As exams draw near, it is natural for both students and parents to be tense and worried about the upcoming assessments. Even though fear and slight anxiety may be good motivators, sometimes, it can affect your children’s confidence. As a result, their performance in the exam can dip, and they end up shortchanging their actual potential during the examinations.
So, as a parent, what can you do to help your children be more confident in facing the upcoming exams?
Early prep
Waiting till the last moment to get started with the exam preparation can be tricky. Start preparing early. Wondering how early? Well, from the start of the term would be ideal. If you haven’t done that, don’t worry as there’s still enough time to get everything together. Look at the dates of the exams and prepare a timetable to study. Make sure you allocate enough time for all subjects and frame them in such a way that you can cover all the important topics.
Help your children realise their strengths and weaknesses
Help your children prepare their study plans based on their strengths and weaknesses in individual subjects. Allocate more time for subjects and topics that your children struggle with. Find out the way they learn best and make plans accordingly. You can check out our previous blog entry about different learning styles to learn more about this.
Mock Tests
Once you’ve gone through your revision at least once, taking mock tests is the best logical step to follow. Mock tests allow your children to know what to expect while they are in the exam hall. It would allow them to understand what types of questions will be most likely to come up in their exams. It would also help them with time management skills and to be familiar with the exam so that they won’t feel tense once they attend the actual exam. It would also help you understand where you are lacking and make up for it accordingly.
Offer positive feedback and assurance
Your children might be feeling tense as it is. Do not add to that pressure. Be reassuring and comfort them. Offer them your unwavering support and make sure they know that you will love and care for them regardless of the outcome of the exams. Motivate them and encourage them to try harder. When they are staying up late or waking up early in the morning to study, give them healthy snacks and drinks so that they have the energy to carry on with their studies.
Schedule revisions and reflective sessions for your children
Periodically, help your children revise and see how much they were able to study. Help them review and make changes when they are falling short. It can help them stay focussed. It will also remind them that you care and they will remain cognisant of the responsibility that they have towards their academics.
While studying and revising, help your child make short notes. You can refer to them at the last moment to help you recall the important topics you have learned. Refer to this set of notes during revision time. Write down formulae and short notes and refer to them one last time before entering the exam hall.
Make sure they have enough time for themselves
When scheduling and creating a study plan, make sure there’s enough time for recreation. Playing and spending their time with friends need to be included in the study plan. Do not consider this as an unnecessary waste of time during exam times. In order for your children to perform their best, it is important to find ways to reduce stress and instill periods of rest for your children. Loosening up and allowing them some moments of enjoyment will help them greatly when they are studying. Unnecessary stress can increase the chance of your children facing a mental block or forgetting what they’ve studied. So, encourage them to take breaks periodically and go out and spend some time with their friends.
Get exam supplies prepped early
Buy and prepare all the stationery that they may need for the examinations – early! Do not wait until the day before the exam to go get these. Make sure your children have laid out their uniforms, stationery sets, and a healthy mindset to take with them into the examination hall.
Make sure they have a balanced meal plan and proper sleep
Nutrition is very important for the brain to work properly. Most of the energy in the body is used by the brain. So, having a proper meal plan and having food on time will help your child’s brain to function better and improve their memory and concentration.
Being physically active helps produce stress-reducing hormones in the body. Active meditation and exercises on mindfulness help you improve concentration and improve memory. They also help reduce stress and depression in children.
Sleep is vital for the human brain. So, make sure your children are well-rested and have proper sleep schedules. It will help them stay stress-free and keep their mind fresh.
Rewarding is key!
When your children show improvements and you see them exert effort, reward them. Make sure you praise them. Seeing you validate their efforts will motivate them to do better and achieve better results.
We hope these tips are of great help to your children. We wish (you and) your children all the best for the exams! 🙂
Exam Smart Tips
Exam Smart Tip #1 – How to Encourage Our Kids to Speak Better?
Exam Smart Tip #2 – How to avoid carelessness?
Exam Smart Tip #3 – Establishing Routines!
Exam Smart Tip #4 – Let’s Read Carefully!
Exam Smart Tip #5 – Beating the Exam Fever!
Exam Smart Tip #6 – How to Eat Right for the Exams?
Exam Smart Tip #7 – How to Avoid a Meltdown?
Exam Smart Tip #8 – Taking Stress out of Tests
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