How do your teens revise in year 10/11 and for how long?

[gortgf]

Just wondering how your teens revise and for how long, if they are in year 10/11. Are there any revision efficient techniques, that don't require much writing?

DD is Y13 now, but during Y10/11 she revised for specific topic tests by going through her notes and doing practice questions.

For exams/mocks she would do a mix of note taking, creating mind maps, creating fact sheets, doing online revision through eg seneca, quizlet etc, using CGP revision books and practice questions. Different techniques work better for different subjects.

She didn't do revision unless she had tests/exams because her school set a lot of homework.

I'm not sure how long she spent revising. Certainly in the Christmas holidays before mocks, she spent nearly every day working a full day, splitting the day into distinct sessions for different subjects.

Techniques not involving writing are fairly limited, and will be less successful for certain subjects. IF oyu are willing/able you can listen to your DC talk through answers to practice questions, get them to explain a certain topic/idea to you verbally, or test them on language vocab etc. Or they can watch videos on line or use interactive websites eg BBC bitesize, Seneca

My oldest DC was not keen on writing and in fact writing things out is not an especially efficient way to revise.

We used to do endless past papers, but verbally - so I would ask him the question and he would frame the answer. We would then look at the mark scheme and see what he had missed. We might go on a walk and do this or sit watching DS2's cricket match.

He could also try this with a friend. Another good technique is explaining something to someone - a younger sibling perhaps.

There are lots of online resources with practice questions if that suits. Flashcard and mind maps can be useful but only if they lead somewhere, rather than lots of pretty work but no knowledge being retained.

It might be worth buying a Good Study Guide. The important thing is for them to try practice answers. It’s very easy to tell yourself you know something but sitting down trying to write about it without any books is definitely the answer.
Making bulletin point lists is very useful too

What is a suitable revision technique for someone can vary - my DD will make flashcards but you do need to actually go back and use them, it's not the writing them out bit that is the revision!

If he'd do an online quiz you could see if anything is available on Quizlet or make one for the subject. BBC bitesize would be worth looking at as well.

DD's school really emphasise making revision notes as you go along and not leaving it to the end/night before the exam, and they have a lesson each week in the timetable that they are expected to use on revising a subject that they need to work on.

What kind of revision techniques have worked well in the past, OP?