Victus Study Skills System: A TOS Crew Review

Victus Study Skills System

Effective study skills are a must!  Victus Study Skills System,  gives you a way to teach study skills with their K-College set of products.

We have been using Victus Study Skills System for the past several years, you can check out our previous review.    I was excited to see how they have expanded!  We have students in almost every level, so we were able to use most.  Our main focus was with Level 2 (3-5th grade), Level 3 (6-11th) and Level 4 (College).

The full program includes:

Level 1: Primary (K-2/3) 

Teacher Supplement
Student Workbook

Level 2: Elementary (2/3-4/5)
Teacher Supplement
Student Workbook

Level 3 (5/6-10/11)
Teacher Edition
Student Workbook


Level 4 (10/11-College)
College Student Workbook

Other Products
Student Planner

This effective program is made up of 10 lessons, or approximately 5 hours of instruction.  The lessons are the same across all the levels, but geared to the correct age/grade.  I LOVE this feature, it means I can teach all of my kids at the same time!

The basic idea is that we need to teach our students HOW to study, not just WHAT to study.  Victus is a latin word that means "way of life".  These important skills can simply become their "way of life".  I know that my two college age students, who learned this system several years ago, are STILL using their study skills daily (shameless bragging... they are both 4.0 GPA college Junior and Freshman!)

The program focuses on  3 cornerstone questions:

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

We sat down together to begin with simple steps to asses how our study habits are right now, and what our learning strengths are.  My testers were fascinated to learn if they were visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners.  I was fascinated to learn that I had all of them to teach to!  The differences in the levels are in age appropriateness. For example, in Level 2 - they checked off statements they thought applied to them, in Level 3 & 4 they completed a questionnaire by using numbers to rate statements.

I love that this program works so well with all ages!   After they all discovered this first cornerstone, the discussions kept on going.  Suddenly, they understood more about their study skills and study needs.  This alone would have been worth the investment.

But, the program does go on, the second cornerstone - Where do I want to be?  This proved to be the ah-ha moment for my middle schooler using Level 3.  The section starts with a page of successful people, and gives us a glimpse at their story.  They all had experienced failure, and kept on going to success! In this section, they are encouraged to create a mission statement and SMART goals. 

The "How do I get there?" section focuses on the skills they need to study.  Topics include time management and organization.  The program teaches them a handy PQRST acronym to learn to read effectively.  Even my youngest tester can easily remember it!  Other important strategies are taught - like how to take notes, prepare and take tests, and many other solidly helpful study tips.

The Teacher Edition is a must have component, it contains everything you need to teach the study skills system.  It gives a through overview, effective techniques and copies of the Student view pages.  The Purpose - Preparation - Procedure method is used to teach the lessons.  I found it to be so useful, not only for teaching the lessons, but for teaching myself! Take a peek at this video:

I think the College level should be a mandatory course for all of your high school students. My older sons actually took their copies with them.  Do them a favor, get them started now.

My testers all enjoyed this program.  The books are not flashy,  one of my testers thought they looked a bit "old fashioned".  But, their hesitation disappeared as we started with the lessons.  The information is truly useful and really sticks!

We HIGHLY recommend Victus, it is important information you will keep on using!

Find Victus Study Skills System on Social Media:


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VictusStudySkillsSystem/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/victusstudy
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/victusstudy/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZQ_3UrSbjae4ooEJhJI4bA

Hashtags: #hsreviews #studyskills #education #kidslovereading #literacy #read

See what the other members of the Crew thought here

Making the Grade - How to Study at the College Level: A Bentz Bunch Review

Making the Grade - How to Study at the College Level- by Mark Pruitt


What is the hardest thing about college?  Right - the studying part... Are your students ready?  Making the Grade -How to Study at the College Level by Mark Pruitt gives you the tools you need to make sure they have developed the study skills they will need.

Mark Pruitt is the Associate Director of Admissions at Harding University.  He has written this study skills program to help your college students develop great study skill and  "dominate" their college classes with excellent study skills.

The Course consists of three components: 

• The Book - a 200 + page, softcover guide.
• The Student Workbook - 10 days of lessons with worksheets, quizzes, and a final exam
• The DVD - 3 sections.

Let me tell you about each part.  First, the book.  It's really much more than just how to develop great study habits, it's also filled with inspiration on time management and college life skills! A perfect book for your high school or college age student to read.  Mark's book is written directly to the student, broken down into short, easy lessons.  Each short chapter is actually a lesson.  Some lessons are only a page long, making this an easy addition to your student's schedule.  

The basic study skills program is a 4 step system (you'll have to buy the program to learn them).  What I love is how this author relates to students.  His experience with college students shows through in his writing.  Now that I have 2 college students myself, I relate!

