GCSE revision without notes?!?

[MrsRabbitsCleaner]

My yr 11 DS has ADHD, just recently diagnosed after a hellish time in lockdown 1. He’s a bright kid at a selective grammar but has really struggled the last few years with lack of focus, concentration and motivation. As a result his foundation knowledge in his core subjects is poor and he’s currently got no revision notes for any subject. He’s looking at 4/5’s possibly some 6’s if he’s lucky.

The issue is he refuses to make any notes at all. He’s very reluctantly started some revision today for January mocks and has managed an hour on Seneca. He tells me making notes doesn’t help him at all and he prefers this interactive way of learning. I get that and am supportive but I worry he has nothing tangible to take forward as he gets nearer to exams and has limited time to revise each topic. My process was always long notes getting shorter and shorter until just a few words on flash cards etc. I appreciate he’s very different but can he really successfully revise with no notes at all?

Should I be worried? He won’t listen to me. It’s a major deal to get him to sit and work for an hour in a day.

I feel guilty that I haven’t pushed for an ADHD diagnosis until recently. I’ve known since year 7 that he’s been struggling and have been in contact with school regularly but because he’s not disruptive or badly behaved I think it’s gone under the radar. We now have limited time to support him prior to GCSEs.

Any experiences welcome. Either to reassure me this might be enough or experience with similar kids and what’s worked for them.

Thanks

Making notes doesn't work for me either and I have done a lot of exams! As a teenager I used to read and re-read textbooks and underline relevant bits. That is difficult to do if it's a library book though. There are a lot of books of notes you can buy. I would read the relevant section then talk to myself/my cat/my mum about it to make sure I understood it. Past paper questions are v v important if you're not making notes as in the exam you do need to write stuff down. Also to practice concentrating and writing for long periods. Does your son use mindmaps as they are good too for those of us who don't think in straight lines.

Have a look at revision apps for the phone. Very good for kids who struggle to maintain focus for long periods of time as can be done in small bites. They help pinpoint where the gaps in knowledge are and some of them let you have a parent account to keep track of progress.

Mind maps for more essay based subjects, seneca or similar and online past papers for all subjects. It is not the time to be learning new ways of revising and it might not help him anyway.

Does he know what he wants to do for A levels? Maybe help him plan a revision timetable prioritising maths, English and A level subjects for now. Get him to be specific so not just 'maths' but surds etc. Only the top eight GCSEs are usually relevant for University. Discuss with the school if he can drop one.

By new ways of revising I mean taking notes, it might be useful to consider encouraging him to do it for A levels but at this stage it is time consuming.

Note taking really doesn’t work for all although it’s definitely reassuring for parents to see something tangible.

It may well be that the interactive stuff does work best for him but work with him to create lists of areas he needs to work more on so he can revisit, links and websites he has used so he has a “resource bank” etc.

It will help reassure you but also give him a little more structure and organisation.

If you can afford it get CGP guides, he needs to do lots of past papers.

I like cards myself but have you looked at

• Tassomai for Science
• CGP also do packs of cards for revision too, as well as their revision guides

My son said his chemistry teacher was rubbish. He threw away his chemistry file and bought a Revision Guide to the subject and got an A.

DS didn't make revision notes either (and his class notes were often rubbish). He also preferred interactive learning using tools like Seneca, and also doing practice questions. There is so much stuff available now on the internet to help revision I don't think it matters at all. It's not like "back in the day" when all you had was your school notes and any others you'd made yourself. How has he revised for tests in the past? I think the most important thing about revision is to find what works for you!

Leave him to it.

My Year 11 DD says exactly the same thing - so much of the work they do is online that I think that the concept of writing condensed notes is hard to fathom! However, I recently I came across some interviews with Year 13 students and several said that it is possible to cram for GCSEs, while it isn't for A levels ... I decided to take comfort from this and to trust that in 2 years time things will be different!!!

He could draw, like pictograms (?) and throw in some key words.

Doing past papers, and writing his own questions. Planning answers without writing them in full.

Manipulating information - how would I present this as a poem? What perspective would an elderly person take? How has X impacted on individuals and societies?

Thanks all, I'm so sorry to have been absent all day. I posted late last night in a bit of a tiz then have been working all day and forgot till now. I'm really reassured by the replies.

To answer a few Qs, he has dropped a subject already so is now taking 9 rather than 10.

We do already have lots of CGP guides and some of their flashcards and workbooks so hopefully he can be persuaded to use those too as well as Seneca.

I will look at Tassomai for science since he's doing all 3 separately (compulsory, not by choice). I had heard of it before but had forgotten so that's a useful reminder thank you.

I think his school will be doing lots of past papers too and I can try and support that at home too.

As for A Levels he really has no clue. I'm not sure that he's even cut out for A Levels to be honest such is his dislike of anything remotely academic. I'm hoping that his new ADHD medication may help soon with his concentration and focus and that if that's the case then he may be able to apply himself better and end up with better results than he currently thinks he's capable of. This in turn may give him some motivation to consider what he might like to do next.

Thank you again. Knowing that this is not that unusual for some kids has really helped.

DS was Seneca and no writing of notes. Can't tell you how he did in GCSEs because it was this summer but he managed good grades in his mocks. I think it works for a logical mind. I tried to get DS into mind maps but it was a lost cause.

Thanks EwwSprouts good to hear

@MrsRabbitsCleaner my ds sounds just like yours except he's in year 10, at a grammar. He was diagnosed with ADHD at the beginning of year 9.

I've already bought all the CGP revision guides as I know ds won't write anything by choice. He can also only manage 20-25 mins revision at a time. I tend to encourage revision on the bus (40 min journey) as he's willing to do that (nothing else to do!).

Ds is also not really interested in academic subjects, and I'm a bit worried about the work involved in A Levels....

