Ms. Vitale
AP Biology

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD SUCCEED IN AP BIOLOGY…

1. Quiet structured study time
• Help your child to establish a study routine by setting up a quiet study area and a
consistent quiet study time nightly. The routine will help them practice good study
habits for college.

• 
  Should the study area be their bedroom or a family area, like the dining
  room?
  That depends on your household and your child. If your child is self-motivated and
  can work steadily without supervision, then a quiet desk space in their bedroom
  would work well. However, if their bedroom is equipped with distractions like a
  stereo or TV, then this might not be conducive to concentrating on homework and
  the family area may work better.
  
  2. Work on Biology EVERY night
  • For your child to stay up-to-date in this course they need to spend some time on
  biology every night. The ideal would be about one (1) hour per night or
  approximately six (6) hours per week. This would include textbook reading,note taking, lecture
  review, text CD, lab assignments, and test preparation. On weeks when they cannot
  devote that one hour on a weeknight, they should put in extra time on weekends to
  make up for it. On nights where they have minimal time, your child should at least
  review their notes
  
  3. Support Study Groups
  • Encourage your child to arrange a study group with other students in the class.
  Each student will have different strengths and weaknesses in this course. In one
  unit, your child will be the teacher to other students and in a different unit they will
  be the student. Putting two or more heads together is always a benefit. You never
  learn something as well as when you have to explain it to someone else. However
  let me emphasize that, while study groups and cooperative effort are strongly
  encouraged; on final written work, all students are required to craft their own
  answers and must have a completely uniquely worded answer for each question
  
  4. Use a Lifeline
  • Encourage your child to ask for help. I am available before school every day, and
  after school by appointment. Students also have my e-mail address and they can
  readily e-mail me for help at any time after school hours and I will make every
  effort to reply to them immediately. Do not allow them to feel like they are
  intruding, I am here to help them understand and learn to love the subject of
  Biology as much as I do.
• 5. Buy a study guide EARLY
  • Go to Barnes and Noble, have your child take all the different study guides, sit down, look at them.
    Eliminate the hardest and easiest ones. Have them pick the one they like from the remaining guides.
    After studying for a test, use the condensed chapters in the study guide to test their knowledge.
  • 
    6. Don’t Panic! Stick with it!
    • Some parts of this course will come more easily than others. Encourage your child
    to work steadily and not to be discouraged. Success will build as they improve
    their critical thinking skills and their writing ability through practice. This is a
    college course and they are working on more than learning biology; they are
    working on skills that they will use to succeed academically for years to come.
    
    Your child needs to work hard and work steadily and they will be rewarded in this course!
    
    cvitale.net
    E-mail: cvitale@fc.summit.k12.nj.us