Persuading kids and teens to study can take an excessive amount of energy. There always seems to be something that keeps them from ‘hitting the books‘: television, video games, lack of motivation, you name it. How can you get kids in the mood to study when they just don’t seem to feel like it?

It may seem impossible to motivate a teen to study, but it is important to consider what environment they have readily available to them. Is the study room a place with a television or video game system? Is the computer or internet a possible distraction? What sort of lighting does the room have-is it appropriate for a study room or TV room?

Sometimes, seemingly small details can have massive effects on a teen’s resolve to study. A cluttered desk is more likely to be ignored than cleared off for studying purposes, and without even realizing it, he or she has dismissed that environment as unsuitable for studying. The remaining options are likely to be a place used for family gatherings or entertainment, like a busy kitchen or den. Concentrating in a place with lots of family traffic can often be difficult and may stunt development of study habits in the long run.

How can you help your kids develop the study habits they need for successful learning? The first step is getting rid of distractions. Turn off televisions or radios, or choose a place that is void of these diversions. A room with comfortable seating and plenty of light is ideal for a study session. A bright room will keep a student alert and focused, while the quiet surroundings will allow them to absorb as much information as possible.

If a teen’s bedroom is the best option for a study room, ensure the space used is organized and clear of any clutter. Studies have shown that kids can absorb and retain more information in an orderly environment than they can in a disorganized environment. Imagine how much easier it would be to study when papers, books, pens, and notes are readily accessible?

SuperCamp, a leading academic summer camp that teaches learning skills to kids and teens, also teaches that personalizing the space with positive affirmations will help remind kids that they are capable of anything they set their mind to. Sign-making is an activity you can do with your kids that will both energize them and renew their motivation. Include encouraging messages like, “Everything I do deserves my best effort”, “I can learn this”, and “I believe in myself” to give them an extra boost in confidence.

Another great way to contribute to the study environment is by playing classical music. Baroque music especially has been known to help the brain focus and access it’s most resourceful learning state. This type of music optimizes the functions of the brain that store and retrieve information, and is therefore good to have playing lightly in the background during a study session. Whatever methods are used, it is important for your kids to find the way that best matches their learning styles.

Motivation doesn’t have to be an issue when a student has everything they need to improve their study habits. Camps like SuperCamp provide students with handy tips to help them restore the drive for learning. Positive learning environments can make a significant difference in every student’s life!

Students who can not find merit in the content they learn will be students who lose retention of that knowledge after their next exam. Traditional classrooms present information in a way that can be easily remembered for testing purposes, but often fail in keeping a student connected to the content outside of the classroom. Without this connection, students will not feel motivated to give their best effort.

Summer enrichment programs are the answer! Unlike run-of-the-mill summer camps, summer enrichment programs present fundamental learning and life skills through enjoyable group settings and activities designed to cater to a student’s learning style. Without realizing it, kids and teens will make the correlation between their school work and their futures and receive the encouragement they need to look for satisfaction in learning.

Many students simply need a correlation to be made between enjoyment and learning to reignite their motivation to learn. SuperCamp provides a variety of different modes of learning that cater to each student’s particular learning style. If a child learns best with mnemonic techniques, or if they need to organize information in such a way to maximize retention, SuperCamp will equip a student with the skills they need to succeed.

Interactions with teachers, peers, and family members will be enhanced with the skills students learn at SuperCamp. They can set a precedent for their academic careers that will spill over into their future careers. Whatever they set their minds to, they will accomplish.

Everything Speaks is a concept that SuperCamp emphasizes with its campers. Put simply, everything a person does, from studying for a test, to interacting with a teacher, to listening carefully to a peer, can have an effect on their environment and the end result. Whatever situation a student is in, it should be approached with care and consideration.

A summer enrichment program will diversify a student’s academic skills, raise their test scores and grades, make them aware of their individual learning styles, enhance their capability for problem-solving and creative thinking, and help them gain more self-confidence and motivation. By surrounding themselves with successful endeavors, students will gain positive attitudes and realize that their dreams and aspirations are within their grasps.

Every student wants to find merit in their work and every student wants to find enjoyment in learning. Summer enrichment programs give students the reins of control for learning and coax individuality out of students who may need encouragement. Academic success and personal excellence will seem effortless with the right motivation.

“We were ecstatic when Cody graduated last year. We’d been so afraid that his frustration with schoolwork would trump his desire to achieve his dream of becoming a lawyer. He’s such a bright teenager, but the way things were going, we had begun to believe that our best expectation for him was a C average. We weren’t sure if the difficulty he encountered originated with his classes or with him.”