The section on time management s filled with bits of wisdom for students.  From daily naps to "spontaneity kills"  these chapters will help your student with practical steps to getting control of their most precious resource and defeating common "time bombs" of stress and discouragement.

The final section - "Pruitt's Course on College Life" is my favorite.  It's basically a pep talk for college - what to expect, how to succeed and an honest look at some "dos" and "don'ts".

The Workbook is a companion with both student and teacher sections.  It takes the lessons in the book and creates a 10 day, self-paced study course with the book and DVD .  This should be a required course for your high school students that are heading off to college! 

The focus is on learning to take great notes, write papers, read effectively, take tests, turn in great projects, manage time, and generally have a great college experience.

The DVD is broken into 3 sections:  How to "Dominate your College Classes", "How to take Great Notes" and "How to Manage your Time so you can have a life".  Mark teaches directly to the student on these recorded lessons.  I enjoyed watching him myself, it's a great introduction to college style learning!

Overall, I was genuinely impressed with Making the Grade.  My two oldest are current college students.  I asked them to read it, and watch some of the teaching.  They both agreed it was filled with practical tips they could easily implement.  Their first semester grades reflected what they had learned... both have 4.0 GPA and made the Provost's List!  

I highly recommend Making the Grade!  It's practical and easy-to-use.  Mark Pruitt generously shares his years of wisdom with your student, it's like getting a personal college counselor.  I think, this book would also make a great graduation gift for those Seniors in your life. If you have students heading off to college, do them a favor and buy them this program!

Disclaimer:

I was given a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Victus Study Skills System: A TOS Crew Review

Victus Study Skills System by Victus Study Skills System  Student Workbook - $20  - and Teacher Edition - $40
"The Latin word victus means a way of life. The Victus Study Skills System is based on the premise that effective study is best when it is a system of study and when it becomes a way of life."
The Bentz Test Laboratory has a goal that all our testers will love to learn, but love to study?  Hmmm... how are we doing on that one? We decided to take a look at our study habits while working on this program.
Check out a short intro video for the Victus Study Skills System:

The 3 cornerstone questions for personal success are each addressed:  "Where are you now?",  "Where do you want to be?", and "How do you get there?" Using a teacher led model:  purpose, preparation and procedure are covered in 10 sessions designed to be taught sequentially in 5 - 1 hour sessions. The actual amount of time spent on each lesson will vary from student to student, but it is important to maintain the sequence of the lessons in the order they are presented.  The Teacher Edition will help you understand the scheme of the course, the lessons to be taught, and offers supplemental materials to use throughout the course.  The Student Edition contains all the worksheets and forms to complete as they work through the concepts.
The Bentz Test Laboratory has several testers in high school, or about to enter it.  We decided to work through the Victus Study Skills System together for this review.
Lesson 1 focuses on "Where am I now?" - They do this by completing a study habits checklist, investigating learning strengths and determining your own learning strength.  We have spent some time reviewing our learning styles, and most of my testers felt pretty confident that they know "where they are now", definitely a good place to start!  Lesson  2 & 3  dive into "Where do I want to be?" with mission statements, goals/priorities, and a very helpful chart for developing SMART -specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound goals for each season of the year.  This was extremely useful for my testers.  It forced them to evaulate their goals to come up with personal objectives plus an action plan in various areas - academics, extracurricular, physical fitness/health, and family/personal areas.  I realized that we talk about our "plans" frequently - but, have never actually put pen to paper with a written outline of specific goals.  This is such a great exercise - I recommend all parents participate as well!  Each of my testers completed this session with a summer reading plan, a community service project they would like to get involved in, a spiritual growth goal, and a plan for a physical fitness activity to participate in.  Best of all, we can go back and evaluate how we did!  We will definitely use this tool each season.    Sessions 4 - 10 concentrate on "How do I get there?" -   Time management, organization and study environment, PQRST (a new way to read material), listening skills, note taking, test taking, and a review of what they have learned are all covered with helpful teaching, tips and practice examples.  These are all effective, easy-to-use tips and tools that every student should learn how to use.  My testers were eager to learn new test taking procedures, as our standardized testing is right around the corner.  I realized that in our homeschool environment - my testers had rarely ever taken notes.  The note-taking instruction and practice was a valuable tool they will need in college.  They practiced these new skills by taking sermon notes at church too! 
The Appendix offers reproducible forms to help with goal setting, getting organized, schedules, and mnemonic devices and strategies to reinforce the skills they have been learning.
This is just the practical, logical, step-by-step how-to that my testers needed to help them succeed at study. It's not a long, complicated course.  It's a straightforward, easy to implement path to better study skills.
I think every student should take some time to work through the material in this program.  It is useful and motivating, not just for your students - but for homeschooling parents as well!
Find Victus Study Skills on Facebook and Twitter
Check out what the rest of the Crew had to say here!