Field Guide to High School: An 8-Week Program Build the Skills School Demands

The summer before high school is the last clear window to build the skills that determine how the first year goes.Field Guide to High School is an 8-week structured high school preparation program that teaches the executive function and study skills high school expects students to arrive with but rarely explains. One skill per week, Monday through Friday, through short readings and hands-on exercises grounded in cognitive science and learning psychology.Most middle schools never teach time management, note-taking, study strategy, or how to plan backward from a deadline. High school assumes all of it on day one. That gap is where capable kids begin to fall apart. Not because they aren't smart, but because nobody handed them the operating system.This program does.Over eight weeks, students build: - Daily routines that catch mistakes before they cost something- Note-taking methods that turn class time into usable study material- Time management systems and backward planning from real deadlines- Strategies for breaking down complex, multi-step assignments- Memory and study techniques based on how the brain actually retains information- Critical thinking skills that work in classrooms, conversations, and life- Self-assessment habits that keep everything running after the program ends- A personal academic system they designed, tested, and refined themselvesEach concept is explained. Each exercise proves it. Each week builds on the last.This is not a pep talk. Not generic tips. Not a list of strategies to try someday.It's a complete preparation program. By Week 8, your student doesn't just understand these skills. They own a working system they built themselves.Who this program is for: - Parents of rising 9th graders who want their student to enter high school prepared, not reactive- Families who know their student is capable but not yet consistent- Students who have never been explicitly taught how to organize, plan, and study effectively- Any family facing the middle-to-high-school transition and looking for something structuredDesigned for completion during the summer before high school. Effective anytime a student needs to build the foundation that school assumed they already had.The student builds the system. The system does the rest.

Pages: 660, Paperback, Dotted Eye Press