Christmas Exams revision tips

[encyclogirl]

Hi everyone, Ds13 is facing into his first ever set of exams at Christmas.

He's started revising at home, but is definitely flapping already.

Does anyone have any tips on how to 'revise wise' and also how to approach the exam season for the first time?

Thanks!

Hi, we're facing this with DS15 who starts her GCSE mocks on the first day of term. She's a self-starter so our plan is to expect her to revise a couple of hours a day (at least, I'd prefer 3, TBH) and to have a revision ban for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

We have a DS6 so we will take him out for walks to leave DS15 in peace.

Also: early to bed, early to rise, a limit on Xmas chocolate (god knows how) but good, solid, nutritional food during the holidays. She will need to get outside for fresh air too, and will need some time off.

Relatives: we're on our own for most of xmas this year so she won't have too many distractions from family visits. You'll also need to limit time with friends unless it's a planned event.

I'd recommend a specific timetable so that you know when your DS is supposed to be working. Find out what type of learner he is, ie visual (so he draws posters of his revision topics) or whether he remembers best if listening to music. Some learn best if they teach other people, so you could try asking him about what he's been working on.

To be fair, your DS is 13 so he needs to do SOME work without over-stressing about it. Oh, WH Smith sell revision aids - there's an excellent one which I can't remember the name of, but it's essentially tabs of paper stuck on a ring so that you can jot down bits of info - call it a revision rolodex!

I hope this helps. Be firm that he has to do some work but don't get too het up about it. I've always bribed my DD so that she gets £5 for every A, £10 for each A and £2 for a B. After all, we go to work for money, so why not give them an actual financial incentive for doing well at school? It's helped my own DD do some work, I tell you!! She's now heading for 11 x A/A/B this summer (stealth boast) and we've raised the stakes so we could be heading for a second-mortgage come August, but she'll always have those GCSE results so it's worth it.

GCSE mocks here too in week 2 of next term. DS 15 is not a stellar student, has a few subjects he is good at but the rest are a slog for,him. He was at a prep where they had end of year exams from age 10 to,get them used to,it for Common Entrance at 13 which he passed. What works best for him is to list all the topics he needs to revise so,you know how many there are. Then together I help him decide whether it's a topic he knows pretty well, one he understands well but needs to brush up the knowledge on, or one where he doesn't have a clue to decide how many revision slots a topic needs.
Then he makes a diary of all the days available and we put in known commitments so Christmas Eve, Christmas Day , new year etc are blanked out! allocate slots to the other days! also add in every day some down time like a gym trip! macdonalds lunch or whatever and then allocate the topics across the days.
DS finds this works for him as he can see topics being crossed off and feels in control and has some treats along he way. He likes the little cards on a ring, think they are called Krammers for recording facts and formulae he needs to learn by rote. He does past questions for sciences and maths so he can see how to apply the knowledge. Bbc bite size is quite good for a bit of light relief. The KS 3 pages might work for you.
Sometimes I help him by making quiz question sheets and he we use them to test eAch other - him asking the questions means he is still reading the material and answers but its a bit of fun too.

DDs school haven't even told her clearly if/when they have mocks, I'm seriously pissed off with them.

If she knew what was going on she would revise perfectly sensibly with very little nagging and the odd minor panic over geography.

Is it only DD1, or do other DCs have trouble with Geography case studies?

I print out the holidays on a weekly planner from my mac, then we sit down and work out what we have to do on a social scale (relatives, Christmas, DS spending time with mates etc) and cross that time out.

We then factor in the 2- 3 hours of work he'll need to do each day.

The we look at the subjects - what he needs to do - what's worrying him etc, and try and plan those into the equation. DS often needs to go over things several times, so we start early!

1. Find out how many topics are actually being assessed in each subject.

1. Work out how many days are available for revision and calculate how many topics need to be covered each day. Make a list that can be ticked off.

1. If my 13 year old is anything to go by, their exercise books are not going to be sufficient material for revision purposes. Find books (e.g. CGP) or websites (e.g. BBC bitesize) that match the syllabus.

1. Let them try a variety of revision techniques (mind-maps, flashcards, practice questions etc) to find the one(s) that work best for them.

1. Try to keep them on track with progress. If there are 30 topics to cover, there's no point spending a week on the first 2.

Help! My dd 15 says that if I nag her again about mock exam revision she'll leave, she's done nothing and thinks that last minute revision will get her through. I feel like telling her to do what she wants but it will me picking up the pieces when or if it goes pear shaped. Do I ignore her and just leave her to get on, I don't mind helping her but keep coming up against a brick wall.

Terry She is 15, and you can't make her revise. (you could potentially force her to sit with books, but that is not the same thing).

These are mocks, chill out and let her do it her way and see what happens. If it goes wrong, she will have learned a lesson in time for the real exams.

It is her life, and she will be living with the consequences if it goes pear shaped, not you.