Mom Blog: How to Make A Fun, Interactive, Study Guide

Make Your Own Fun, Interactive, Study Guide

How many nights have you sat with your child and reviewed their vocabulary words and definitions with them?  How long have you sat there repeating definitions and asking them questions about each word?  There’s no reason you should have to interactively study with your child for long periods of time.  Everyone wants their children to do well in school, but with so many activities and large families, a mother needs shortcuts in order to take care of everyone.  I was spending way too much time studying with my child, and my chores were being neglected.  I wanted my child to do well in school and could not tell him “no” when he asked me to help him study.  Since I was spending so much of my time studying, I came up with a great way for my child to study by himself.  This study guide is so easy to make, that before long your child will be making this guide without you.

Study Guide Preparation

You will need the following items in order to develop this fun, interactive study guide:
1.  The vocabulary words and definitions that were sent home by the teacher
2.  A scanner / copy machine
3.  Scissors
4.  Ziploc bag

Steps To Making The Study Guide

1.  Make a copy of your child’s vocabulary sheet and definitions.
2.  Save the original copy off to the side.
3.  Cut out the vocabulary words and definitions in strips.  For example:  You should have a strip that looks like:  Volcano –  an opening in earth’s crust through which lava flows.
4.   After you have all your vocabulary / definition strips cut out,  you will need to cut the vocabulary word off the strip so that you have a pile of definitions and a pile of vocabulary words.  You may need to be creative in cutting these strips apart depending on the format of the original study guide.  For example, if some definitions are two lines long, then make sure all your vocabulary strips are cut as one line so your child cannot see that the larger vocabulary words match up with the definitions that take up two lines.  It is easiest to cut these strips apart if you are able to cut each strip the same size. Your child may try to “piece this guide back together” like a puzzle if it is evident that a certain word matches up with a certain definition due to the size of the strips.

Studying With Your New Guide

1.  Have your child mix up the pile of definition strips and then place them all right side up on the table in a vertical row.
2.  Have your child mix up the pile of vocabulary words and then place them all right side up, separate from the definition strips.
3.  Your child is now ready to match the words to the definitions.  When he/she thinks their answers are correct, you can check their answers with the original study guide.  Soon, they will be able to check their answers without your help.

Children learn differently, some do best by listening, while others do better by seeing or reading their material.  In order to satisfy both styles of learning, be sure to go over the vocabulary words with your child after they feel they have mastered the study guide activity above.

Review Your Interactive Guide With Your Child

Once your child feels they have mastered their words and definitions, review this guide with them.
1.  Give your child the pile of vocabulary words while you take the pile of definition strips.
2.  Read each definition strip and have your child select the correct vocabulary word from his/her pile of words.
3.  Swap piles with your child, and test them again by  reading the definitions and having them select the proper vocabulary words.  You can choose to place the correct words to the side and only work on the mismatched ones again or  work with all the words until you feel your child is ready for their test.

You will be amazed at how well this works and how much time this will save you!  Your child will love this activity and should learn their words quickly.  After they are finished studying, they can keep this activity in a Ziploc Bag so they don’t  lose any of their strips before studying again.

I’d love to hear how this works for your family.  Please drop me a comment after the big test!