1.     Study and review material at night before you go to sleep.  In the morning, review once more

2.     Ask questions.  Asking questions stimulates the thinking process.  Ask WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW.

3.     Exercise on a regular basis.  It increases blood flow to the brain and helps to keep you mentally alert.

4.     Use positive self-talk.  What you say to yourself affects your performance.

5.     Review and re-think as you read.  Take breaks and test yourself to see if you’re getting it.  Summarize what you have read in your own words.

6.     Listen to Mozart.  Experts believe that Mozart’s music stimulates the brain pathways that are important to thinking.

7.     Eat well.  Vitamins and minerals play an important role in brain function.

8.     Relax.  Studies strongly suggest that relaxation helps in retaining and retrieving information that we want to remember.  Check your posture and keep your shoulders back.  Take deep, relaxing breaths.

9.  Skim first, and then read for detail.  Glance over headings and subheadings, bold type, illustrations, and graphs.  Read the opening and closing paragraphs along with the first sentence of each paragraph.  Then read for detail and look for answers to questions that you have asked yourself.

10.  Be aware.  Sharpen your sense of awareness by paying closer attention to daily things around you.  Look at things in more detail.

"The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn."  ~John Lubbock