Customer Reviews

Study Is Hard Work: The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring and Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime

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I was sent away to Kent School in Connecticut in the 8th grade in 1962 because I was getting into too much trouble at home. I was a smart but poorly schooled student dumped "cold turkey" into a very challenging academic environment.

My first class at Kent was W.H. Armstrong's class on Study Skills (first part of first term) and Ancient History. He wrote both of the texts we used that year, and I can testify that this book - and Armstrong as a teacher - saved me. I went on to become an honor student and have lived a pretty good life based on skills I learned from him.

Readers of his book will not have the benefit of daily contact with the author - but if you read the book and follow the process - there is no question that you will become a better student.

Armstrong was a tough task master and an inspiring teacher. He would not tolerate sloppiness. He checked our "plan books" frequently to make sure we were writing down assignments. He made us memorize poems and other material. He taught us to outline, and to read effectively.

He made even this kind of dry material come alive. He would do chin-ups in the doorway of his classroom while he was lecturing on how to take notes effectively, or the Mesopotamians, or the water systems of ancient Egypt, or the value of sheep manure in his garden. His voice never strained, and we all sat there transfixed.

He was - and still is - a fascinating individual. He knows how to plan and organize, and how to teach others to do it too. He walks his talk, and uses examples from his own life in the book to prove his points. (He knows how many hours it takes to build a house because he built his own by hand from field stone he collected out of his sheep pastures.)

He was the best teacher our class had in 5 years at the school, and we dedicated our yearbook to him in 1967 when we graduated.

Having him as a teacher was great - but the lessons are all in the book. I bought it again for my 10 year old to prepare him for the mo! ve from Elementary to Middle School, and I am giving it to him in small doses.

If you read the book and internalize it, you or your child will become a better student.

Sweat ... ."

This passage from the Greek Poet Hesiod (which concludes: Long is the road thereto and rough and steep at first; but when the heights are reached, then there is ease, though grievously hard in the winning) is the core message of this book. It is also the passage that was posted on William H. Armstrong's classroom wall for over 30 years. This book and the work ethic instilled by Mr. Armstrong in his classroom did change my life to a very good degree. It took longer for the lessons imparted here to sink in on me than on others but they were there when I needed them once I got to college.

Study is Hard Work, as its title suggests, pulls no punches. It is direct and to the point. Excellence is not easy. It takes work and organization. Mix well and repeat! Mr. Armstrong sets out a number of excellent suggestions which, when read, cause you to smack your head and say - "how obvious". Obvious yes, but overlooked or forgotten until seen in print in simple declarative sentences. The fact that study is hard work is an important lesson for children, particularly bright children, to learn as they move from elementary to middle school and then on to high school and college. Ones ability to thrive on sheer native intelligence alone gets more difficult each step of the way. This book serves as preparation for the increased level of sheer work that is involved in maintaining that level of excellence. It is similar to a dentist advising you "this may hurt a bit". Foreknowledge is a valuable tool.

As has been noted, Mr. Armstrong's approach may seem a bit blunt in today's environment. That fact alone seems a compelling reason to read the book. The fact that the suggestions noted in the book may seem a bit dated provides those children who can absorb these lessons with a valuable competitive edge in our increasingly competitive school and work environment.

I have recently purchased this book along with a teacher's lesson plan book,another organizational tool used by Mr. Armstrong, for my daughter. It is a book worth buying. It is a book worth going over with your children even if, as with the dentist, it hurts a bit.

William Armstrong's small work is a great way for all life-long students to understand what it takes to streamline techniques for higher learning. Although many might fault the book for it's brevity and say that the author doesn't go into enough detail, I felt the author's advice was very pertinent, and very self-explanatory. His 50 year experience in teaching shines through with a gently guiding hand, placing the responsibility in the hands of each student. There are no tricks that are presented here, as indicated by the very name of the work. So, whether you're looking for ways to succeed in that upcoming course that's supposed to be tough or just trying to brush up on ways to maximize your efforts in a lifetime of learning, you're definitely on the right track, by reading this one.
One other thing to keep in mind, because the author wrote this work so long ago, it provides a great baseline in it's fundamental principles. I would also suggest Adam Robinson's "What Smart Students Know" to supplement the principles introduced in "Studying is Hard Work". Robinson's work has some more methodology and covers some more modern principles like memorization and the use of "hooks". Good luck in your learning!

When I entered high school forty years ago, I was given this book, with the warning that school work was about to become less like play and more like adult work. This book helped me understand the difference between merely getting a job done and doing it well. It gave me the tools to study efficiently and to focus on the task at hand, abilities that have stood me in good stead ever since. But my response to one of the prior reviewers is this, gentle reader - the title says it all - there are no short cuts, cute tricks, diagrams. Life does not ever put the important stuff in bold print for you. Mr. Armstrong understood that studying is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. The book expresses the expectation that you, the student, must examine how you think and then develop your own discipline to learn how to learn.

Next year I will be entering a hard high-school where good study habits are required in order to get a passing grade. I would study for hours, and yet, get an unsatisfactory grade on my papers. So, when I was in Barnes and Noble, I picked it up. This informative book by Mr. Armstrong was very helpful and gave great ways to study better and learn to have good study habits. I would recommend this book to all who have a hard time studying.

