GCSE’s looming - how do your teens revise?

[Notagoodtime]

DS has not done well in his mock exams and hates me trying to help him. I did ok with my GCSE’s (but it was a long time ago !)but remember making folders with notes I had made and revisiting notes to revise. He has some tatty exercise books that are nearly illegible and just picks revision guides and reads them. Please can you tell me how your teen revises. He will do the occasional mind map but is so disorganised but not great at accepting help- suspect he has adhd mildly. I appreciate we are running out of time but any advice on how he can prepare at this late stage is very much appreciated.

If he's resistant to help, I'm not sure how much you can do. Reading a revision guide is next to useless though. He's basically just recognising words on a page - which involves next to no brain work If you say this to him and he says it's fine, suggest he reads the page, covers it up and writes down/types what he remembers - or answers the summary questions in the back. This is recall - a completely different part of memory, which is why as a teen I would read over my notes on the bus right before a test and think 'I've got this', yet draw a complete blank when faced with the questions.

At the very least he needs to test his recall. Reading over notes or revision guides isn't enough - even if he understands what he's reading.

Past papers can help him target the topics that need the most work.

Buy packs of index cards - Staples, Amazon - get him to condense into bullet points info from his exercise books, texts and revision guides on the cards. Lay the information on the cards out, well spaced, to make reviewing/learning easy. He'll write wodges of cards for each subject that can easily be looked over, learned for each topic. The sight of the growing packs of cards can incentivise learners, physical evidence of their efforts. They're then easy to refer to, impress others. My students used to brandish their packs of cards, secured with thick elastic bands, as a bizarre one-upmanship boast. I've got my grandchildren to all use this method.

Get him to try watching videos on you tube, may work better for him. Mr Bruff for English, Corbettmaths for maths and I’m sure there are others.

Agree with Murdoch above. Also repetition. Go over and over quotes, facts, dates etc. Write down equations on post it notes and stick them everywhere - fridge, door frames, walls, as an aide memoire. Bribery(?) not for results but for effort - nothing big but bars of chocolate? Write lists of subjects he needs to cover and tick them off as he masters them. You still have time. Good luck.

Just reading a revision guide is 'passive' revision. He needs to do 'active' revision:

• trying to write / say information and checking back
• mind maps & reproducing them
• practice questions
• online tools such as seneca
• getting you to test him

If he sets a 'target' for each revision session (eg properties of metals, Macbeth's character) it might help him, and you could test him afterwards.

Past papers are good and help identify areas of weakness which he can then look at in more detail.

We home ed and this will be our main revision tool. It worked last year on the two subjects DS sat in y10. He got a 7 and an 8.

We also note key facts which I test him on and he will read back through lesson notes and watch relevant videos.

Presumably the teachers will be helping in school by covering tricky areas again etc?

I would be amazed if his school / teachers haven't home gone through this with the year group.

Do they have a website? Get him to login and see what's available, I'm sure they'll be loads of resources.

Take each subject and identify strengths and weaknesses and key areas he needs to revise. The study guides are good as a guide for curriculum and getting a plan for topics. Past papers are a must.

That said, at the end of the day he has to want to revise. What's he doing after gcses? Does he need certain grades for a levels?

We used an egg timer 40 minutes of revision, twenty minutes break. He gave me his phone but had computer for you tube and other revision aids. Bought lots of snacky food for the fridge and cupboard. It's really hard for them.