GED Test Tip: Finding Time to Study

By Leonard Williams

One of the biggest challenges for GED students is finding time to study, or developing a daily study routine, especially if you’re a student managing a self-guided program to get ready for the GED exam.

For adult students who attend GED classes regularly, studying is often easier. Classes help create a routine, and involve learning and applying the material candidates need to know to earn the General Education Development credential. Or, students in class find it easier to get into a study routine because they’re preparing for classes, practicing GED sample questions or completing homework assignments. Or, they may form small study groups and just meeting together creates study routines and motivation.

But sometimes, even GED students who attend classes need help developing study habits and a regular study routine. Often students who haven’t succeeded in classrooms find class learning boring or tedious, and they’ll have little motivation to study.

The best study routine involves daily study, especially if the knowledge learned is new. Using new knowledge every day is the key to owning it; and this learning method is completely different from memorization. Whether students are in a classroom, using an online GED program, taking GED sample tests, free GED study guide or managing their own GED exam preparation, daily study works.

So how do busy adults with lots of job and family obligations find time to study? Here are some 10-minute study tips that have proven successful for PassGED students:

10-Minute Study Tips

1. Study a problem or read a book, newspaper or magazine first thing in the morning, even if you only have 10 minutes. You can use a problem from a GED exam practice test, a short section from your GED exam prep materials or a paragraph from the GED sample questions. Or, you might choose a short passage such as a newspaper article, editorial or a magazine insight piece. Don’t worry about finishing the problem or passage; just concentrating on something for 10 minutes is the trick.
2. During the day, spend 10 minutes thinking about what you read or studied in the morning. If it’s something you read, think about the words and the feelings those words create. Consider how the passage or words apply to something else, or another situation. If it’s a math problem, try writing it down and working on it in different ways. Don’t worry if you can’t remember the problem or words exactly. The key is to use the new knowledge; just get into the mind of the problem or the words for 10 minutes.
3. Late in the day, spend 5 minutes really thinking about what you read or studied again, and you’ll suddenly see and understand the knowledge more clearly. Make sure you spend a minute or two thinking about why it’s clear – this is key!
4. At the end of the day, spend 5 minutes reviewing or reworking the problem, and determine what you learned from the study activity or the free GED study guide. Then tell yourself how smart you are, how much you accomplished and give yourself a reward.

At day’s end, you’ve managed to study for 30 minutes, despite a busy schedule and life’s demands. More importantly, the time spent isn’t just about studying — it’s about learning. You’ll learn since using knowledge means owning knowledge. And that’s what it takes to pass the GED exam.

Additional Resources/ free study guides for GED

• Author Leonard Williams and virtual passGED students have developed a movie that answers the most common questions about the GED. The movie also spotlights how students really ‘get into the mind’ of material, a good study tip. The movie is about eight minutes … Watch the Movie.
• Need Word help? Follow this link for an online dictionary and reference site. www.dictionary.com
• Project Connect provides online information and lessons for ESL students. Sponsored by PBS. Click for Connect
• Adult Learning offers free interactive activities to improve reading skills, offered by California Distance Learning Project. http://www.cdlponline.org/

Study hard, and good luck on your GED!

About the Author: Leonard Williams, an e-learning instructor with www.passGED.com, is also a curriculum specialist who focuses on research and development, implementation and assessment of best-practice learning solutions for adult learners and people with educational challenges. You can contact Leonard at: ContactUs. He invites feedback and questions from GED instructors and students.

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GED Test Tip: Finding Time to Study by Leonard Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.passged.com.