Tell me what is wrong with this GCSE revision timetable....

[IfYouCantSeeMyMirrors]

….which I have made up. Child due to sit GCSEs in summer 2020 - reasonably bright, reasonably amenable, and not that bothered one way or the other.

Here's my idea in brief: 200 hours of revision, starting from the New Year. (Child sorts out what actually needs to be revised before then and retrieves books from the rubbish tip of bedroom.) To be done in 1-hour slots. 2 hours per night for 3 nights of the school week (with the rest of the time taken up with activities and generally slobbing about), 5 hours for one day of the weekend (the other day at their intermittent Saturday job or relaxing).

Any homework given will be done during those 'work periods' too. During the Easter and May holidays, most days will be 5-hour revision days, making up for the time lost to that.

200 hours, 10 subjects, 20 hours for each. Divide each subject into ten 'parts' and revise each part twice.

Sounds perfect to me. What's wrong with it? This is my first child through the system, but I have more to come....

I did 3 hours a week, in 30 minute session from February. I passed all 9 GCSEs and got over 5s in all.

I knew people who were doing 5+ hours a week and were mentally and physically drained from doing that much revision after school.

With respect sweetheart, anyone who is mentally drained from doing five hours of revision a week isn't going to cut it in the real world.

...and some kids simply can't organise themselves without help.

Independence is learnt; it isn't automatic and some children need support much longer than others.

Frankly, on MN, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. If your children don't do well, it's your fault for leaving them to it. If they do well with your support, you're criticised for helicopter parenting.
Of course, there are children who do brilliantly without any help from anyone, and that's great, but there are more that need gentle guidance and some that need micromanaging.

Just because they still need help at 15/16, it doesn't mean they are still going to when they're 18, 21 etc. Why is it any different from different rates of development at any other time of childhood?

I agree piccolo .
People have a tendency to judge these kind of things by their own parenting style and the children they have. There isn't one 'right' way.

Some children are motivated and organised - great leave them to it
Some children are motivated and disorganised - they need help structuring
Some children aren't motivated - do you leave them to fail so they learn the consequences, or take the view they can be cajoled through to get reasonable grades which they will then have in their back pocket for life?
Some children are reluctant because they are afraid of failing - do you just leave it to be self fulfilling, or nurture them through.

Also, not all children do A levels & degree. There is nothing to stop a parent saying I'll help through GCSEs but 6th form you are on your own. If they screw up y12 they can retake it. Or some parents know that the GCSE passes get onto the strongly desired BTEC.

I think what I find particularly interesting is that my child very much resembles other family members on DH's side, in terms of being very laid back and, while perfectly happy to follow instructions and timetables, has no desire to come up with these himself. The big difference is that on DH's side, these family members were at a leading private school: they were never allowed to fail. All necessary support to get them through their exams with top marks was put in place. These family members thus did not fail and would be considered 'successful adults' now. There's a fair chance that if they had been left to their own devices at a more normal school, they would been much less 'successful'.

I have more than one child, and as other posters have pointed out, each of them needs different levels of support (one of them could organise the entire household herself right now). Helping them to find a structure doesn't mean that you infantilise them. The GCSE-level child has responded very well, over the years of childhood, to simple, clear-cut structures for, say, getting up and out the door to school on time, or dealing with the dishwasher/washing-up at the end of a meal. These have become second-nature to him and he can now apply these kinds of routines to other parts of his life. Giving him a similar structure for his first major exams would, I think, be something he could carry on himself into his A-levels and degree (should he choose to go down that route).

Ds is hopeless at organisation - he is getting better but just couldn’t focus.

He’s a smart lad and getting better as he gets older - I need to support him now so he can get through, why wouldn’t I? So he can say to me in a few years time ‘why didn’t you help me when I needed some help?’

Or some parents know that the GCSE passes get onto the strongly desired BTEC.

That's us. Ds needs his GCSE's to get onto a Btec in a subject that he hyper-focuses on. At 15 he is already starting to build work experience and professional contacts in this area. His asd however means that he needs more support than the average child and will for some time to come. I do worry about how he will cope with life as an adult.

Comefrom Ds is in year 11 and also autistic (recently diagnosed). He has the ability to pass his gcses well but struggles with anxiety and stress. He's doing mocks this week and we have encouraged revision but have not pushed in any way. He has had a very difficult year and although exam results are important so is his mental health. He is my second child to go through gcses and it is very different with a child that has additional needs, I too worry about the future.

@Lolasmiles gave you the best advice right at the beginning of this thread.
Students and indeed people in general, should always work hardest on their weaknesses. Too much time spent on ones they are good at is pointless, you cannot get more than 100 marks out of 100!
So giving equal weight to revision for all subjects is not a good idea.

I find it incredible that the school told you to do this but are not themselves providing any form of revision sessions at all. Giving students and parents responsibility is one thing, but abdicating from this is shit and the school stinks over this.

The school I taught in would never have allowed staff to do this and indeed I provided much and comprehensive revision material for all my students. Other staff ran sessions even in the Easter holidays, unpaid of course.

You and DC need to sit down and work something out together along the lines of @Lolasmiles extremely comprehensive and sensible post.

Give him responsibility but make sure he knows you are there to help and check what he plans makes sense. You are very caring and I wish you both all the best.