SOAR Study Skills [Perfect Paperback]

Susan Kruger Woodcock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2006 | Age Level: 12 and up | Grade Level: 7 and up

Any student who has ever: spent too much time doing homework, lost an assignment before turning it in, studied hard for a test and then bombed it, or felt that their parents nag them too much about homework will love this book! SOAR Study Skills is a comprehensive program that empowers students to manage their time, schoolwork, and extra-curricular activities more efficiently. All strategies are easy to integrate into an immediate routine. The four-step program builds upon each strategy to increase students' understanding and retention, while decreasing their homework and study time. This book is appropriate for students in sixth grade and older, parents of all school-aged children, and educators of middle-school thru college.

As the cornerstone to the entire SOAR® System, this book is a comprehensive program that empowers students to manage their time, school-work, and extra-curricular interests more efficiently.

All strategies are easy to integrate into an immediate routine. The four-step program builds upon each strategy to increase students understanding and retention, while decreasing their homework and study time.

SOAR® Study Skills is a core program, addressing basic organizational and strategic learning needs for students. There are some popular study strategies that you will NOT see in SOAR® because they do not meet our criteria for student-friendly.

The three principles that continue to guide the contents of the SOAR® Study Skills Curriculum are the principles for a student-friendly system:

* Strategies must be time-efficient. Strategies must be realistic for students to do, save them time, and reduce as many unnecessary steps as possible.

* Strategies must be effective. We respect teachers' and students time and will not teach anything that does not deliver results.

* Strategies must apply across the content areas. There are many study skills that are useful techniques, but we only select or develop strategies that apply across content areas so that students will clearly understand the appropriate times/settings to use the strategies. This approach empowers students to confidently take more responsibility for their own work and develop a more strategic approach to all of their learning.

Topics Covered:

Time and task-management
Organizing at home & school
Goal-setting
Note-taking strategies
Paper organization
Test-taking strategies
Homework/project planning
Communication & Effective Skills
Reading skills
Writing strategies

Editorial Reviews

Review

This (book) is very easy to understand. It is laid out neatly, with great graphics, and the strategies have helped me out a lot! Thank you for everything! --Adrienne Gurski, college freshman

I learned how to plan my time and not just do thing when I feel like it. I am also keeping myself organized so I m not racking my brain to study one day before a test. --Christopher Nadia, 8th grade student

He never planned ahead and it drove me crazy! But, you were right...he did not know how to plan ahead. Your tips for teaching him, or should I say showing him, how to plan ahead have helped tremendously. I m not mad at him all of the time anymore...it is a big relief! --An Anonymous Parent

From the Author

I always struggled to earn decent grades in elementary and high school. It took me hours to do homework, I did awful on tests, and I generally felt "stupid." In college, however, I learned strategies that made studying so much easier. All of a sudden, I was earning nearly all "A's" in college...and it was much easier than the mediocre grades I earned before! Since then, I have enjoyed helping other students learn how to do homework more quickly and discover confidence in school.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Perfect Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Grand Lighthouse Publishers; 1st edition (September 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977428001
• ISBN-13: 978-0977428007
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > School & Education
  • #24 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Study Aids
  • #25 in Books > Teens > Education & Reference

More About the Author

Susan Kruger, M.Ed. Is a certified teacher and learning specialist who combined her personal struggles as a student with her professional expertise to create a powerful, student-friendly learning system. Her SOAR Study Skills program is in over 600 schools nationwide and rapidly growing! She has taught thousands of students and parents how to learn efficiently, get organized and complete homework peacefully. Susan travels the country training educators and working with students and parents. She is married to a fellow educator and the proud mom of two wonderful children!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and Effective, March 13, 2010

By 

Sharmian L. White (Oak Hill, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SOAR Study Skills (Perfect Paperback)

I got this because my 10 year old son had a couple of grades drop this quarter, and in talking to him, it was not because he found the topics difficult, but rather because he was not studying adequately, and was not studying adequately in part because these two courses are heavily reliant on handouts rather than textbooks, and he was losing all of his handouts! He's in a gifted program in which the materials are often handouts to supplement, so this problem was only going to increase. I bought this as well as two other books (I tend to over-research/bombard problems; the lawyer in me). While it's early yet, I probably could have done with just this book. I think it's worth its weight in gold.