This brief book is aimed at high school students, but speaks to anyone learning at any stage of life. That ought to be just about everyone.

Its formal, no-nonsense tone closely matches its content, a school-masterly essay on schooling. Armstrong starts by pointing out the number of hours spent in school. If a carpenter set out to build houses single-handedly, he'd be well into the third using only the hours a child spends in K-12 education. Does the student have as much to show for the time spent? If not, why not, and what can be done to fix that problem?

Armstrong starts with the basics: reading and writing. Reading doesn't just mean recognizing each word on the page, it means taking in the information, disgesting it, and incorporating it into oneself as thoroughly as one digests a sandwich and incorporates it into the body's tissues. The goal is to bring the information back to life, not just to treat it as dead facts on paper from dead trees. Writing is the other half of the text. I've seen it again and again: someone who can't express an idea is as ineffective as someone who doesn't even have one.

Only a third of the book remains after that discussion, which Armstrong dedicates to specific tips for studying languages, math, science, and history. He generally handles these topics thoroughly and evenly, except for some weakness in the science and math sections and some zealotry regarding history. Well, he was a history teacher - if conveyed only a tenth of his passion to his students, that was a hundred times more than my history teachers ever got across. I criticize this part of the book only for ignoring the arts. They demand all the concentration and study that math and science do, but the study differs slightly in kind - and no, it's not "just natural," any more than learning French or calculus.

My only criticism is that the text aged. The first edition apparently dates to the 1960s - none of the references seem newer than the late 1950s. As a result, the discussion misses the entire computer age. Yes, there may be some somatic sense in writing with a pencil that can't be replicated at a keyboard, but the whole process of editing and revision has changed since then. Also, his praise for the "new math" seems more like a perfunctory show of support for his colleagues. In retrospect, it caused more problems than it solved.

These are minor points, though, and don't detract from the main discussion. I recommmend it to any student and any teacher, including the self-taught student.

//wiredweird

I'm a couple of decades out of college now, but I consider education to be a life-long undertaking and I fully agree with Armstrong's premise that "study is hard work." I therefore read this book in the hope of discovering some new ideas to improve my study efficiency, but I found that I had already learned most of Armstrong's suggestions through my own trial and error over the years, combined with having read the excellent book How to Study in College by Walter Pauk back in my college days. In short, I got very little out of this book.

I also found Armstrong to be rather preachy, with a tone as though he's lecturing a somewhat insubordinate child, having to overexplain by giving all sorts of step-by-step directions on how things should be done. Since I'm an adult, I didn't care for his tone, and it's clear that his target audience is high-school and college students. Since even many of them won't care for his tone, the audience for this book effectively narrows down to people who are (a) quite motivated to learn, (b) willing to be firmly guided by the hand, and (c) having a hard time identifying and implementing effective study skills.

If you fit that description, this book may help you and I can recommend it, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars. For everyone else, the book is likely to have limited value, and of course people who aren't motivated won't read it anyway.

Sure wish I had known this book was available in our local library since 1957. I sure could have use it when I was in highschool in the 70s. Our schools' teachers should all read this and begin disseminating it to students beginning when they begin school.

Since most schools send out newsletters to parents/guardians of students the same book should be made known to them to read on their own with the notation that these principles will be what is presented to their children as guides to become the best student they can be. As parents are a child's first and best teacher, reading this book will prepare your child for school as you will likely begin to follow these principles and pass them on to your children without much effort.

Too many letters go out telling parents to become involved in their children's schooling...but the why and how isn't there. This book is the why and the how. I'll be writing a letter to the editor of our local weekly newspaper as well as to several other daily papers that our community subscribes to so that those wishing to improve their study skills will know they have a means to do so.

I doubt any other study books compare as this one has all that is necessary to make a person realize it is within oneself to get the job done. It is outlined...as some have reviewed otherwise, if you apply the study skills to the book itself the gems will leap out at you.

Harold Martin is absolutely correct when he writes that this book "has a bluntness far from common in how-to books of any time or clime." Even though the book was written in the 1950s, its core message is perhaps even more relevant today than when the book was first published: students have a basic obligation to study whether or not they are interested in any given subject matter. Knowledge is the nourishment of our minds, just as food is the nourishment of our bodies. "By the sweat of your brow shall you earn your food to eat."

Knowledge isn't easy to acquire, the path to it is painful, but it doesn't have to be boring... you can make study a pleasant experience, just like training for any sport is fun, but ultimately it wears the body down. This book lucidly outlines what is necessary to make the most out of your study.

The authors opening sentence to the introduction: "Those who seek miracles or panaceas to replace work should stop here."; states the premise of this book clearly and without embellishment. Study is work, and, like work, it has skills that can be learned and sharpened. This small book should be purchased, read, reread, freely annnotated, and kept within reach on every reference shelf. I wish it had been available when I bought my Strunk and Whites'. I also hope someone makes this into a series of study couses for seveeral levels in our educational system.