GCSE revision without notes?!?

Second minimum would be putting together a schedule for them or with them as they will find this very difficult to do and it's the backbone of any revision.

Oh one further thing that I did - people with ADHD tend to be poor at self reflection and they can tend to live in the moment and not think about consequences. They also don't have an internal clock so awareness of time is very poor. So I kept reminding him of two things - 1. that the revision would be over in x month/weeks, and he would get a big long holiday. We would tick off his schedule so he could see it passing. Having a schedule also meant he could visualise the revision with relevance to the exams 2. I made him think about how he would feel if he failed his exams - what that would feel like at the time opening the results, and how it would feel if he did well. Of course only works if they will be bothered!

Download past papers for him to do, then the mark scheme so he can grade himself and see where he could improve.

Ask him to teach you about what he's been learning (so he'll have to explain it, this helps retain the info).

Get him to draw some mind maps in various colours, with diagrams if he's arty, to represent the information he needs to remember.

Take it from someone who's just been there with DSS - the online learning sites are not enough to get good grades. He managed to convince us they were and that he was confident. He got very poor grades.

My son wasn't keen on help either. He had resisted up until mocks but when that whe tits up, I had the ammunition to step in and go "well your way didn't work so now it's my way" He didn't like it at all at the time (it was hideous for me too tbh) and there were tears and complaining but I stuck to my guns and he thanked me afterwards and still talks about it now as if I am the best Mum for doing it! Sometimes you have to do what's best for them even if they hate it, and hope they appreciate it afterwards! Thankfully it paid off on this occasion.

My motivating factor was knowing how devastated he would be if he failed. And I also knew that it wasn't from lack of intellectual ability, just a lack of skills. That seemed a real shame to me.

I also only have the one child, which made it more doable - if I'd had little ones, it wouldn't have been possible.

Wow, I’ve just read your post @MiniMum97! That’s impressive commitment! Unfortunately my ds is very independent (despite also being disorganised and not on top of his work at all!) and won’t accept any help. His revision technique simply involves reading the textbook.

How does Seneca work and is it free ?(question for anyone not just Minimum!)

My son was 12 until I had the support of his school and I knew that would be too late to go the CAMHS route - it takes years.

Definitely not too late @LizzieLoops. It helped ds even though he won’t take the medication as it made him feel depressed. But it helped to know there were underlying issues which hinder him. There are certain things that help him in class too - not being at the front (he gets tempted to turn round) but at the back instead. Having short fidget breaks. Teachers knowing he’s likely to get distracted and trying to keep him on track.

We’re going with the 25 min revision approach at the moment. I’m not sure what ds’ results are going to be like - he has a chemistry test tomorrow too. I don’t think he will fit a whole unit into two 25 min sessions of revision!

For my ADHD son (he has ASC too for full disclosure) we identified he actually had no idea that he needed to revise and how to revise. We discovered this when he did really poorly in his mocks despite, like your son, being bright.

I therefore got all the relevant revision books and syllabus for each subject and completed a full revision timetable for him (with breaks and days off of course). I then literally had to sit with him while he revised - motivation and focus and concentration and sticking with things is very difficult for someone with ADHD. So that made sure he was actually revising.

And most importantly was I printed out loads and loads of past papers which he completed and I marked and went through with him, and then he completed again. I think it was more work for me than him! Especially as I have ADHD too :-)

I also made him exercise daily (cardio)- usually in a break - as this really good for ADHD symptoms. I'd also recommend giving him a really good protein based breakfast. And while revising anything he needs to help him concentrate including snacks.

He went from failing his mocks to getting all As and Bs - he got 100% of some of his science papers!

He needed less support with his A levels and then completed his degree revision himself. He needed to understand the importance of revising and how to commit things to memory. He also needed help in how to write answers in the format needed, but that's more his ASC in that he wasn't always explaining the context.

It was awful and stressful, but totally worth it. It would have been devastating for both of us if he'd failed.

