Is Your Focus on Middle School?

Every day you fight an uphill battle. Your students have entered these tumultuous years of middle school and can’t manage the transition. They are disengaged. They’ve been passed through elementary, but are not prepared for the demands of middle school. And now you’re supposed to effectively teach them.

study skills for middle school, middle school study skills

Everything is pressurized in middle school!
The stakes are rising. Students have more independence, but less motivation.
The right study skills relieve the pressure, empower students, build grit, and ignite motivation!

Students come from a “teacher-directed” environment; now they’re expected to be “self-directed.”  But they don’t have the skills to be successful in this environment!  They have more commitments and a lot more distractions. And, peers now have a much greater influence than teachers.

Students lack confidence. They’re disorganized. Their lockers are a mess.  They can’t keep track of their homework, papers, assignments, or responsibilities.  And during these tough years, they have more pressure and less motivation.

They care more about their cell phone than they do about their grades.

Students have a “fixed mindset.” They don’t even realize they can make changes in their life.  They think they’ll never be successful and are destined to simply endure these school years.

Students and parents approach middle school holding their breath to “just get through it.” Parents are far more disconnected than they were in elementary school. Teachers feel ineffective. Students simply don’t care.

There Has to Be a Better Way to Reach Your Students!

This is not what you envisioned “teaching” to be when you were in college.  You want to make a difference, you want to matter, and you want your students to learn.

The system has become so indifferent to the individual needs of your students. It’s not your fault, today’s focus is on teaching content and flooding the curriculum with standardized tests.

Your students haven’t learned the key skills that can make them successful, organized, efficient, and effective learners.  So students are lucky to get near the target, let alone hit the bulls-eye.

“More” Is Not the Solution.

The misconception is that “more” is better.  Teach more hours and more curriculum to make your students learn better.   Say, another hour a day?  Would that help?  How about adding more homework? More assessments?  More…more… MORE!

No, these are NOT solutions.

“Yeah, I’m Going to Need You to Come in on Saturday…”

"Yeah, I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday..."

Working harder and longer is NOT the answer!

Education Is Ignoring a Fundamental Law of the Universe!

There is a Universal Law of the Universe that holds the solution.  That Law is known as the 80/20 Principle. The 80/20 Principle states that a mere 20% of actions produces a whopping 80% of results, or 80% of effects comes from just 20% of causes.

For example…

For example…

80% of your time is spent on reaching just 20% of your students.  During an eight-hour workday with 100 students, this means you’ve spent over six hours on just 20 students.

Inversely, it means that 20% of your time reaches 80% of your students. So, less than two hours of your day is available for you remaining 80 students. However, if you use 80/20 to your advantage, you can harness the 20% of your energy that will have 80% of impact… for all students! You can use this principal to make your life easier and increase you and your students’ efficiency, energy, and success.

Imagine actually working less and having a greater impact on your students… Spending more time teaching is NOT efficient.

Teach the Most Important 20%!

The simplest approach to apply the 80/20 Principle is to teach your students study skills.  They become more efficient and organized learners; you spend less time chasing them down for assignments and missed papers.

Research proves that study skills improves motivation by a factor of 3x!1 This data comes from Carol Dweck, Ph.D, author of the landmark book, Mindset. With these skills, students take more ownership over their learning. Confident students challenge themselves!

80/20 applies to the Common Core, too!  The Common Core Anchor Standards are the “20%” of skills with the greatest impact! The creators of Common Core originally designed the Anchor Standards to describe “outcomes” for graduating 12th graders.

What they didn’t realize is those “outcomes” are really study skills!

When students learn study skills, they perform better on standardized tests because they know how to learn.  Simply, they retain more content, in less time.

Students will be ready for high school and beyond. Study skills apply to real-life – not just school. These skills are critically in demand in the workplace, too!  A scientific survey of employers in growing sectors2 -such as healthcare and technology- determined of their top 50 “most-needed” skills; 95% of them were “soft skills.” In education, we call them “study skills.”

You will have empowered your students to be self-directed.  Self-directed students have confidence. Confident students strive to learn more.  Students who learn more perform better.  Better performing students reduces your stress. Less stress makes you happier.


“So, Where Do I Begin?”

There is one complete solution available. 

That solution…

The Solution is the SOAR® Soft Skills Curriculum, where students learn how to effectively:

  • Identify students' strengths & “SuperPowers” (according to Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences)
  • Set goals
  • Establish priorities
  • Manage time
  • Organize papers, desks, lockers, & other space
  • Speak & listen effectively
  • Work with teachers & peers
  • Read and understand textbooks
  • Take notes
  • Study for tests
  • Write research papers
  • Prepare for presentations
  • Track long-term goals

The SOAR® curriculum is used in thousands of schools. SOAR® has been THE best-selling study skills book, in the world, since 2007!


Is Your Focus Also On…?

At-Risk & Title 1?

Special Education or RTI?

Career & Technical Education?

Private Schools?

SOAR® Learning & Soft Skills Curriculum

The SOAR® Learning & Soft Skills curriculum includes our award-winning student workbook, student app, and popular Multi-Media Teacher's Guide. Explore the curriculum below...

RTI-SOL App&Books

Student App

Click here to access a video preview of the SOAR® Learning & Soft Skills Student App.

Multi-Media Teacher's Guide

Click here to access a video preview of the SOAR® Learning & Soft Skills Multi-Media Teacher's Guide.

Schedule Options for Teaching SOAR® 

Wondering what the best way to structure your study skills class is? Click here for ideas.

Interested in Training?

SOAR® Learning & Soft Skills offers a variety of training options to meet your needs. Click here to learn more.

Teacher Survey

Do the teachers at your school think “study skills” can help your students? Print this survey and find out.

What Grade Levels Benefit from SOAR®?

To see a continuum matching age-appropriate skills to grades 4-12, click here.

We Offer a 100% Money-Back Guarantee

guarantee-transpSOAR® Is Guaranteed to Provide:

  • a 0.5% GPA increase across your student body.
  • a 20% improvement in student confidence and attitude, as measured by the pre and post Study Skills Scorecard.
  • a 30% reduction in missing assignments.

…or we will issue a full refund, as part of our 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Pricing and Order Information

Click here to access updated pricing and ordering information.

Contact Us

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Get A Free Digital Review Copy

Fill out the form to the right to receive a preview of our award-winning SOAR® Learning & Soft Skills student book, student app, and Multi-Media Teacher's Guide.

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Includes Information on SOAR's #1 World-Wide, Best-Selling Learning & Soft Skills Curriculum

1http://www.mindsetworks.com/websitemedia/info/brainology_intro_pres.pdf
2http://www.advantageoakland.com/ResearchPortal/Documents/wd_skillsneedsreport2009.pdf


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