How can you tell they’ve got it: Choosing a Strategy?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: Before starting a task, name the strategy they plan to use and explain why — e.g. 'I'll make a mind map first because there's a lot to organise'; After finishing, honestly evaluate whether their chosen strategy helped or whether a different one would have been better; Describe at least three different learning strategies and explain when each works best. Or just try it together: Does your child ever talk about *how* they're going to study or practise something — and afterwards think about whether that approach worked?

Learning to Learn Ages 9–10

Choosing a Strategy

Your child picks a way to study before they start. When they finish, they think honestly about whether it helped.

In curriculum terms

Before starting a study task, choose a deliberate strategy; after finishing, evaluate honestly whether that strategy actually helped

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Before starting a task, name the strategy they plan to use and explain why — e.g. 'I'll make a mind map first because there's a lot to organise'
After finishing, honestly evaluate whether their chosen strategy helped or whether a different one would have been better
Describe at least three different learning strategies and explain when each works best

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Try this together

Does your child ever talk about *how* they're going to study or practise something — and afterwards think about whether that approach worked?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Trying a New Approachages 7–8Evaluating a strategy requires having deliberately chosen and tried different strategies — you need the switching habit first

Learning from Mistakesages 8–9Evaluating whether a strategy helped requires being able to analyse what went wrong when it didn't

Guided Multi-Step Problem Solvingages 6–7The LtL strategy evaluation skill (9-10) builds on the early scaffolded habit of checking reasonableness in maths introduced at 6-7

Multi-Step Problem Solvingages 7–8The LtL strategy evaluation skill (9-10) builds on the maths-specific checking habit developed with teacher support at 7-8

Choosing a Strategythis skill · ages 9–10

Unlocks

Finding Knowledge Gapsages 10–11Surveying understanding across a whole topic requires the strategy-evaluation habit applied at a wider scale

Stop, Think, Then Chooseages 7–9PSD decision-making skills underpin strategy selection in Learning-to-Learn

Complex Multi-Step Problemsages 9–10Planning multi-step mathematical strategies and evaluating them is the maths-specific form of the universal strategy-evaluation habit

Controlling variablesages 9–11Choosing an enquiry approach and evaluating whether it worked is the science form of the universal strategy-evaluation habit

Personal Coping Toolkitages 9–11Building a personal toolkit of self-regulation strategies and evaluating which work best is the PSD form of the universal strategy-evaluation habit

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

This skill aligns to ACARA’s General Capabilities rather than a learning-area code.

Nearby on the map

Reflecting After Learningages 9–10 Describing Rules & Patternsages 8–9 Finding Knowledge Gapsages 10–11 Learning from Mistakesages 8–9

All Learning to Learn skills →