GCSE supporting - to half term, and beyond!

[SheilaFentiman]

Making a new thread to support half term revision and the set of GCSEs afterwards!

DS has managed to lose his calculator since Saturday. We had a spare and he’s lost that too.
He’s currently borrowing his brother’s for £10/day deposit and I have ordered a new one, which I will make him pay for. Hoping that the fact of ordering one will make the originals turn up!

@Letskeepgoing that's what I have to do with my DS otherwise he just procrastinates. Sometimes it works well and sometimes he just doesn't cooperate. He has been trying much harder since the exams started but the concern is it's too little, too late. He also does past papers, but only for science and maths. He really, really needs to work on English Language, but that is a battle I will never win!

Yes, same regarding Eng Lang, it's so frustrating. All they need to do is work really hard for just 2 more weeks....

So frustrating, especially when he's telling me that he needs to pass it to get onto the course he wants to do! Yes, I know, I've been telling you that for months 🙄

Great start. DS Lost his Clear Revise book for Cold War so I’ve had to order another one. And I have searched half an hour for it all properly.

Son has come down with a stinking cold, won't be able to make revision sessions today, I don't think he will be revising much now until better. Hopefully he will be better by Monday.

Antibiotics kicking in 💪🏼 Today History and Cold War. It’s nuts that despite there being only about three questions on the Cold War, they do need to know and understand the entire Cold War. It’s Cold War and Elizabethan on the exam paper. (I love History as a subject, didn’t ever learn it myself but DS really likes History and it’s one of his favourite subjects) So much to remember though. DS currently doing past paper questions and has about 70 different questions he may be asked on a spreadsheet.

Anyone else’s ds/dd doing History? How do you help with the remembering dates and timelines, and key events?

DS is doing History. I don’t get involved at all. He’s always loved it since watching Horrible Histories as a child and can remember dates, battles and individuals without trying.

Sorry not much help!

My DD started back with a bit of revision yesterday. I took my younger DD to meet friends in Bham so she jad the house to herself.
She will probably start doing a bit more now she has had a good break. I am trying not to nag as she has good mock results and she will be fine. She does past papers and has made some notes cards but sometimes just reads through her work.
I don't think you can drag a stubborn child to revise they have to put something in themselves which is so hard if they have lost/no motivation.
I'm not being smug here my DD 13 is so stubborn I can't imagine trying to help her through her GCSE'S!

Broached the subject of revision last night, and the response was that if he revises too far ahead of the exam, he'll forget everything! 🙄

Good Lord, I am sick of grumpy teenagers

@DontForgetToBreathe I thought exactly the same when going through the Cold War with my DS. So much to remember for so few questions! I don't have any useful tips for learning key dates and events, for my DS it's just going over it again and again and again....

You could try https://quizlet.com/en-gb for dates - it online flash cards- DS has used it for Welsh and hopefully later RS quotes - but it is just going over stuff a lot.

History and Geography both seem like a lot of content though and I'm not sure if DS is remembering dates as such. He has left for history Germany 1919-1939 which does have a lot of programs/you tube videos around for that period.

DS is in a huge mood today very over revision - not sure much will be done.

Watched a 1 hour 30 minute entire Cold War thing on YouTube. Better than Harry Potter I said. I went out to get some bits for lunch.

He said, why didn’t you show me this before?! Err …yeah I did tryyy? Okay he’s off answering exam questions again now. I think the books are great, but kids probably need to visualise some of the history vids to get a full idea of how it was.

For anyone else. It’s not in detail like the books, and not instead of the Hodder revision books, think those are better. But this is good too for getting back into it.

Not much being done here. A hour a day at most. Suggested I wake them at 10 am this morning and try to do 3 hours today before cinema this evening. Bedroom door was firmly shut and I was told to butt out. They were still awake at 1.30 am when I popped to the loo, other than having a full on quarrel not sure what else I can do.

@DontForgetToBreathe well done, that sounds like a bit of a breakthrough.

Eng Lang revision today here, which I think she has just done to get me off her back. She insists there's not much to revise for it. I'm trying not to bug her too much as I remember thinking exactly the same about mine. At the same time, such an important one!

DS2 had his school English revisions session today. He has a face on in general, I know it's because of counselling tomorrow that he loathes. His mood is so low he has no interest in anything, it's his birthday at the end of the month and he cant think of anything he wants. We're going on holiday then so hopefully that will help a bit.

DS2's English Teacher is also head of dept and her opinion was DS2 stood a good chance of passing English Language despite his 55% attendance this year, as he generally has good spelling and grammar, he wouldn't have missed anything significant, and was more just doing practise questions. She actually said it was frustrating as a teacher that students like DS2 can pass with little effort whilst some can work so hard but not get the results. I opted to say nothing, I get what she means, but it was a bit wrong audience given DS2 had never successfully completed an English exam in all his time at the school and English has been a huge trigger for his anxiety and depression.

Apparently i have become to fixated with English lang!! Ds also thinks no revision required. He will get a shock if not getting a B means he cannot do A levels. He seems to be doing a bit on other subjects which is good but he is hating half term as just wants to get on with them!

I should schedule in more English language for ds. @mumonthehill I always think if he is doing other subjects, AND PAYS ATTENTION to how he structures his writing (PEEL, pretzel) concentrates on spelling grammar and his handwriting too, and links back (history, geography) that English will automatically also improve. Ds is too cavalier about English. He’s dragged it up from 4 to a 7, just about but always misses questions because he runs out of time. His teacher has told the entire class to NOT DO a story and go for description when given the choice on exam. Mr Salles on YouTube is quite good

I know my DS (history nerd even before picking for GCSE) really enjoys videos by someone called Over Simplified. They're more cartoon and funny as well so may be good for reluctant history learning.

No revision here this week so far. To be quite honest I think she learns more the night before an exam. She's actually smiling and joking this week which is something she's not done for a while.
Happy for her to have a break.
She's emailed the college to see if she can have the place back on the course she cancelled if she only gets 2s and do the level 1.
She only needs 3s for the apprenticeship.
4s for the level 2 course.
Give her her due she is giving it some thought.

@christmastreefarm dd has asked for her nose pierced for prom.

His teacher has told the entire class to NOT DO a story and go for description when given the choice on exam.

DD's English teacher has said exactly the same and emphasised that you do not need one scrap of story in there to do well. In fact, better not to put any in and concentrate on descriptive writing down to the last eyelash or pebble. They have had a grand total of about two lessons on how to take the exam in their English lessons and spent all the rest of the time on literature.

DS loves Quizlet and it's been the basis for most of his revision. He spent the past few months making Quizlet cards for himself from his notes and textbooks, and now tests himself on his phone wherever he is. Haven't seen any signs of revision today, he was round at a mate's house playing D&D...

His teacher has told the entire class to NOT DO a story and go for description when given the choice on exam.

Funnily enough DS was telling me that was his strategy for the English exam because he thinks a story is so subjective when it comes to marking.

I wonder if it's something he's been told and remember though story telling has never been a strong suit of his.

He claims he been doing SENCA today - I have serious doubts - but I think he did a bit this morning so will try not to nag.