If you ever want to be impressed by what Shorecrest has to offer your child, talk to one of the Upper School students. Earlier this year, I interviewed six of our upperclassmen on how to prepare for midterms. The students were polite and offered great advice to students who want to do well on exams.

The question I asked the upper-class students was simple: What advice do you have for students taking exams? The unanimous answer was to make study guides for each class. The upperclassman advice made me curious as to what type of study guides are the most effective ones to use when studying for midterms or finals. After checking several websites and study skills books here is what the experts deem to be the most effective study guides:

The Outline Format

The first type of study guide that works well for middle school students is the outline format style study guide. This kind of study guide creates a detailed overview of the materials that have been covered in the last module. It will take students through each topic and provide them with information about the most important points for each topic. Page numbers can be added to the outline to help students find where in the textbook the topic is discussed.

Point-by-Point Study Guide

The next option is to develop a point-by-point study guide. This type of study guide will provide the students with the information that will be used to make up the actual exam. The information will be organized by topic. All the information that the student needs to do well on the exam will be covered in this guide. Students can also refer to their textbook for additional information on the topics included in the exam, however, this is not a necessity as the study guide alone is all the students need to study to pass the test.

Study guides can be effective if they are used correctly. The Shorecrest high school students cautioned me with one last piece of advice: they all agreed that study guides are most effective when you make them yourself and then you repeatedly read the study guide out loud to yourself, or you use it to quiz yourself over and over again.

As one student put it, "It’s simple, repetition, repetition, repetition. That’s all you need to know about how to get an A on an exam."

Great advice, if you ask me.