How much revision to give my ds

[rainbowsRcool]

Hello all

My son is currently in year 9 and I am currently giving him 1 hour and a half of revision then I let him go on his PlayStation. Some say this is too much but I think this is about right because of how important his GCSE's are. What do others think?

How does he revise ? My dd is year 10 and has just done her year 10 key assessments . She used little cards with question and answers on the front and back and we go through these together .
Why not get him to start building up his knowledge by doing these then they will be ready for year 11. It does seem daft to make him do so much as he will be so bored by the time he gets to his exams . Yes GCSEs are important but most a level courses only require a 5 so I wouldn't say that are that amount of stress important . Let the kid live a bit .

1.5 hrs of studying then PlayStation?
Is that what he does every evening?
I don’t think that sounds great.

Does he do any other activities?

I left mine to it. Year 9 is a great time to allow them to learn what needs to be done, and if they don't revise when necessary, to fail a few tests. Year 9 shouldn't need constant revision either, but he needs to focus on what the school sets for homework, and then a bit of revision for any specific tests.

They honestly need to learn to take control over their own learning, as this will be so important if he decides he wants to go on to university.

What else does he do with his time? Does he have any activities that he's involved with, or spend time with his friends? Now is a good time to focus on developing a range of interests and skills that are so important for his cv/ job applications / University application.

Unless you're going to stand over him for every stage of his life, including his future career, you should let him control his own learning/workload. You're doing him no favours.

I'm a teacher and I'd be horrified if that's going on. It's totally unnecessary and too early.
YOU shouldn't be giving him any revision!
Additional reading around subjects is far more useful at this stage.
That poor boy will burn out!

Get him outside, go on some day trips, go to the cinema. Spend some bloody time with him!

He will burn out if you make him start now.

Yes at the end of each topic perhaps get him to go through his notes and ensure they are up to scratch and amend them if not. Perhaps even prepare some flash cards for when he does need to start revising. This will make it easier to start revising when the time comes. (DS had a quite a few notes to redo before he could start revision).

Definitely make sure decent revision is done for in class tests as and when they come up.

But to strictly enforce any actual revision now will end up negatively affecting him.

If he already knows what subjects he MIGHT like to do as A level there is no problem in doing some extra reading around the subject IF HE WANTS to and in the areas he is interested in. But seriously don't push this now so he won't be burnt out by mocks and actual gcses.

Just NO.

Are you a teacher? Do you know what he will eventually need to know for his GCSEs? You don't 'give' him anything else to do.

Make sure he does the homework set by school. If he wants help eg testing on vocab, or for topic tests, then make sure he knows you are there for him.

Come Y11 he will either just be refusing to do anything, or will have burnt out completely! Y11 is a really long, boring slog. Don't put him off now!

When does he relax, spend time on hobbies, sport?

If people think 1 hour and a half is too much how much does everyone think I should give him

None. My ds is in year 11 and is only doing 30 mins revision a day (on top of any homework) at the moment!

He doesn't need to do any, and you certainly shouldn't be giving him any. If you feel that he needs to do something, you can suggest he keeps his notes up to date, and filed, and maybe even do a few flash cards, as these will both be useful down the line when it is finally time to revise. But now..... nothing, he shouldn't be revising for anything other than tests.

I shall go totally against the grain here. Though my answer is dependant upon how much homework he is getting and what time he gets home, and if he has other activities.

If, like the local secondaries round here, that finish at 3pm and give little homework, then I think an hour of revision (in subjects that he'd continue at GCSE) is probably a good idea. It still would leave plenty of time for a club, food, playstation etc.

However, if he is getting lots of homework, there is probably no need for revision at all. Depends how much he needs to revise/how much he remembers.

Never hurts to revise though. In moderation. And sometimes, children need guidance with revision for longer than others.

I agree with homework but that's too much

DS is year 9, he recently had English, Maths and Science end of term exams.

He did 1 hour of Science revision. He didn't revise for English or Maths

The problem with starting revision this early is that he'll burn out earlier. His homework in year 9 will be more than enough

GetOffTheTableMabel

My dd (now 18) has been at a very pushy, very academic secondary school. The school would be horrified at your approach. That is simply far too much, far too soon. Your son will become resentful, or anxious, or exhausted (or any combination of those) well before his GCSEs. He will also not learn to take responsibility for his own education or time-management. How is he supposed to learn to prioritise if you do his thinking for him? A little consolidation work during the school holidays might be appropriate at this time but what you are advocating at the moment is ludicrous “helicopter-parenting”. It does not produce well-rounded, independent, motivated young people. Quite the opposite.

THIS x 1000

Ok everyone I will lower it but what should I lower it to?

Half an hour.

Holy shit. My DS is in year 9 - zero revision unless specifically instructed to for a test.

Is he doing all his homework, revising for tests, looking over any concepts he struggles with and keeping his notes up to date? If so, none.

DS in yr10 is not doing any revising yet. He does all his homework but no more. I've tried to persuade him to revise for end of subject tests but he isn't yet convinced this is necessary. Not a note/plan in sight. His concession is he will sometimes do a BBC bitesize test before a subject test so he can say he has a reasonable grasp and please stop nagging mother.

It’s hard to have a set time a day. Sometimes they have homework and assessments, sometimes not much. Just go with what needs to be done.
Not all learning has to be from a text book. What about reading around a subject or watching a documentary?
The important thing is that learning isn’t too much of a chore and that he has plenty of time to relax and enjoy other interests.
Not just PlayStation either.

What are you worried about OP?

Does he struggle at school? Is he predicted very low grades? Is he in a lower set when you think he could be in a higher set?

What caused you to think he needs to spend 1.5hrs a day longer than anyone else for the next 3 years?

I agree with PP - keep pushing and creating this pressure cooker and you'll end up with him flat refusing once you can't control him any more, which is pretty soon.

Your time would be far better spent making sure he is happy, fit, fulfilled, has a wide range of interests, good friends and fun/time to relax (& top tip if you want him to actively choose to include you in his life once he has a choice - then the slave driver/chattel dynamic isn't the way forward..).

I say this from personal experience of being a potential Oxbridge student with a similarly pushy mother, I prioritised getting the hell away from her over continuing my education. Be very careful.

YOU do not give him anything.
Make sure he does the homework set by the (qualified) teachers, and make sure he does some revision for topic tests/end of year exams (although teachers will often set revision as HW so he probably won't need to do anymore for topic tests) and let him work out what he needs to do.
One thing I have learnt (DS did GSCEs last year and DD is Y10) is that trying to get your DCs to learn/revise the way that worked for you is not going to work. They need to find the best methods for themselves. Forcing him to do stuff your way will be counterproductive, put him off learning all together, and probably lead to burn out before the actual exams.
Support when he asks, otherwise leave him to it.

Poor kid!