How to Successfully Help Your Child Prepare for Exams

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How to Successfully Help Your Child Prepare for Exams


Preparing for exams is one of the most stressful phases your child will going through. Most children are not able to attain good results because of high levels of stress. As a parent, you might not be aware of the struggle they are dealing with which even your child will be oblivious about.You may find your child more irritable, not sleeping or eating as usual, which are the usual signs of some abnormality in their system. However, exam stress can be kept in bay and exam preparation can be interesting if your child is receptive and positive to the preparational methods. Guiding them to have a positive mind and encouraging them will make all the difference.

Here are some techniques you can adopt, to instil a healthy study pattern in your child.

1. Motivate Your Child to Start Regular and Early Study Practice


The practice of important concepts taught at school routinely helps your children to reduce their workload and stress during the time of exams. It's important your child understands topics and any challenging areas of any subject are dealt with timely. Last-minute hurry and panic can be totally eliminated through this practice and it is the most effective out of all methods while preparing for exams. For this method, a timetable can be planned out for your child in such a way that each subject gets a fixed time every day. Challenging subjects should be given more time as compared to other subjects.

Children can study in the best possible way when they are aware of their own needs and difficulties, like how much time they need for satisfactory study, time for revisions and so on. The earlier you encourage them to be independent in their learning the better for them as they start to identify their strengths and what subjects actually interest them and those with which they require some help.

This practice of studying enables your child to complete their homework on time and get a full nights sleep a day before their exam. Their brain requires the time to store everything they’ve learned. Good sleep on the day before the exam is a critical factor during exam preparation.



2. Reviewing the Syllabus of Each Subject


The syllabus is a nutshell of everything your child should learn on each subject over the course of the class and should not be overlooked during exam preparation. Major ideas and topics that have to be covered by your child should be understood and noted down. After reviewing the syllabus, the important titles and subheadings can be highlighted to gain attention during exam preparation. Try not to avoid this step as effective study is only possible by understanding the overall outline and concepts of the lessons taught to them. Any learning carried out without checking the relevant syllabus is wasteful study for long-winded subjects such as Biology and Geography where large chunks of information needs to to be remembered and applied. Remember, your child's brain might be retaining irrelevant information which is not even required during exam preparation.



3. Guide Your Child to Prepare Notes While Studying


Making notes on their own can help your child to remember the points they have written in note form. Taking notes from friends and comparing it with theirs can be helpful to some extent, but not effective as preparing notes by themselves as this requires concentration and will allow your child to learn as they jot down important points. Mnemonics can be used to remember longer notes and will help to recollect information before and during the exam. This will help children avoid getting themselves in a stressed state of mind, as they will not have whole portions of topics to learn towards the approach of the exam. Pens and markers of different colours can be used to mark and write notes of different levels of importance and it is an easy way to catch attention and keep your child remindful during the preparation for exams.


4. Change The Study Environment of Your Child


A healthy environment is needed for healthy study. Recalling information becomes much easier when learning takes place in a concentrated environment. Make sure that the environment your child studies in, has a minimum number of things to distract them so that they gain their attention while carrying out revision. Too many things which occupy the room may catch their attention, distracting them away from their preparation. Encourage them to study in an open environment like a garden where they can get fresh air. Balconies and such open spaces can be used only if you live in a pollution free and noise free environment. The environment of study should be calm and quiet as noisy disturbances may affect the quality of study of your child.




5. Appreciate Their Verbal Approach Towards Studying

Reading out loudly while studying utilizes two sensory systems, audio-hearing and visual- seeing. Letting someone recite the information to your child can also be very useful as they will associate the study material with a different voice at the back of their mind. By following this method, you can correct your child's mistakes if you are actively involved their exam preparation.


6. Encourage Yor Child to Take Regular Breaks While Studying


The stress during exam preparation is normal and sometimes can lead to a surge of energy levels in children, but too much of it can negatively affect your child’s performance. Encourage them to take regular breaks, daily exercises and ask them to spend some time for relaxing. Guide them to switch to practices like yoga or meditation which can reduce stress and anxiety levels in your child to a great extent. Tell them to step away from books and study for a while, if they feel too frustrated. Your child might forget to have breaks which were planned, so remind them and encourage them to consume water at regular intervals during their study breaks to keep their body hydrated. They should drink around 8-10 glass of water and motivate them to practice deep breathing methods every day during the preparation of their exams to get that much-required oxygen into their lungs.



7. Encourage Your Child to Re-Read The Notes Prepared by Them

Re-reading notes prepared by your child helps them to remember the points for a longer term. It sharpens their memory power and the problem of forgetting points and ideas during exam time can be avoided by practising this method.


The process of preparing for exams can be made easier and less stressful by following the above-mentioned techniques. A good diet, adopting a healthy work & play balance and embracing these strategies actively during exam preparation will surely benefit any student wishing to perform well in their exams.

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Amita said…
Please post a comment on whether you like my posts and what you would like to read about. Thanks :)
January 16, 2018 at 11:18 AM
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