Teaching a smart kid to study

[Anonymous]

I had to study harder in highschool than in college OP. I do come from a European country, but went to a US college. Even though my English wasn’t great and I had to take a few extra writing classes, college was very easy for me compared to high school
In my home country.

It might be the same for your child… if he is a at a rigorous school, college might be easy too.

[Anonymous]

Your kid may be like me. Top high school, college, and PhD program. Never had to study.

Once medical school hit, I finally had to study. Really not a big deal.

Enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

My ADHD high performing kid never took any notes. The most they would do is to take a picture of the white board. Their notebooks are full of doodling.

Quite frustrating.

[Anonymous]

From what OP describes the school is definitely not NCS/STA or Sidwell, as it would be impossible for even the brightest of students not to do some studying at these schools. I say this as a parent of a profoundly gifted child with very high processing speed who still occasionally had to sit down and study.

These schools assign way too much busywork that has nothing to do with real learning or intelligence. A lot of it is just sheer time-consuming grunt work. Curious what school OP considers Big 3.

I am also PG with high processing speed and didn’t really have to learn to study until grad school. I have ADHD but was bright enough that I could cram most things. Nothing really fazed me until I had to do high-level quant, which is sadly not as crammable as other subjects. I figured out how to do paced studying when I needed to, and if OPs kid is as bright as they brag, they’ll figure it out when they need it as well.

[Anonymous]

This is a good thing, not a bad thing. If your kid finds academics easy, they will be able to maintain high grades on top of extracurricular activities. Mine spends a lot of time practicing her instrument, in addition to juggling responsibilities in various school positions. There are ways to learn time management and organization other than just studying for classes.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure he’s really not studying? I have a kid who is very efficient at studying and earns high grades, but he still has to put in some effort to learn new material. For example, he can’t just walk into a history final without doing the reading or going to class.

Regardless, it won’t hurt your son if he doesn’t have to study hard in 9th grade. At some point, your son will be faced with new material and can work on those study skills then. For example, if geometry or algebra 2 are too easy, he can take a summer class move to pre-cal or calculus in 10th grade. Hopefully, the extra challenge will lead him to learn how to study.

If he still doesn’t need to study when faced with more challenge, I say let him be. Some people are just good at the skills that are measured by high school (e.g., very strong memory and fast processing speed). I was one of those people, and I did not fail out of college. I just learned to work a little harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what OP describes the school is definitely not NCS/STA or Sidwell, as it would be impossible for even the brightest of students not to do some studying at these schools. I say this as a parent of a profoundly gifted child with very high processing speed who still occasionally had to sit down and study.

These schools assign way too much busywork that has nothing to do with real learning or intelligence. A lot of it is just sheer time-consuming grunt work. Curious what school OP considers Big 3.

I am also PG with high processing speed and didn’t really have to learn to study until grad school. I have ADHD but was bright enough that I could cram most things. Nothing really fazed me until I had to do high-level quant, which is sadly not as crammable as other subjects. I figured out how to do paced studying when I needed to, and if OPs kid is as bright as they brag, they’ll figure it out when they need it as well.

I questioned OP about big 3. OP insisted it is.

Then again, it’s possible. A lot of younger students nowadays utilize gpt to do assigned readings and even the writing. Kids may be smart enough to tweak the writing so they don’t get caught for integrity. I imagine one could manage the humanities fine.

STEM is easy to manage. No study needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just finished 9th grade at a school that dcum considers to be rigorous. He got straight As without studying for finals and minimal studying during the year. How can he learn how to study when he clearly doesn't need to?

In 9th grade, he took honors math, the only honors class available to 9th graders. In 10th grade, he will take honors math and science, the only honors classes available to 10th graders.

What exactly do you want him to study?
Why is his parent stupid?

I want him to learn to study because eventually he will need to develop study skills/executive function. If he doesn't learn how to study in high school, college will be really hard.

I concur with OP about this. Mensa's research foundation says a lot of very bright people fizzle at some point because they never had to learn study skills until they hit an academic wall.

[Anonymous]

Your son isn’t at my children’s big3. We’ve been there for several years in the upper school through several kids, and none of the top students “don’t study.” And there are some very very bright kids. They too work their tail off. There are kids who do fine who don’t study, but they are not making straight As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your son isn’t at my children’s big3. We’ve been there for several years in the upper school through several kids, and none of the top students “don’t study.” And there are some very very bright kids. They too work their tail off. There are kids who do fine who don’t study, but they are not making straight As.

Salty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your son isn’t at my children’s big3. We’ve been there for several years in the upper school through several kids, and none of the top students “don’t study.” And there are some very very bright kids. They too work their tail off. There are kids who do fine who don’t study, but they are not making straight As.

Salty.

LOL

DP. I also agree it's not realistic OP is in one of the big three. Straight As are very very difficult in those rigorous schools. A- is a top grade.

If a kid barely studies, for sure they will receive a low grade for class participation alone. Tons of reading assignments every night. Can't imagine they can participate at all in class if no study.
For humanities classes, is there "finals" that can make up the grades? Not in mine, we have writing projects throughout the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your son isn’t at my children’s big3. We’ve been there for several years in the upper school through several kids, and none of the top students “don’t study.” And there are some very very bright kids. They too work their tail off. There are kids who do fine who don’t study, but they are not making straight As.

Just say your jealous.

[Anonymous]

My kid decided to go to TJ and we fought all year about studying. It was fun (not).

[Anonymous]

My second kid took AP US Gov this year in 9th grade and even though no one ever told her how, she took notes in a notebook every Tuesday afternoon (the day she had no extra curriculars) for the entire year, to help with memorization and retention of facts. I was impressed, because my oldest, with ADHD and ASD, never really took to note-taking AND he attended every office hour so that his teacher could help him write flash cards instead! He's in college now and I still don't know how he gets decent grades. Somehow he muddles through, but my second is definitely a lot more proactive and functional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your son isn’t at my children’s big3. We’ve been there for several years in the upper school through several kids, and none of the top students “don’t study.” And there are some very very bright kids. They too work their tail off. There are kids who do fine who don’t study, but they are not making straight As.

Just say your jealous.

I am just not an idiot.