Most effective way to revise in year 7?

[onetwothreex]

Just wondering what is the most effective way to revise for all the tests in year 7? What works for your dc?

[TeenTimesTwo]

I have a y9 and a 19yo.

It partly depends on the school and how 'big' the tests are.

First and foremost, I would say setting up good habits for the future. So:

1. All tests should be revised for
   
2. Revision should not be left until the day before
   
   After that, this is what we do:
   

• DD comes home and says she has a test coming up
  
• I check she knows the date and what it will cover
  
• we discuss what revision is needed, e.g. history assessments tend to need only a small amount of specific knowledge but then also to understand question answering technique to be reviewed, whereas science is mainly content, maths is practice etc.
  
• we have a chat about when she will do the revision, and I normally get involved too.
  
• for us it is a compromise. dd2 tends to do less than I would like as she gets tired and/or bored quickly. I have to pick my moments!
  

Y7 is a good time to practice different techniques

• revision cards
  
• mind maps
  
• using BBC bitesize
  

to find what works well for your DC and for different subjects

You shouldn't go too over the top in y7 because things will only increase.

When the DC gets results of the test back, have a chat about what worked / what didn't. Sometimes DD gets low scores, but when I see the questions I understand why (e.g. limits in her ability rather than revision).

If there is a 'test week' you need to be more organised because of prepping a number of subjects at the same time.

Don't assume your DC will just 'get' how to revise without help. You testing as they learn will help them see whether they really know something or are just fooling themselves.

For my DD we mainly use revision cards that I write and me testing her. Occasionally we use BBC bitesize. For maths I set her questions. We are probably unusual in the level of 'hands on' she needs.

[ILiveInSalemsLot]

I told my ds that he needs to go over things 3 times. Once in detail and twice to recap so he needed to figure out when to study.
Bbcbitesize is good to get a thorough basic knowledge for most subjects then go through workbook and text books if available.

[reluctantbrit]

Our school has websites for maths and languages. The teacher encourage the girls to practice on a regular basis anyway so we increase this.

In other subjects, she re-reads her workbooks, like Religion, history, geography.

Also, look back when the tests come back. DD suddenly scored quite low but it came out, she had missed some lessons and didn't understand what was going on. So we tackled it together as no amount of revising helps if you don't understand what you do. She got some tips from a teacher how to revise but the way didn't work for her, so be prepared to test several ideas and see what helps, no child works the same. DD for example does best with some meditation music in the background, I go nuts with noise.

[RedSkyLastNight]

Everyone here clearly has very keen children !!

So to balance things out, here's my experience ...

My DC would not have spent more than a couple of 30-40 minute sessions revising for a year 7 test, so it's really a case of looking through notes (or online resources provided by school or things like bbc bitesize) to remind themselves of main points. Ideally these should then go onto cards of mind maps or similar. If time/inclination they could then do some practice questions (particularly for maths/science).

A good question to ask afterwards is "if you had to take the test again, could you get 100%" (obviously not applicable for essay subjects).

Oh - and maybe obvious - but take phones away when revising. Too much distraction possibility.

[TeenTimesTwo]

Red I definitely don't have a keen child! I know I wrote a long post, but DD2 definitely definitely didn't want to do much in y7.
I viewed y7 as laying down the foundations that revision will be done, and to try not to just 'read through the notes'. We have built during y8&9.
I am currently psyching myself up for steering RE revision over the weekend which is important as she has started the GCSE syllabus on that subject.

[ILiveInSalemsLot]

I don’t have a keen child either! We came up with the system so he could improve his grades from being a slacker.
It’s working and he’s doing well but I’m still reminding him to do hw in yr 9

[SilentSister]

Wow, just blown away by some of these responses. I never, ever, monitored or suggested any revision techniques to DD's. In Year 7 I wouldn't even have thought of it as an issue.

I would say, however, that as both were used to end of year exams from primary school, I probably just assumed they were fully equipped. Current DD doing GCSE is also just doing her own thing.

[TeenTimesTwo]

Silent I think some DCs can work out for themselves how to revise, I think many can't. Most also do not have end of year exams in primary.

Additional to that, many parents, who themselves did GCSEs (I'm ancient enough to have done O levels), won't actually have sufficient revising skills themselves. The 'old' GCSEs, with end of module exams and lots or coursework are a long way away than the new GCSEs which in terms of revision needed are much more like O levels.


And anyway, the OP asked about how to revise in y7, not how to assume they knew what to do.

[TeenTimesTwo]

Silent Sorry that may have come across as a bit rude, it wasn't meant to be. I just wish I had a DC who didn't need so much help and sometimes I get a bit envious of those who can just leave them to it.

[Frlrlrubert]

I'm a teacher rather than a parent but I think getting them into the habit of active revision, flash cards, mindmaps (personally I hate mindmaps, but they work for some), online quizzes (bite size is good), etc is the best thing you can do. Even if they only do 20/30 minutes worth per test in year 7 it's much more effective than reading notes, and teaches them the revision skills they'll need later.

