Disclaimer: I received a copy of this program in exchange for honest review.
I am one of THOSE people. Very organized, good at school, project management, goal setting, blah, blah, blah. And hubby and I own a business and have had the pleasure of working for a company of brilliant people as well as the aggravation of working at a not-so-well-run corporation. We get it. It’s important that our kids get it. So even though my 6 year old is a little on the young side, we requested to review the Victus Study Skills System. I’m delighted we were chosen!
Victus Study Skills System
The Victus Study Skills System (VSSS) is composed of a teacher’s book and a student book that walks you through introducing the student to study skills by having them consider three questions:
- Where am I?
- Where do I want to be?
- How am I going to get there?
The books are able to be used from kindergarten to high school but work best for middle or high school age students. They cover topics such as study environment, learning styles, planning, goal setting, time management & study skills. The teacher edition is $40 and the student book is $20. There is also a self-guided book for older students that is $25, but we did not receive that for this review.
Likes and Dislikes
As I said before, we used VSSS with my 6 year old. She’s fairly mature, but she is still 6 :). We talked about the materials in the book about 5-10 minutes a day and got through about 2/3 of it in 6 weeks. And I love it. It’s fabulous.
After the first week, when we discussed study environment and learning style (which we knew), she had internalized the ideas and went into the other room when she was too distracted to work and shut the door. This may not SEEM like a big deal, but this is my child who hates to be alone and adores the company of others. For her to realize that noise is a distraction to her is a BIG deal. Especially since a previous inventory had her requesting to work in the living room instead of the kitchen.
The goal setting exercise was interesting, too. We spent another week on that. I set the first two for her because at this age, I still set most of the goals, but she set her own Math goal as well as a personal goal (dressing before coming upstairs), an extra-curricular goal of playing the piano once a day, and the other goal I can’t remember right now and I can’t find my notepad. While she isn’t great about execution at this point, she is still 6. Heck, I’m not great at execution! But any progress is still progress :D. I’m thrilled that she’s gotten this much. And she’s excited to have some responsibility over her own work next year and has asked for a planner & a desk downstairs. Be still my heart!
I’m so glad we were allowed to review the Victus Study Skills System. It’s really an excellent, systematic and logical way to encourage your children to do their personal best. This is one of those things that I consider vital to teach…and didn’t have a clue how to start teaching it. With Lil’ Bit, we did most of it orally due to her age. The workbook wasn’t much use for her right now; we are still working on handwriting. We are definitely going to revisit this in 3rd or 4th grade when she can really get rolling in all those ideas.
The teachers edition of the Victus Study Skills System guides all the teaching and helps you explain the importance of the topics and how they connect together. It also has all the student pages printed inside the manual with answers. My only problem with it is that there was one page where you cannot read the text on the student page. It didn’t embed properly or something and its just a bunch of boxes (the beginning inventory if you are curious), so I used the student book. There is also a great appendix to support the use of the skills the student learns.
Summary
Overall, Victus Study Skills System is fabulous! As an employer & businesswoman, I believe these are such important skills to have. As a homeschool mom, I’m so glad to have an easy way to teach them! The books are spiral bound with quality paper for easy use and will hold up with frequent reference.
It’s small and would make a great late summer or early fall ease-into-school project. While these are best used in middle or high school, do not be afraid to get it out much sooner, especially if your child is mature, gifted. If they are a little…reluctant, shall we say?, it might do them good to show them the big picture. Every homeschool student should use Victus Study Skills System.
Click here to read other reviews of the Victus Study System by Schoolhouse Review Crew members.