Those are the words of a desperate parent. No parent ever wants to think that their son or daughter is unable to excel in school. Though there can be a variety of factors, there is one crucial question that many parents overlook when contemplating their child’s dissatisfaction with school: have they been taught how to learn? It seems like such a ridiculous query that most parents would answer immediately, “Yes! Of course my teen possesses adequate learning skills. They are in high school!” Those same parents would be surprised to find that many teenagers have never been formally taught how to study or prepare for an exam. Without those skills, they miss out on a wealth of potential and are so caught up with their immediate frustrations that they don’t understand how easy learning can be with the right encouragement.

Lack of learning skills has nothing to do with academic ability. Just as it is difficult to play chess without a defined set of rules and possible moves, a teenager will not know how to instinctively study without guidance. Some teens, after repeated disappointment, develop self-defeating attitudes and a nonchalant outlook on academia. They convince themselves that school is just not important. Most parents would do anything to prevent this sort of apathy. Teenagers are endangering not just their academic futures with this attitude, but the potential direction of their lives.

So, why do so many teenagers feel disconnected from their schoolwork? Motivation plays a large role. When a student is unable to relate to or see merit in the subject matter, the topic instantly becomes boring to them. Teenagers need to find ways to reconnect the content to their own lives. Once they can make the connection for themselves, comprehension will follow!

It is a teacher’s goal to impart information clearly, but how a student organizes and retrieves that information for personal use depends on what set of strategies they use for their cache of data. Students process information in a variety of different ways. Realistically, teachers are unable to cater to each individual student’s unique learning style. This complicates matters when considering that some students have a more auditory style of learning, while others may be more visual. Ultimately, it may be up to the student to find ways to transform the information they learn into a usable format.

There is a mysterious phenomenon that occurs for many students in their teen years: the joy of learning is extinguished and replaced with frustration. School, and the learning associated with it, becomes something that they are eager to put behind them. What happened to the precocious child who was eager to read everything put in front of them? Where did that burgeoning artist, intent on creating a collection of crayon masterpieces to display on the refrigerator, go? Somewhere, deep inside the shell of indifference and hormones, that child still exists. They just need to rekindle the passion of learning and discovery.

Most importantly, school should not be viewed as a forced institution or simply a bullet point on a long list of mandatory responsibilities; it should be presented as a gateway to the rest of their lives, an opportunity to broaden their horizons and actualize their personal goals and dreams. A great way to do this is to provide them with a place where learning and teen life skills are intermingled with activities they enjoy. Academic summer camps are growing ever more popular for teenagers and children of all ages. They help develop necessary traits for academic and personal success like confidence, self-esteem, and motivation in a comfortable social setting.

Teenagers will learn a wide range of skills at academic summer camps like SuperCamp that will give them a head start on future success. Communication skills, leadership skills, building positive relationships, conflict resolution, creative thinking, setting goals, and problem solving are just some of the things they will develop and master. Conflicts in school and at home will be significantly eased as a result.

When a teenager can take ownership for their own learning, doors will burst open for them. Memorizing, studying, and testing all become a series of small victories that will boost their confidence in the long run. In that mindset, they can do anything they set their minds to.

It is often difficult for students to absorb and store information for future retrieval when it is not organized in a meaningful way. Memorizing a collection of dry facts, better known as cramming, does not allow a student to effectively retain information. When proper study techniques are utilized, the brain processes learned information more quickly by grouping it into a usable, retrievable format that can be accessed at a later time. To enhance this process, adding a fun and inventive twist onto a learning technique will help hold a student’s interest and make it ultimately more effective.

SuperCamp, one of the leading academic summer camps worldwide, provides crucial learning and life skills that will help guide campers ranging from grades 4 through 12 to academic success. For any learner, a significant gap can form between subject matter and student if the learning method isn’t approached intuitively. SuperCamp equips students with a repertoire of valuable study skills and advantageous techniques that work specifically with their individual learning pattern.

Enhancing this process with a fun and inventive twist will only keep a student more engaged in the learning process. A camp favorite at SuperCamp is Mind Mapping, a method developed by Tony Buzan in the 1960′s that uses both sides of the brain. Mind Mapping employs colorful pictures and word associations to promote active learning in a way that is customizable for each individual. Anyone can use this technique to prepare for an exam, write a book report, plan an event, or tackle a challenging problem.

