Revising for exams after a long day at school…
Trying to encourage your child to open up their books and start studying, after a day at school, can be a challenge! We can probably empathise, to some extent. After a day of working intensely, finding the motivation to carry on can seem a real slog.
However, teachers will be expecting your child to complete some revision during the evenings. They will be applying some pressure. This is not to say that teachers are expecting teens to lock themselves away all night poring over their studies and notes! But there will be an anticipation for realistic time to be put aside in the evenings, for revision. Revision really will ‘pay off’ in the long run!
First of all, try and think flexibly. If they start doing an hour’s revision, four times a week, and you find that they’re struggling or not really retaining the information anyway, why not cut back to forty minutes for those evenings instead? If there’s an exam looming, they might want to ‘up’ their revision time a couple of nights prior to the exam, but again- think sensibly- they don’t want to be worn out before sitting the paper! It’s all about finding an individual balance that’s suitable for your child- and trial and error in the lead up to the serious exam season is usually best!
Another top tip is to consider the evening’s as a ‘booster session.’ It can be helpful for students to consider what they have been learning or revising in their subjects that same day. What can they do to secure that knowledge? Is it helpful for them to talk it through with you? It is a good time to make some flashcards? Whatever works- try and secure some of the information that evening. Information that is properly learnt is much easier to come back to later down the line.
Many students attend revision sessions, run by teachers after school. These can of course be another way of committing to a certain amount of time focused solely on revision. In addition to this, is it certainly worth considering external revision sessions, such as the courses we provide. Although our courses run in the school holidays, they can be a brilliant way to intensify and revisit work that your teen has spent time on in their evenings. If they have any gaps in their knowledge; if they’ve struggled on particular aspects, or if they just want someone to expertly lead them through a topic again, we can certainly help! If your student has been revising across some of their evenings every week, they will probably have a clear idea of what they’re not sure of- and we can support them in addressing these areas!
Finally, it can feel like a complete minefield when a student knows they might have six exams coming up, spread over three days, across four different subjects. And this is probably the real challenge! What to do first? How to get the balance right? This is where it can be a really good idea to seek guidance and advice, either from teachers or from ourselves, by attending one of our courses. We also cover exam advice and specialists share their wisdom with your child- ask those in the know. There’s often a different answer to this, depending on the capability and situation of your child. Because our courses are intense- with only 12 students per session- we get to know your child and will be able to answer their questions.
Find out more about our Easter Revision Course for April 2018