PS I second the flash card idea - CGP do sets for science.

My son has ASD and completed his GCSEs this year.

I don’t think he ever took a note. He used apps and did Ok in his mocks.
4, 5, 6 s are fine.

Have you looked at what the local colleges have to offer - may be much more suitable than A levels

Thanks crazy the bus idea is a good one which I’ll suggest.

And thanks Ted good to know of your sons success. Agree nothing wrong with 4,5,6’s but his projected grades used to be considerably higher and it’s a readjustment for him to now be struggling for a pass in some subjects.

@MrsRabbitsCleaner

My son also has a learning difficulty but has also loved learning and stuggled with the idea of ‘only’ gettings 4 and 5s.
I have always told him three things

don’t worry about what everyone else is getting - its irrelevant to you
everything is just a stepping stone to the next thing, focus on what you need to get to that next step
in 5 years time no one will care how many GCSEs and what grades you have because they will be looking at your work experience.

I can’t remember the last time anyway asked about my degrees, let alone my A and O Levels

My son needed a minimum of 4s in Maths, English and Science to get on his course, he actually did better than that, but it doesn’t matter - he is where he wanted and planned to be.

He would be better off deciding what he wants to do and what he needs to do it - then he’s got something to focus on

Hi,
I've just joined mumsnet as I was hoping to find ideas on how to help my son. This thread is so reassuring!

My son is year 10 and is really struggling in tests this term and his grades are taking a nose dive. He refuses to make notes and just doesn't seem to realise how important it is to revise. In a bid to help, I revised Chemistry with him over half term and he really seemed to understand the content. He found the longer answers harder but he was quite confident going into the test. I was really looking forward to knowing the result as he'd been really happy that lots of the questions came up. I was all ready for him to have a good result and a confidence boost but instead he came home today in tears as he got 44%!! His response to this was 'See, I am never going to bother revising as I did better when I didn't revise'. This makes me think that he needs a different approach to revising.
Just before he got home, I had received an email from his computing teacher saying that he isn't doing any work and that he will be lucky to scrape a 4 if he carries on like this. It doesn't help that his option subjects are all being taught online but in school.
I have often wondered over the years if he has ADD as he has always had a problem with concentration and getting easily distracted. Is it too late to get a diagnosis?
I really hope MrsRabbitsCleaner you have found some reassurance in the replies you have received.

For my ADHD son (he has ASC too for full disclosure) we identified he actually had no idea that he needed to revise and how to revise. We discovered this when he did really poorly in his mocks despite, like your son, being bright.

I therefore got all the relevant revision books and syllabus for each subject and completed a full revision timetable for him (with breaks and days off of course). I then literally had to sit with him while he revised - motivation and focus and concentration and sticking with things is very difficult for someone with ADHD. So that made sure he was actually revising.

And most importantly was I printed out loads and loads of past papers which he completed and I marked and went through with him, and then he completed again. I think it was more work for me than him! Especially as I have ADHD too :-)

I also made him exercise daily (cardio)- usually in a break - as this really good for ADHD symptoms. I'd also recommend giving him a really good protein based breakfast. And while revising anything he needs to help him concentrate including snacks.

He went from failing his mocks to getting all As and Bs - he got 100% of some of his science papers!

He needed less support with his A levels and then completed his degree revision himself. He needed to understand the importance of revising and how to commit things to memory. He also needed help in how to write answers in the format needed, but that's more his ASC in that he wasn't always explaining the context.

It was awful and stressful, but totally worth it. It would have been devastating for both of us if he'd failed.

Definitely not too late @LizzieLoops. It helped ds even though he won’t take the medication as it made him feel depressed. But it helped to know there were underlying issues which hinder him. There are certain things that help him in class too - not being at the front (he gets tempted to turn round) but at the back instead. Having short fidget breaks. Teachers knowing he’s likely to get distracted and trying to keep him on track.

We’re going with the 25 min revision approach at the moment. I’m not sure what ds’ results are going to be like - he has a chemistry test tomorrow too. I don’t think he will fit a whole unit into two 25 min sessions of revision!

@LizzieLoops

Hi, I've just joined mumsnet as I was hoping to find ideas on how to help my son. This thread is so reassuring! My son is year 10 and is really struggling in tests this term and his grades are taking a nose dive. He refuses to make notes and just doesn't seem to realise how important it is to revise. In a bid to help, I revised Chemistry with him over half term and he really seemed to understand the content. He found the longer answers harder but he was quite confident going into the test. I was really looking forward to knowing the result as he'd been really happy that lots of the questions came up. I was all ready for him to have a good result and a confidence boost but instead he came home today in tears as he got 44%!! His response to this was 'See, I am never going to bother revising as I did better when I didn't revise'. This makes me think that he needs a different approach to revising. Just before he got home, I had received an email from his computing teacher saying that he isn't doing any work and that he will be lucky to scrape a 4 if he carries on like this. It doesn't help that his option subjects are all being taught online but in school. I have often wondered over the years if he has ADD as he has always had a problem with concentration and getting easily distracted. Is it too late to get a diagnosis? I really hope MrsRabbitsCleaner you have found some reassurance in the replies you have received.

It's never too late but as your son is in year 10 and one year away from GCSEs, I'd recommend that you get a private diagnosis if you afford it, as the CAMHS waiting list and diagnostic process take a really really long time.

My son was 12 until I had the support of his school and I knew that would be too late to go the CAMHS route - it takes years.

Wow, I’ve just read your post @MiniMum97! That’s impressive commitment! Unfortunately my ds is very independent (despite also being disorganised and not on top of his work at all!) and won’t accept any help. His revision technique simply involves reading the textbook.

How does Seneca work and is it free ?(question for anyone not just Minimum!)