How does one use Mind Mapping? First, turn your page horizontally so that you have plenty of room to spread outwards. Your first addition to the page should be something that represents the main idea of the subject matter you are covering. Consider the life cycle of a plant as an example. Sketch a picture in the center of the page that accurately represents your topic; in this case, you could pair the words with a drawing of a plant. Draw tapering branches stemming from the main idea and write each clarifying points along the branches’ length: the germination of a seed, where a plant gets its food, the process of photosynthesis, and how flowers are pollinated. Be sure to include a picture with all relevant pieces of information and use at least three different colors throughout your Mind Map.

Color in Mind Mapping stimulates the imaginative portion of the brain and captures-and holds-attention. Pairing a word with a corresponding picture helps the brain form associations that can be easily recalled later. Every Mind Map should be unique in shape and construction. Some will include many larger branching points with few details, while other, more complicated topics will fill the page with supporting details surrounding the central idea. The more unique the Mind Map, the easier the information will be to retain!

Students can build a better foundation for their academic careers if they develop engaging learning techniques at an early age. Regardless of the subject matter, a student who is able to manipulate content in a mentally stimulating way will adopt a positive stance on learning for years to come. For SuperCamp graduate James Ohnoki, Mind Mapping was the turning point for his academic career. The visual elements helped him connect facts to a bigger picture, while the drawing and coloring aspects gave him license to be as creative as he wanted.

Students like James Ohnoki will be astonished at how effective the learning techniques they develop at SuperCamp will transform their study habits and turn them into interactive learners. It will bridge the gap between their coursework and comprehension, and start them down the road toward academic success. With learning techniques like Mind Mapping at their disposal, students will find the way to success is remarkably less difficult to traverse.

Studying isn’t about just cramming facts into memory banks. It can be difficult to absorb information and store it for future retrieval when memorizing a collection of dry facts that lack meaningful organization. Utilizing proper study techniques helps the brain process learned information by grouping it into formats that are usable, and more importantly, retrievable. This process can be enhanced by adding a fun and inventive twist to studying which will keep a student engaged.

One of the world’s leading academic summer camps teaches students ranging from grades 4 through 12 critical learning and life skills, while also keeping them engaged in new and interesting ways. SuperCamp bridges the gulf between a student and his or hers coursework by approaching the subject matter intuitively and equipping them with a wide range of study skills and advantageous techniques that cater specifically to their learning style.

Enhancing this process with a fun and inventive twist will only keep a student more engaged in the learning process. A camp favorite at SuperCamp is Mind Mapping, a method developed by Tony Buzan in the 1960′s that uses both sides of the brain. Mind Mapping employs colorful pictures and word associations to promote active learning in a way that is customizable for each individual. Anyone can use this technique to prepare for an exam, write a book report, plan an event, or tackle a challenging problem.

How does one use Mind Mapping? First, turn your page horizontally so that you have plenty of room to spread outwards. Your first addition to the page should be something that represents the main idea of the subject matter you are covering. Consider the life cycle of a plant as an example. Sketch a picture in the center of the page that accurately represents your topic; in this case, you could pair the words with a drawing of a plant. Draw tapering branches stemming from the main idea and write each clarifying points along the branches’ length: the germination of a seed, where a plant gets its food, the process of photosynthesis, and how flowers are pollinated. Be sure to include a picture with all relevant pieces of information and use at least three different colors throughout your Mind Map.

The use of color stimulates the imaginative portion of the brain – additionally, it captures and holds the Mind Mapper’s attention. The pictures paired with words will help the brain form associations that can be easily recalled at a later date. The final product should resemble the many branches of a tree surrounding a central idea. The more unique your mind map is, the easier it will be to retain the information!

Laying strong groundwork at an early age is extremely important for a student when developing their study skills. A student able to manipulate content in a mentally stimulating way will be more excited about learning and can consequently set a trend for the rest of their lives. SuperCamp graduate, James Ohnoki, felt Mind Mapping was a major turning point in his academic career. He became a more interactive learner as a result and used the technique many times to help him connect visual elements to learned content. He particularly enjoyed the drawing and coloring aspects of Mind Mapping because it gave him license to be as creative as he wanted.

Students like James Ohnoki will be astonished at how effective the learning techniques they develop at SuperCamp will transform their study habits and turn them into interactive learners. It will bridge the gap between their coursework and comprehension, and start them down the road toward academic success. With learning techniques like Mind Mapping at their disposal, students will find the way to success is remarkably less difficult to traverse.