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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]  OP -- a very good question.    My kids attended one of these schools.  The school did various helpful things -- tell students what binders/notebooks to purchase, instructions on how to maintain them, occasional organizational check ups, frequent quizzes /smaller assessments in between major ones to be sure material is learned in manageable bits, all sorts of assignments designed to teach study skills at home, etc.  But here's the thing.  At the end of the day, the child who enjoyed studying more in the first place and needed these techniques less, probably got more out of them in middle school and eventually kept what worked best for that child and discarded the rest which actually became a bit clumsy by high school for that one. The one who liked studying relatively less than doing other things,   learned largely the same techniques but did not always apply them as well because that child did not want to take as much time as needed to do so given that child's interests in other pursuits outside of the classroom.

So my non-expert /I'm "just" a parent opinion is this.  Some of these techniques can be helpful for some students, but there is no magic to them.   What is more important -- and much harder to teach a child -- is intrinsic motivation.   You mention many fine schools in your post, and I wont' say which one(s) my children attended although we are big fans.  But I will say that rather than get caught up in the hype about techniques -- beyond making sure the teachers/administration is basically knowledgeable /competent -- and instead focus on the teaching relationships with the students.  Do the teachers really get to know the kids as individuals and are they the sort of people your children will comfortable going to if they need help.  Those are helpful prerequisites for  a teacher to know how to motivate a given student and in my own family's experience that is the more important piece of the learning puzzle.   Good luck OP.    [/quote]

So so so true!!  Well said![/quote]

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