Good grades, percentiles, home-work, class-work, projects, there is always something or the other to deal with and when the exams are announced, there is a pandemonium! However it isn’t as appalling as it seems. With the right outline and clever preparations, you will be on the top of your “Exam Game”!
1. Prepare Time-Table
This holds the key to everything because a good and well-sorted time-table will be your road map to complete the exams successfully!
Once you get the schedule for the exams, first and foremost get onto preparing one of your own. But keep in mind these points before that:
a. The timespan that you have in hand till the first day of the exam.
b. The liking of your kid towards each subject (usually the most hated is Math!)
c. Keep in mind your work and personal schedule. If you are compromising on your work or personal space, it can lead to a frustrated parent trying to help his kid study (and we definitely do not want that)
d. Figure out a free time slot in the day, but not too late, where you and your child can sit together for studies
e. Keep a free day!
2. The Yoga-effect
Meditation has proved in more than one way to help increase and maintain concentration. If you ever meditated before work for a minute or two, you definitely know its amazing effects. It is now a proven fact that having a few minutes of quiet before starting something important, always helps in relaxing and refreshing the mind.
Sit with your kid and teach them this secret key to focus better on their studies. Kids usually love to do this if you teach it to them in some interesting way!
3. Highlights
Help your kids with highlighting the important points. You can also tell them to explain a concept or summarize a lesson and explain it to you in their own words. Let’s take an example; suppose you are doing a science lesson today you can tell your kid to read the entire concept, make or highlight small points to help him remember the basics and then refer to these highlights while explaining it to you.
This will help your kid understand the importance of highlights or short points for studying.
4. Recess
Break time is important! Even we as adults need a break so you can imagine how dearly kids love the recess. In the study schedule be sure to include a few breathing gaps here and there. Kids tend to lose concentration (especially in studies) if they don’t get some playtime. Give them enough time to flex their muscles, probably watch a favorite TV show or have an hour of playing out in the garden.
You can also just sit and chat with your child about non-exam topics! Probably take them out for getting an ice cream maybe! Engaging in casual conversations is also a great soother. The reason for this is to maintain the level of concentration by breaking the monotonous tone of the study
5. Self-assessment
We are our best judge! Similarly are our kids. Self-assessing what they have learned is a great way for them to understand their learning pattern and loopholes on their own. Of course, you can help them in this by telling them the parameters to observe. You can start them off by taking a revision of the whole week for a subject and asking them to pay attention to the parts where they are forgetting. Slowly through this, they will understand their week areas and where they need to put in more effort.
6. Plan revision
One of the best tools for cracking exams is frequent revision. You can try revising a particular subject or chapter two days after completing it. This way the kids will be able to have an ample amount of revision sessions before exams.
Also, get them into the habit of quick revisions at the end of every study session.
7. A right sleep
Sleep is like a refresher. With too much or too little sleep, our mind gets either dull or agitated. And kids need more sleep as they are growing. See to it that they get the complete rest they need not only during the exam but in general routine. Set a routine to set your kids’ sleep-wake cycle. This is a tremendous help to keep his mind alert and fresh for the next day
With all this said, do not pressurize your kid. Many parents unknowingly exert a lot of pressure and kids can’t really handle it well. Avoid comparison with other kids. Every child has a different approach to learning, and comparing them with others will put your kids under stress and anxiety! If the parents are supportive and understanding, the kid is able to excel in anything he does! Try keeping the house environment happy and cheerful. This is a great help in itself to set the ideal role model for your kid.
ALL THE BEST….!!!!
