Victus Study Skills Review

Our boys have never learnt how to study properly, so when we were chosen to review the Teacher and Student Workbooks from Victus Study Skills System we were so excited.

To achieve excellence in academics, students need to learn how to study effectively. Victus Study Skills System teaches children proper study habits that complement their learning style, which will help them study efficiently and effectively. This program was written by professional educators specifically to help children develop study skills that will help them in their education and in life.

The word “victus” in Latin means “way of life.” The aim of this course is to help students develop good study skills and habits, learn time management, goal-setting and planning.

The four goals of The Victus Study Skills System are:

Zeal without knowledge is not good, but zeal with knowledge bears fruit.
Results come from the process.
Any system with all of its components must have an aim or purpose.
An effective system of study has the greatest likelihood of aiding in success.

This study system is brilliant for all students, especially those in Grades 5 through 12 as it offers skills that can be used immediately in the subjects they are completing as well as skills they will need for life.

This course can be completed in five one-hour sessions or broken up into 15 minute segments, making it easy to fit into any schedule. It is suggest that you complete all ten lessons in a 5-day school week.

The 10 lessons are:

Introduction and Study Habits Checklist
Learning Strengths
Mission and Goal Setting
Time Management
Organization and Study Environment
PQRST
Listening
Note Taking
Test Taking
Review

These lessons are broken down into three Foundational Cornerstones:

Where am I now?
Where do I want to be?
How do I get there?

After receiving a copy of the Teacher Edition I read through it, so I could fully understand how to teach this program to my children. I used this product with my oldest boy, who completed the Student Workbook, while my youngest boy sat in and listened.

I found it was better for us, to break down the learning into 15 minute sessions for our boys, mainly due to their age.

While I found they did learn many skills, they were a little young to utilise the program fully. I will continue to reinforce these skills as they grow older and are able to comprehend them fully.

We spent some time organising their learning space, making a special place for them that was comfortable, free from any distractions and included all the stationery and books that required.

For the majority of their school work, the boys are completing the ACE curriculum. Every Sunday we sit down and plan how many pages of each subject they are going to complete in the coming week.

Each day, they complete their pages in their PACEs, making sure they take time for breaks. When they complete and pass a test they are rewarded with a star sticker on their work charts.

Though we already have a good routine for the boys in completing their schoolwork, this study system has given us more ideas on how we can improve the structure of our study habits by implementing ideas from the Victus Study Skills System.

I recommend this very enjoyable and useful study system for our boys. We have had a great time using it and have found it to be an extremely valuable course. We will continue to reinforce what we have learnt and incorporate it more into our homeschool. By creating good study habits and life skills while they are still young, will enable them to set and achieve goals in their future.