Improving Study Skills in Middle School Online Nowadays, people and institutions anywhere in the world could easily connect with each other through the internet. Children can attend classes and earn educational credits without going to school. This is done through online learning institutions that can reach students anywhere in the world for as long as there is an internet connection. Some people think that only online college or graduate and post-graduate programs can be had online but nowadays, the scope of online education also covers elementary and high school programs. Most parents home-schooling their children resort to online schools rather than hire private tutors especially if they are too busy to teach their own children. On the other hand, there are also students who are currently enrolled in a traditional school but take online courses for enhancement or for advanced studies. Whatever reasons they have, many students are now turning to online programs for their learning needs, and this gives them an edge over students enrolled in formal classrooms in terms of improving their study skills. Attending online classes is convenient but students need to have excellent study skills to survive. Because of this, students learn to develop study skills that will help them perform well and move into the next level. The demands of online middle schools courses provide students with reasons to improve their study skills. First, students do not have face to face contact with teachers so they cannot ask questions anytime. To do better, they have to study independently. They need to learn how to use the abundant resources that the online school provides to help them with their lessons. They must read several reading materials, conduct experiments for their science subject on their own, discover how to solve math problems, and study on their own instead of listening to teachers lecturing and explaining the lessons. Second, they learn how to plan out their day so that they have time for their classes, aside from their other activities at home. Most students attending a middle school online do so because they want to have a more flexible schedule. These students learn early how to divide their study hours in order to have time for all their subjects. It is for them to decide how many minutes they need to complete an activity for a certain subject. They can spend two hours for math if it is needed and probably, just a few minutes for subjects in which they excel. Third, students learn to develop their own learning techniques. Since students have the freedom to find ways on how to make learning easy, they develop their own techniques at an early age. For example, they can formulate their own method in solving math problems, instead of just relying on procedures stated in the books or recommended by their teachers. Students studying online have the privilege to make decisions that will affect their school performance. They decide where to have classes and at what time to have them and this means that they can study in in an environment where they can have comfort and peace; unlike in traditional schools where they cannot choose where and when to have classes. Because of their high involvement in these aspects, they tend to have improved study skills compared to their counterparts who are enrolled in traditional schools in their localities or neighborhoods.