Exam period can be a pretty stressful period of time for your child, especially when they’re young and inexperienced.
As a caring parent that wants to support your child throughout their exam period, it’s natural to want to help.
There are various tips that you should bear in mind when you’re looking for ways in which to help your child through their exam period. 5 tips to help your child prepare for exams include:
- Encourage them to begin studying early
- Hire a tutor
- Make revision fun
- Ensure they get regular study breaks
- Provide a quiet environment for your child to revise in
1. Encourage Them To Begin Studying Early
The early bird catches the worm, and when it comes to your child preparing for exams, an essential tip to bear in mind is to encourage them to begin studying early.
While each child is different, studying early means that no stone will be left unturned, giving them the time to prioritise topics that they’re not as confident on.
As a result, your child will be able to cover every topic in detail and will be more confident when exam day rolls around.
This will help to minimise the stress associated with exams for your child, giving them space to revise with plenty of time to spare.
2. Hire A Tutor
Another tip to help your child prepare for exams is to hire a professional 1-1 tutor.
The great thing about private tutors is that they provide your child with revision notes, help them improve on topics they’re not as confident with, and help them to gain a better understanding in a one on one environment.
That said, it’s essential that you find a tutor that aligns with your child’s preferred learning style as they need to be able to gel with their tutor and get the most out of their sessions.
When looking for a tutor, be sure to look for one that is patient, passionate about teaching, and has a teaching style that your child can get on board with.
3. Make Revision Fun
There’s no denying that revision is never going to be your children’s favourite activity, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways that you can make it fun for your child to help them prepare for exams.
Studies suggest that ‘superior learning takes place when classroom experiences are enjoyable’, meaning incorporating an engaging game into your child’s revision can help them to retain more information.
While you should encourage your child to focus on the hard topics first as their concentration will be the best when they first begin revising, you can reward them with a revision game later on in the day.
Not only will this provide your child with the motivation to get the harder topics out of the way, but incorporating a game into their study sessions will also create a fun and engaging learning environment.
4. Ensure They Get Regular Study Breaks
A good way to help your child to prepare for exams is to ensure that they get regular study breaks.
As the attention span of a child is significantly shorter when compared to adults, it’s important that you’re ensuring they get regular breaks when they’re revising for exams.
If your child doesn’t take regular breaks, then this can have a significant impact not only on their productivity but also their concentration.
If your child isn’t able to concentrate, then the likelihood of them retaining the information that they’re learning decreases significantly.
As each child is unique, you will also need to determine when your child focuses best throughout the day and when they should take a break.
You’ll likely get a better understanding of this once they start, so be prepared for them to adapt their day to fit them.
5. Provide A Quiet Environment For Your Child To Revise In
Last, but by no means least, an essential tip to help your child prepare for exams is to provide them with a quiet environment to revise in.
Data has shown that generally, children with a ‘desk and a quiet place to study do better in school’, as this eliminates the various distractions that children can experience at home.
This theory is supported by a survey carried out on homeschooling. Out of the 2,757 responses collected, 17% of parents claimed a lack of a ‘suitable study area is a key barrier to learning’.
Providing your child with somewhere quiet that they can study will do the world of good in them getting the most out of their revision, significantly helping them to prepare for exams.
Written by Jemima for Motivational Fact, on behalf of GCSE Masterclass, a one to one tuition business