GCSEs 2019 Support thread 3

[myrtleWilson]

Welcome all - just went to post on thread 2 and saw it was at 999 so quickly did this

ds being rather too chilled for my liking.

He has found a local gym and been there a couple of times, which is really good for him, he was using the school gym a lot before study leave, and he finds it really helpful to physically destress.

very little revision happening though.
Apparently maths and english lang don't need revision

DD has been quite chilled too, she has done a little study but nothing like what she was. She has a couple of hours of Maths at school tomorrow morning and some History on Saturday morning so there will be something gong in. She has also said the same about English Language but her mock was a high 6 so it seems worth putting a bit of work in to make that a 7 if she can so I have ordered the Mr Bruff book, I am not sure how much good it will do but we will see.

DD has had her prom dress for a while but the dyes for doing her hair to match arrived today, she is no stranger to making her hair exciting colours in the school holidays but this will be the first time her teachers will see her with her hair in shades of blue and green. Timing for that will be interesting though as she comes home from her first week of NCS the same day as the prom.

Maths absolutely does need revision! You can tell him from an experienced Maths tutor that the way to revise maths is to do maths. He could go on the Justmaths blog and look at the "paper 2" practice links and select some practice papers for his exam board to do. They have worked solutions to so a good way to revise would be to work for 15 minutes on doing questions, then spend 15 minutes checking his answers, going through stuff he got wrong and making sure he understands it, noting down anything he had forgotten on a revision notes sheet then trying any questions he got wrong again from scratch and seeing if he can remember how to do them. Rinse and repeat. If he runs out of practice questions ( ha ha) he can try maths genie and/or Corbett maths if his board is Edexcel!!!

Just checking in , my Dd has been 'periodically' hard revising over the half term. She's over the moon that french & eng. Lit are over as that means more 'space' to remember all her history facts.
Others on here have mentioned the words that fill me with dread 'prom shopping'.
So until 2 weeks ago my Dd and her friend group were not going. They changed their minds.
She is the only girl within the group... About 12 of them.
To date Dd does not own or wear any make up, wear anything but leggings & hoodies, has zero interest in fashion , hates shopping. The only thing i have bought her this year is a pair of trainers .
And i need to magic a prom dress at this late stage.
I have an appointment at a prom dress shop tomorrow for her. We tried shopping last week - didn't go great , managed to find a 'stand in ' dress in case we don't find 'the dress'.
I did find out she was 3 sizes smaller than what i had assumed- bad mother alert. She really does hide under those hodies.

Hi all. Ds isn't doing nearly as much as he should be. Grrrr. He's moody and disengaged and driving me mad.

He only has 4 exams left (Eng Lang, 2 x Geog and Maths) and has completely taken his foot off the gas (not that it was ever fully on it anyway!) Maths is the only one he's worried about and his way of dealing with that appears to be to completely ignore it...

I've reminded him how frustrated he'll feel if it gets to 22nd Aug and he hasn't done as well as he would like, but it's falling on deaf ears.

Ho hum. I suppose I just need to leave him to it but, aaaaaargh.

Wish ds only had 4 exams left! Dreading next week.

He's having a day off tomorrow and going to the cinema with friends.

Dd did a decent amount of biology revision today. And a couple of maths past papers.

She's now having the evening off.

Ds is currently doing eng lang revision.

He's nervous about that one.

I'm dreading next week too!

But after retrieving prom dress from seamstress, DD has actually revised History and Classics, hoovered her room and made us all dinner (with my new kitchen toy!) - homemade pasta and pesto - which has turned out great so one proud mama here!

She was intending to watch a Game of Thrones with her dad (they started series one a few weeks ago and are now up to series 7) but may have been distracted by a re-watch of Pitch Perfect!

Ds is doing Chemistry- it’s his worst subject. He’s been fretting about Eng Lang and Geography which together with Eng Lit are his best and the ones he’s predicted a 9 for. The 9 predictions have been quite a lot of pressure and I don’t really know the point of predicting them.

In other news he’s finished G of T - quite an achievement considering he didn’t start it that long ago and is excited about the imminent start of Love Island , oh and despite me nagging he hasn’t looked for or found anything to wear to prom (his girlfriend is all sorted so hopefully she’ll get him organised). Oh and he’s fallen out with dd (year 9) and flounced off upstairs. Anyone want a 16 year old boy? I can deliver

We can all virtually cling to one another and weep 😁

Chemistry also ds1s worst subject.

He is predicted his highest grades in geography and history.

At least Chemistry Paper 1 is over - ds never fully grasped electrolysis! Just to add to his misery with Chemistry dd is very good at it.

I don’t know if Chemistry being in the last week (no further maths for us) is a good thing or prolonging the agony! The last week is going to be a challenge- dh is away all week, I’m working full time that week and dd has music exams and a theatre production - I fear it will all end in —my— tears

striketgrough fail!

Oh lord kitty
Sounds difficult.
Dh was away when ds1s exams started.

The start of the exams must have been far worse at least we’ll have the end in sight. Annoyingly my work is much quieter once ds finishes- I’m planning lots of yoga!

I’ve concluded my children enjoy winding each other up - they know just what buttons to press. I’m very envious of all those families with sibling harmony.

It is so hard juggling other stresses alongside the GCSEs.

My younger sister has recently been diagnosed with cervical cancer. We've taken the decision (rightly or wrongly) not to tell DD until her exams are over. Our other younger sister died of cancer almost two years ago and DD has also seen her granddad and grandmother die of cancer in the last four years. I think we took the right decision at the time but it has meant I've been travelling to see my sister (lives some distance from us) and having to make up reasons why I'm away. I do feel I'm giving neither party the support they need.

Once exams are over, we'll tell DD and I can be there more for my sister too. Life sometimes really dumps you in it doesn't it?

Sibling harmony does not exist.

At least, not for long:)

Oh myrtle that's just crap. I'm so sorry x

FWIW I'd do the same 💐

myrtle I’m so sorry that’s so tough on you - I hope her treatment goes well. I think you made the right call not telling your dd

I do think that was the right call, Myrtle. This time is tough enough as it is. And your DD is powerless to help your Dsis, so telling her wouldn't serve any useful purpose.

Oh myrtle that's such a tough situation, so sorry for you all.

I'm so sorry Myrtle. So tough for you. Hope your sister has a good treatment plan in place and you will be able to give her your full attention in three weeks.

thank you, you lovely lot! I feel bad for lying by omission but I know DD would be devastated, she adores her aunt and so far DD's life experience of cancer is - it is shit and then everyone dies (many many apologies for anyone on the thread who is going through similar - I don't mean to offend with that sentence). And to be fair (to me!) my sister didn't want DD to know either so its not completely my fault

Sister has a brutal treatment regime starting next week - originally diagnosed as stage 1 but now rediagnosed as stage 3. I thank you for thinking of her xx

murtle what an incredibly hard situation for you , sorry about your sister - I think you’re doing exactly the right thing in managing it. But look after yourself too.