[SilentSister]

Teen no worries, after I posted my response, I re-read it, and it wasn't great was it?? I suppose I was just shocked that so many parents are worried about revising in Year 7, that just seems so early to me. My feeling is that in those early years, results really don't matter, and children should just be learning for the fun and breadth of experience, not worrying about results. It is sad that we live in a world where they can no longer do that. Does that make sense??

[reluctantbrit]

Silent - I think the earlier a child learns skills the better. As seen here, lots of children have different ways to do it, most different from parents as well, so trying out iiw easier if the pressure is less.

Primary didn’t really prepared DD at all, they had term tests but hardly ever were asked to revise or practice at home.

Also found that Dd likes seeing an impact if she revises and then has good marks in the test, especially in a subject she is not that keen on. It boosts her confidence that learning brings results.

[LeFaye]

Flash cards made a huge difference for our eldest. Also, re-writing lesson notes, highlighting, re-writing the highlighted sections etc.

He's in Y8 now but Y7 was all about revision, as he was sitting 13+.

There is also a site called Anki, which he used a lot in Y6 and Y7 (not so much now as he brings the physical flash cards to school).

He also didn't have any screen time Monday to Thursday so that he wouldn't rush his revision in order to go and play. (He wouldn't get home from school until 6.30pm so not much time to do both homework/ revision AND play games anyway).

[TeenTimesTwo]

Silent I agree worry about the results in y7 shouldn't be too much of an issue, but starting to learn the link between revision and results is a good lesson I think, plus learning how to revise.

I worry when I read y11 threads with DCs who appear to not know how to revise. I think y11 is leaving it too late to learn what works and doesn't work for you. A DC needs to be hitting y11 with a level of confidence that they know what works, and now they just have to do it!

Though back to the original question. What is needed in y7 is very school dependent. Some schools seem to do full blown exams that directly lead to set changes, others are more assessments to check understanding.

[LeFaye]

He'll have notes, and then make corresponding flash cards.

[iwantavuvezela]

Interesting to read these - I am trying to support my daughter with revising (something she has not had to do before) - so that she can start to learn some techniques for further years and when she will need to know how to revise and do it independently. I found that she really relied on me to be there and motivate her - obiviously i cannot do this for too long as a method!

We did a mixture of getting her to read the work and then i would ask questions / set small quizzes to test knowledge / - sometimes i would let her ask me questions and make her remind me what i did not know etc.

For science, history and geography where there was alot of work to revise, we broke it down so that we went over everything once before, and then the night before went over it again. My DD is quite strong verbally so i got her to repeat bit of information to me - i also made her write some stuff down to make sure she could spell it, and as a techniqe for remembering.

I might see if flash cards are useful for the next set of revision -

i will wait to see what the "results" are and that should also be a sign if the revision techniques worked!

[lotusbell]

I'm not sure what I was expecting with Year 7 but I thought the kids might been given some guidance on how to revise. My son struggles with homework as it is (for 'struggle', read 'can't be arsed') so I knew he'd struggle with the concept of revision. So I'm following to get some tips as I was always terrible at revision too, and would just sit and read through my books. No revision cards or mind maps for me :/

[Cuddlysnowleopard]

DS2 is trying flashcards, but they take him ages to write out, so I'm not sure it's effective.

My eldest pretty much has a photographic memory, so revision isn't really a thing for him. He just focusses in class and it sticks.

DS2 is going to be a learning curve, I think...

[LeFaye]

The flash cards do take a long time. DS1 spent 7 hours last weekend on them. But the writing is also learning, and helps him memorise.

[1099]

There was a programme on TV recently, I think it was called Twinstistute or something which had a really good episode on revising and in particular finding techniques that work for you. One of the things we learnt when I did my degree was establishing the best times for you to learn, some people are much more receptive to learning first thing in the morning others can work through the night, don't just assume that sit down reading sessions are best for your child, at this stage you could do a bit of research and try out different times of day and also different methods, I was a bit surprised that I took a lot more in studying in the early morning and also practicing as if I was teaching the subject to a group of people, so stood up walking round spouting off the information and answering imaginary questions, looked a bit weird but certainly worked. I was never able to stay up late at night and study.

[Bessica1970]

As a parent of 4 and secondary teacher I've noticed that revision makes a huge amount of difference to results. The skills should be practised early though. In many schools year 7 results are used to set in year 8 and it's much better for your DC to be in a class with other hardworking students than in a class with students not interested in learning.

Senecalearning.com now has a section for KS3 for students who like an online quizzing format to revision.
Flashcards can be good for many students if they know how to use them properly. Unfortunately I've found re-reading notes to be ineffective unless the student is rewriting them in some format.

[Cuddlysnowleopard]

Thanks, Bessica. DS2 is a massive fan of quizzing formats, and learns his language vocab very effectively that way. He'd be much happier doing that than slogging through flashcards.

I used to colour code revision notes, but when I suggested that to my DCs they rolled their eyes!