time is to be able to read material quickly by skimming and scanning for important details. At this age, your child is expected to use a book title, table of contents, and index to help decide if a particular book is helpful or not.

Where did you get most of your information for reports? Probably from encyclopedias! Well, children today have many more resources for doing research than you did. In fact, a prominent benefit of the current information age is access to unlimited sources of information via the Internet. So knowing where to search for information is a very valuable skill. Encyclopedias, atlases, online databases, nonfiction books, and other publications all have information that is appropriate for different purposes and may be resources your second and third grader uses during the school year.

 

Maps, graphs, and time lines are graphic sources that present a lot of information in an abbreviated fashion with the help of visuals. There are special skills related to using them. Second and third graders need to recognize different types of graphic sources and be able to describe the information these represent.

graphic sources

• Graphs are drawings that compare data. Bar graphs, line graphs, and circle graphs (pie charts) are examples of the types of graphs your child will be exposed to.
• Maps are drawings that depict the location of and distance between things like cities and lakes and roads.
• Time lines show the chronological order of events.

Being able to read or listen and perform accurately—in other words, following directions—is a critical skill at this age. Children get dozens of written and oral instructions during the course of a school day. Two, three, or sometimes even more steps are presented to them and they are expected to follow through independently. (Isn't it strange when you find out your child follows directions in school but can't seem to at home?)

The ability to follow directions is a good indicator of your child's auditory memory (ability to remember what is heard) and reading comprehension (understanding what is read). Struggling readers may seem uncooperative for not completing things when, in fact, they just can't make sense of what is on the written page. Other students will struggle with multiple directions given orally even though they are strong readers.

Children with reading difficulties can learn and apply effective study techniques with the right kind of timely intervention. Be sure to talk with your child's teacher if you have concerns about your child's performance on school assignments.

 

Taken from www.kz.com