The book basically presents a system for organizing and doing better. SOAR stands for Set goals, Organize, Ask questions, and Record your progress. It takes you and the child through prioritizing, setting personal and academic goals, organizing your school gear and your study space, study skills, including how to maximize textbook reading, paper writing, interacting with teachers, taking notes, and taking tests, and tracking progress. And while it might sound daunting, it's done so that it's fun and motivating, shockingly.

My son was kind of the classic, work on homework for 2 hours then forget to turn it in the next day, or cram everything into the bookbag and it gets lost and crumpled in the bottom kid. The binder system prescribed in this book nips that in the bud. His classroom has a general system that uses a bunch of folders for different things (the teacher doesn't take the folders up or anything, so we didn't have to buck the system to opt otherwise). This doesn't really work well for my son, as he will forget to bring home one folder or another. Well, the system prescibed by this book involves one binder with pockets on the inside covers, to which you add very thin double pocketed folders (available at any Staples or similar store), one for each subject, looseleaf paper for notetaking, and grade tracking sheets in the book that can be copied and put into the binder behind each folder. It also recommends use of a weekly planner, though not just any planner will do; it gives explanation for best kind to use and how to use it. It also gives you sample planner sheets which you can use for reference or, if you want, copy and use in the binder. The basic point is that no matter what document he produces or gets at school, there is a place for it in that binder.

So my son and I read through the book together. We both excitedly went out and got the binder materials that day and put that system to work immediately. So now my son knows that any paper he gets at school or has to turn in will go in that binder. There's one pocket for anything that needs action at home, from homework to things to be signed. There's a folder for each subject, and one pocket in it is for work to turn in, the other is for handouts and study aids. There's the loose leaf paper for taking notes on any subject, after which he puts those notes behind the appropriate folder (the folders are tabbed and double as dividers), and whenever he gets a test back, he logs it on the grade tracking sheet so that we always know where he stands in that class. Pocket on inside back binder cover is for miscellaneous things, like his monthly cafeteria menu. We also got the prescibed file crate and files so that he can empty the subject folders into the corresponding subject files once he is tested on a topic. All his old papers stay in the file crate at least until the grading period ends, so that in case his teacher makes a mistake, we have all of the old tests and quizzes to reference.

My son felt instantly better about his prospects; now he is firmly in control. My son is one who likes rules anyway, so having a place for everything and everything in its place makes him feel jazzed.

So, that's just the binder system. The tips on using textbooks, interacting with teachers, writing papers, and taking tests were similarly awesome. My son had a paper due Friday. He excels in writing, so I didn't think the tips here would be that useful. However, they were. They helped him to write a paper that was quite focused, had a lot of good support, and was well-organized. His papers usually are, but he produced this one in MUCH less time than usual.

My son was apprehensive about an upcoming test in one of the topics he'd been doing poorly in, so I went with him through the textbook review procedure outlined in the book. We did it together in just the day before the test, which was when the SOAR book came in the mail, and when I asked him later how the test went, he happily said that this study procedure really works, because there were no surprises on this test. He predicted an A or B+, minimum. So literally in just a day, he went from dreading the test to excitedly looking forward to excelling on future ones in this subject. What more can you ask for? We both predicted that this class is going to become one of his best, because in truth, it has a great textbook that really works with the program, he just wasn't using it to his advantage.

Bottom line: Get the book; you won't be sorry. We've only had it for under a week, and it has already proven its worth 10 times over.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for kids struggling with organization, July 28, 2008

By 

Heather B-M "Mom of 5" (Alton, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SOAR Study Skills (Perfect Paperback)

My eleven year old daughter has Aspergers and struggles with organization skills. She is very intelligent (she usually makes honor roll and was double promoted), but she was getting points off for turning in papers late because she wasn't organized. After her diagnosis the school now has a 504 plan for her and using the binder system in this book is part of that plan. My oldest daughter (who does not have Asperger's) already uses the binder system with great success. Now my youngest daughter who is one of those born organized people also wants to use it. Besides the binder system there is also lots of great tips for organizing your time. It discusses different intelligences which may help you to understand your children and/or yourself better. I really enjoyed this book. It is well written and easy to understand. They also have a great website with a free study kit you can download.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource, August 17, 2008

By 

Lisa M. Keegan "LMK" (Salisbury, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SOAR Study Skills (Perfect Paperback)

Soar Study Skills is an excellent resource for students, parents and teachers. It is kid friendly and very practical with clear narrative explanations and relevant worksheets. I highly recommend this book to students of all ages.