You have entered an area where Study Smart is the name... and it is also, the game.

We are here to improve students' study habits in a vibrant, educational way!
We have successfully secured a backer who is ensuring the Study Smart Board game will be out in schools and homes by May 2016. The biggest thanks to Noel from the New South Wales Parent Council for your vision to have a board game in every one of your 300 schools.

However, we thought we would take it another step further... by taking the player components online!
This will be great for students who have challenges with writing, reading and maths as it will allow them to use a dropdown menu to choose options rather than write or calculate by hand. We have seen mock ups in action working fabulously with dyslexic students and slow processors.

Here is a sneak preview - all 8 seconds of it!) of the board on the printing press... And check out Updates and Gallery for more production previews!

Our aim is now to get a board game into every school in New Zealand and Australia plus as many homes as we can. Then the world!

But wait - if you don't know me, my team and what we have already successfully created, keep reading. (If you do know and would like to see the extras we are hoping to provide please scroll down to the green-blue headings - with another $2000 we can ensure students with learning challenges can play the game online and benefit from the ideas and tips)

Study Smart is a game of life and skill and can be played at home or in school.  It has been designed especially for secondary and tertiary students looking to improve grades and exam results. Study Smart teaches you how to study, with both life skills and learning skills. It teaches you how to communicate effectively, how to wait for your turn in life and how to win and lose. Not only is it a great family activity, it teaches you and your kids excellent skills that they need in order to pass their exams with flying colours.

The board game encompasses memory skills and strategies, tips on how to learn, how to set up a study environment that works, tips on exams, how to get motivated and, perhaps most importantly, what not to do, in the form of Uh-Oh cards. The idea is to teach you how to study smarter rather than harder. Exams are not meant to make a nervous wreck out of you, they are meant to push you forward in life with confidence.

All around the world teachers ask students to “go home and study” however they do not tell them how. Our mission is to ensure every student knows how to study smart to pass their exams. 

I’m Karen Boyes, designer & facilitator of the Study Smart workshops and webinars. I have previous designed an app: iStudyAlarm which students throughout the world are using to assist them in their study and keep them focused and on task. I have produced two rap songs, mini study videos and 2 books; 27 Study Tips for Success (now on it’s 12th reprint) and Study Smart e-book.  I have spent 21 years researching and refining my knowledge of how the brain learns and remembers and have presented this information in 18 countries.

Several years ago I started developing this game for students to learn how to study. It had been sitting on my shelf and I last year I pulled it out to play with students. They loved it. Not only were they engaged and focused while playing - they also were learning how to study, and practising all those ‘old fashion’ skills of taking turns, discussing, co-operating and being social. 

I see this game being used in classrooms - teachers might use it for study classes, form classes, wet lunchtimes and as a full on instruction on study skills - without the teacher needing any in-depth knowledge of neurology or brain functioning (the foundation of the tips within the game.)

This game will also be great in family homes, playing together as a family. Not only to teach the ideas for the students, it will give parents the confidence to know how to help their students at home. 

The object of the game is to get the highest marks in all of your subjects. 

So how does the game work? Each player is issued with a player profile. This states their current subjects, grades and the target to become an A+ student. Each player takes turns to move around the board and lands on one of 6 options; Learning Styles, Memory Strategies, Motivation, Study Tips, Study Environment and Uh-Oh’s. 

They then pick the corresponding card from the centre of the board, read it aloud so all players have the benefit of learning the tip. Each card has a tip and how many subject the players marks will increase if they use the tip. They then spin the spinner to find out how many marks they may increase. The player then adjusts their grades accordingly and also must record 3 tips from each category on their master sheet. The winner is the person that has an A+ grade for each subject and 15 tips (3 in each area) recorded on their player sheet.

In the Box:

• The Game Board
• 15 Study Tips Cards
  
• 15 Environment Cards
  
• 15 Memory Cards
  
• 15 Learning Style Cards
  
• 15 Motivation Cards
  
• 15 Uh-Oh Cards
  
• 6   Player tokens
  
• 14 Player profiles
  
• 1   Die
  
• 1   Spinner
  
• 6   Pencils
  
• 1   Pad of Player Sheets 
  

Our original goal was to fund the making of the game - and with the NSW Parent Association's support, we have done that! The game is now currently at the printers! Now we have new goals in place to increase students' abilities to study smart (see below for our exciting stretch goals!)