Helping Your Child Prepare for Exams

Children aren’t typically very fond of exams, to say the least, but unfortunately, they are an inevitable element of school life. Parents can relieve some of the pressure of exams and revision by helping them prepare, as explored below by a Sixth Form in Hampshire. There are a variety of things you can do, and you don’t necessarily have to be any good at the subject yourself in order to help your child with their revision.

Start by demonstrating an optimistic approach towards the exams and your child’s learning in general. When you notice them working hard, be sure to praise them for it, as the effort they put in is far more important than the end results. Children respond well to praise and will be more likely to repeat the behaviour if they have been rewarded for it in some way. Exam period is a stressful time for young people and can cause a lot of anxiety. With that in mind, you are responsible for helping lift their spirits when you can, so that they can manage the pressure effectively.

One useful thing you can do to help your child is to put together a revision schedule with them before the exam period starts. The sooner you do this, the more prepared your child will feel when they step foot into the exam room. The two of you can think about and discuss any particular topics your child might have been finding challenging, based on reports and previous results and feedback, and add in some additional revision time for those subject areas into the schedule. It might even help to hire a private tutor to help with those areas, or perhaps encourage your child to join a lunch or after-school revision club if there is one available.

Be sure to encourage your child to take frequent rest breaks during their revision sessions and add these into the schedule too. Research has found that little and often is the best attitude when it comes to revision, rather than long sluggish hours. After all, you don’t want your child to start getting eye strain, headaches and other aches and pains from being stuck at their desk for hours on end.

Another way to help your child with their revision, and broader learning experience, is to identify which of the three main learning styles is the best fit for them. By recognising how your child processes information, you can guarantee they have all of the suitable tools and equipment and you will be able to adapt the ways in which you communicate information to them. For instance, if they are visual learner, they probably won’t respond as well to verbal explanations as they would to diagrams and books. 

Throughout the exam period, when it finally approaches, encourage your child to go to bed at a reasonable time each night so that they are getting enough sleep. They will also need to exercise regularly and is eat a nutritious, balanced diet. If they fail to do so, they will not only find it harder to focus, but they are also at bigger risk of becoming unwell.