Hi,
I've just joined mumsnet as I was hoping to find ideas on how to help my son. This thread is so reassuring!

My son is year 10 and is really struggling in tests this term and his grades are taking a nose dive. He refuses to make notes and just doesn't seem to realise how important it is to revise. In a bid to help, I revised Chemistry with him over half term and he really seemed to understand the content. He found the longer answers harder but he was quite confident going into the test. I was really looking forward to knowing the result as he'd been really happy that lots of the questions came up. I was all ready for him to have a good result and a confidence boost but instead he came home today in tears as he got 44%!! His response to this was 'See, I am never going to bother revising as I did better when I didn't revise'. This makes me think that he needs a different approach to revising.
Just before he got home, I had received an email from his computing teacher saying that he isn't doing any work and that he will be lucky to scrape a 4 if he carries on like this. It doesn't help that his option subjects are all being taught online but in school.
I have often wondered over the years if he has ADD as he has always had a problem with concentration and getting easily distracted. Is it too late to get a diagnosis?
I really hope MrsRabbitsCleaner you have found some reassurance in the replies you have received.

@MrsRabbitsCleaner

My son also has a learning difficulty but has also loved learning and stuggled with the idea of ‘only’ gettings 4 and 5s.
I have always told him three things

don’t worry about what everyone else is getting - its irrelevant to you
everything is just a stepping stone to the next thing, focus on what you need to get to that next step
in 5 years time no one will care how many GCSEs and what grades you have because they will be looking at your work experience.

I can’t remember the last time anyway asked about my degrees, let alone my A and O Levels

My son needed a minimum of 4s in Maths, English and Science to get on his course, he actually did better than that, but it doesn’t matter - he is where he wanted and planned to be.

He would be better off deciding what he wants to do and what he needs to do it - then he’s got something to focus on

My son has ASD and completed his GCSEs this year.

I don’t think he ever took a note. He used apps and did Ok in his mocks.
4, 5, 6 s are fine.

Have you looked at what the local colleges have to offer - may be much more suitable than A levels

PS I second the flash card idea - CGP do sets for science.

@MrsRabbitsCleaner my ds sounds just like yours except he's in year 10, at a grammar. He was diagnosed with ADHD at the beginning of year 9.

I've already bought all the CGP revision guides as I know ds won't write anything by choice. He can also only manage 20-25 mins revision at a time. I tend to encourage revision on the bus (40 min journey) as he's willing to do that (nothing else to do!).

Ds is also not really interested in academic subjects, and I'm a bit worried about the work involved in A Levels....

DS was Seneca and no writing of notes. Can't tell you how he did in GCSEs because it was this summer but he managed good grades in his mocks. I think it works for a logical mind. I tried to get DS into mind maps but it was a lost cause.

He could draw, like pictograms (?) and throw in some key words.

Doing past papers, and writing his own questions. Planning answers without writing them in full.

Manipulating information - how would I present this as a poem? What perspective would an elderly person take? How has X impacted on individuals and societies?

My Year 11 DD says exactly the same thing - so much of the work they do is online that I think that the concept of writing condensed notes is hard to fathom! However, I recently I came across some interviews with Year 13 students and several said that it is possible to cram for GCSEs, while it isn't for A levels ... I decided to take comfort from this and to trust that in 2 years time things will be different!!!

Leave him to it.

DS didn't make revision notes either (and his class notes were often rubbish). He also preferred interactive learning using tools like Seneca, and also doing practice questions. There is so much stuff available now on the internet to help revision I don't think it matters at all. It's not like "back in the day" when all you had was your school notes and any others you'd made yourself. How has he revised for tests in the past? I think the most important thing about revision is to find what works for you!

My son said his chemistry teacher was rubbish. He threw away his chemistry file and bought a Revision Guide to the subject and got an A.

I like cards myself but have you looked at

• Tassomai for Science
• CGP also do packs of cards for revision too, as well as their revision guides

If you can afford it get CGP guides, he needs to do lots of past papers.