S.O.A.R.® Study Skills Book Review

When my son was growing up he spent most of his time during the school year struggling with homework assignments and studying for tests. Study skills were not taught in school so he had to struggle on his own with only my help. According to the author of S.O.A.R.® Study Skills, Susan Woodcock Kruger, M.Ed., this is an all too common occurrence. She experienced the same issues until she entered college where she discovered study strategies that eliminated her frustration and made studying more efficient. Susan identified what turns students off to 'study skills' and what turns them on to strategic learning!

Susan went on to become a Certified Teacher with a Master's Degree and is a Reading/Learning Specialist. She developed her own, fun and unique study skills system that includes live and web based classes, educator training, this book and a CD set based on the acronym:

(S)oar
(O)rganize
(A)sk Questions
(R)ecord Your Progress

The S.O.A.R.® Study Skills soft cover book is beautifully designed, easy to use and filled with illustrations and photographs. There are separate introductions for parents, students, educators and students with ADD/ADHD. Family involvement is very much part of the S.O.A.R.® Study Skills program and the author invites parents to read the book with young students.

Readers will learn about task-management, organizing at home & school, prioritizing, goal-setting, note-taking strategies, space and paper organization, test-taking strategies, homework/project planning, communication & effective skills, reading skills and writing strategies.

The goal of the book is to help students of all ages get better grades in less time. The amount of homework assigned to students is overwhelming but this book can help reduce the time and frustration involved. Unlike other study skills systems I have researched the techniques in this book are meant to be simple and easily implemented. Readers of this book are most likely already stressed so the author takes great care not to overwhelm them.

I was impressed with the quizzes, charts and forms to record goals and accomplishments. These features make the book truly interactive and involve the reader in not only learning but exploring their own learning styles while developing a set of goals for eliminating homework hassles and improving grades.

There is much focus in this book on helping students both at home and at school and I really enjoyed the chapter on interacting with teachers. Students are encouraged to ask questions of their teachers and there is even a clever graphic included in this chapter that shows readers the best place to sit in a classroom!

This is a book that needs to be given to every student of any age and it needs to be a tool that every teacher uses in the classroom. The book would make a fantastic gift for a parent, student or teacher. I found the book to be fun and easy to read and I learned organizational skills that I can use in my office today. I only wish that this book had been available when I was in school so many years ago!

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