Exam preparation – Are you really prepared?

It’s that time of year again… Exams!

For most learners and parents, this is an extremely stressful time. But not to fear, we are here to guide you through this. It’s important that children develop intrinsic motivation to study. This does not happen by standing over them and telling them what to do, but rather helping them to develop healthy study habits and ensuring they are equipped with the right tools to study successfully.  

Routine and Discipline

Routine helps when discipline fails. Our bodies go into “auto-pilot”, especially in stressful situations. Having a routine gives our bodies something to do while our brains catch up. Ensure your child has a set bed- and wake up time during the school term and follow the same bed-times during exams. Doctors prescribe 9 to 11 hours of sleep for school children. Your approach to homework will determine how study skills are developed. It is therefore important that you start with a proper homework routine early in your child’s school career. This will make it easier for him/her to motivate themselves to study as they are already used to it. Teach your child to ask their teacher questions during the term to ensure that they don’t have a bunch of questions when they start studying for a specific subject.  

Preparation

Exams are a stressful time for the whole family. Cramming information the night before might help to pass a test, but the information often doesn’t transfer from short-term to long-term memory, which makes it all quite pointless. Create a study plan along with your exam timetable. Make sure there is enough study time for each subject, as well as sufficient breaks for extra curricular activities. Get everything you’ll need for the exam ready the night before. Put out everything you will need for breakfast, clothing, and tools to take along for the examination.  

The study area

It is important that your child creates a space they feel excited about, but a little guidance could be good. The area should be neat and clear of distractions. It should also be a space they are already used to. Using their usual homework space could avoid distractions that a new space might lead to. Make sure the study and exam timetable is clearly visible at all times and make a list of necessary items needed for each exam. If you are up for it, create a snack jar with chewing gum, sweets and snacks your child might enjoy while studying.  

Breaks

It is extremely important to take regular breaks while studying, but the type of break is just as important! Social media and screen-time is a great distraction, but not a good one during exam time! Although it might feel like a break, you usually feel tired and don’t realise how much time has passed. It interferes with our memory, which means you often forget what you were just working on, rendering the time you spent, useless. Ensure your child gets fresh air and movement. Perhaps a walk around the block with the dog, or even just going outside to have a snack or drink. Many parents stop all extra curricular activities during this time. Although this ensures that your child has sufficient time to study, it can also be problematic. Children need breaks from studying! Ask them to pick one or two activities that bring them joy and can distract them from the stress of exams for a couple of hours per week. Work it into your study schedule. It will be beneficial in the long run.  

Whilst studying

Use different methods of studying for different topics. Certain topics are fun to talk about, others are easier to learn from a brain chart and so on. Mixing it up helps ensure that your child doesn’t get complacent, and bored with, the way information enters the brain. Allow your child to find videos or interesting articles about the work they are studying. Our brains find it a lot easier to remember information about topics we are interested in. If your child is an auditory learner, ask them to explain concepts to you or organize a study date, either online or in person, with a class mate. The social interaction will help keep them focused and provide them with the opportunity to orally relate their work. Old exam papers and activities from class are great ways to learn how questions can be formulated. Teachers often give out study guides with questions and activities throughout the term. Use them! It is helpful to allow the learner to create their own “exam” with similar questions. These practice exams can be used as questions with friends when studying together.   In conclusion, exams are stressful. Learners feed off the energy of their parents, their home environment, their friends and even the energy in the classroom. As long as you are calm, your child will be too.   For more information on study techniques, and the Brainiacs Study Method, visit our website.  

-Written by Danielle van der Walt