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Education Expert: Give Students a "Home Office" for Good Study Habits in the New School Year

Parents who want to give their students a learning advantage this school year should set them up with a home office, accelerated learning expert Bobbi DePorter advises.

San Diego, CA (Vocus) September 2, 2010 -- Parents who want to give their students a learning advantage this school year should set them up with a home office, accelerated learning expert Bobbi DePorter advises.   DePorter, founder of the SuperCamp summer enrichment programs, was recently featured on Fox Business News discussing ways to help students do their best in school. She says giving kids their own comfortable, customized study space is a key to getting them to enjoy learning.

“Having a supportive and encouraging study space of their own can help students — whether they are in grade school, middle school, high school or even college — to develop good study and work habits,” says DePorter, who has written more than a dozen books on education.

Having a dedicated space stocked with a computer, books, good lighting, encouraging posters, calendars and other study aids gives students “an anchor, a focus,” for doing well in school, DePorter says. She offers these tips to create the perfect home study space:

1.   Establish a defined study area – The study area should be quiet and away from distractions. It can be the student’s bedroom, a spare room, a den, loft or nook.2.   Get kids involved – Taking kids shopping for furnishings gets them excited about the idea, DePorter says. “They may start off saying ‘I don’t need it,’ but take them on a shopping trip and most kids will get interested in a hurry.”3.   Get creative – “It doesn’t have to look like a desk and a straight-back chair,” she advises. “Get your child involved in customizing and designing it.”4.   Discover learning styles – People learn by sight (visual), sound (auditory) and hands-on touch (kinesthetic) with most learners favoring one method. DePorter advises parents to discover their child’s learning style and help them equip their study space in complementary ways. For instance, bulletin boards and flip charts are good for visual learners, while a tape recorder is invaluable for auditory learners.5.   Add music – “Brain friendly” music such as classical and Baroque helps students focus, while music with lyrics is generally distracting, DePorter says.6.   Time management – Encourage kids to study in a focused state with breaks every 20 or 30 minutes, providing a timer for this purpose. Use a calendar or daily planner and help schedule study time leading up to tests and break up assignments into manageable tasks. Following a planned approach gives students an opportunity to review content more than once, increases their ability to remember at test time and reduces stress.

“Each moment contains magical opportunities. At SuperCamp we call this concept ‘This is it!,” DePorter says. “It’s one of our 8 Keys of Excellence that we teach. It’s about being fully engaged in the now. Kids who practice this in their study habits learn the focus, curiosity and work ethic that can earn them high marks in school, work and all their endeavors in life.”

About Bobbi DePorter: Bobbi DePorter, teen motivation and accelerated learning expert, has changed the lives of over five million kids through her SuperCamp and Quantum Learning school programs and is author of more than a dozen books, including The Seven Biggest Teen Problems and how to turn them into Strengths (An Insider's Look at What Works with Teens). For more information, visitand .

Media Contact:Michelle Tennant NicholsonWasabi Publicity, Inc.828-749-3200storytellertothemedia(at)gmail(dot)com ###

Wasabi Publicity, Inc.Michelle Tennant828-749-3200