Share your tips for helping your DC through the exam period with SchoolExams.co.uk – chance to win £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

Whether your DC are at primary school, secondary school, or doing their A levels, exams can be a challenging time. SchoolExams.co.uk want to find out how you help your DCs through this period and for you to share any tips you have for making the process easier.

“You might not have the knowledge to help your child to revise for an exam, but you will be able to help them to gain the skills they need to maximise their success. You can also help to build their confidence, ease their stress and support them if things don’t go quite to plan. With experienced tutors, downloadable papers, and video tutorials SchoolExams.co.uk is the closest online experience which replicates the home tutor experience, at a fraction of the price.”

So how do you support your DC during exam time? Do you work with them on a revision timetable which includes planned breaks to help your DC stay focused and avoid last-minute panics? Or do you make sure they get lots of sleep and eat ‘brain food’ the morning of an exam? Is it a constant battle to get them to revise or are you more worried about them working too hard. Perhaps you are really involved and quiz them with flash cards on their subjects? Or maybe you're more laissez-fare, leaving them to get on with revision on their own.

However you help your DCs through the exam period, please share your tips below and you will be in with a chance to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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Lots of fresh air and exercise, but also reminders that doing well isn't the be all and end all.. in fact.. me and the OH are both sporty, and we have the mantra- if you're not falling, you're not learning..

I went through a lot of angst over whether or not to push my daughter or whether this would backfire as she resented my help, and whether the best way to get her to develop her own sense of responsibility was to let her get on with it herself.

From the other side of her GCSEs, I can now safely say I would encourage parents of children who are looking likely to under-perform to push their children! 15 and 16-year-olds are not necessarily mature enough to do the work they need to do, but the results will last long after they've grown up enough to regret it. your child may not thank you at the time, but they will certainly be glad of the results afterwards. Probably a controversial view, I know!

We always felt it was much better to reward effort rather than result so we invented the "revision present". If we felt a reasonable amount of revision had been done then the revision present would be given after the exams but before the result. This avoided a lot of the angst the DC's friends experienced when they knew that various bits of expensive technology etc. were riding on their exam results.

Other than that we would help with revision (if they wanted us to) by oral testing which is faster than them testing themselves writing down the answers (though practicing writing answers should also be done). We kept things as calm at home as possible and encouraged plenty of sleep and eating of the right things (with some treats).

For every stage of their education where exam results could affect the next stage we always had plan B (and sometimes C as well) - e.g. at the transfer to secondary school they knew if they got a place after the 11+ it was the Grammar School, they also knew (and had been to) the school which they would go to if they didn't end up at the Grammar School so there was never any feeling of "I must pass this exam or it's a disaster".

The most important thing is not to add to the stress they are feeling and do what you can to reduce it.

I knock on his door from time to time and make him a cuppa so he knows I am around and supportive but he has enough space for studying ( well I think he is!!)

The best thing to do is encourage them but dont constantly nag them as this will add even mroe pressure to their alread nervous minds. Help them with revision in 30 min chunks. Get them to revise the stuff they're struggling with. This is what i did with my DS last year and he came out with amazing results. However this year he is doing his A levels and would much rather have the quiet time to himself.

It is a common belief that revision before bed is best for your memory to retain information. Although it's correct that we process information and form memories in our sleep it is incredibly important to rest before you sleep because you will then relax and have a good quality sleep.

I ensure my children don't stay up late revising, eat 3 healthy meals and 2 high in protein snacks per day, drink at least 8 glasses of water per day and have at least 2 hours of relaxing time before bed after revising.

I also ensure they do not 'cram' and start revising early enough to do little and often. We all learn by repetition so this will help in the information being held in our long term memory.

At the moment it's tests rather than exams. One of us sits next to DC reading, sometimes it's helpful to be around for questions, support or testing them. Also, snacks really help to keep motivation levels up. Being regular about the timing seems to help as well.

For A levels and GCSEs. My DS revises best by discussing his learning, by explaining to me what he has learnt he clarifies it in his own mind. This involves listening to long detailed explanations of maths and further maths which I can only hope to understand, all he needs from me are words of encouragement and some echoing back in a questioning way if he didn't sound entirely sure. He follows this up with plenty of past papers, he needs to be encouraged to do these in a calm, empty space as he's easily distracted. DD revises by writing out her original notes onto A4 paper then rewriting them onto colour coded revision cards, the act of writing relaxes her and she is soaking up the detail as she does it. With DD we have to make sure she takes regular breaks as she would revise herself into a panic attack otherwise. I have also written a countdown of weeks to exams on the calender so they can plan accordingly.

Top tip : Buy write on cling on sheets. These are plastic static writing sheets. These were all over his bedroom walls with quotes, equations, mindmaps etc. They are very useful and leave no marks on walls and can be wiped off and reused.

I would remind my son that if he wants to get to a good university (he went to a very large, average comprehensive) he has to put the work in, if he doesn't then that is his choice and we can talk about the other options. I mainly trusted that he was on top of his revision, but would gently remind him of the end goal if I thought he was slacking off!

Money incentives worked very well for GCSE results!

I asked him if he wanted any revision help with going over the cards he made.

Getting a maths tutor in Year 9 for two years! He was amazing and inspired him so much he continued with maths and went on to do maths and further maths A levels.
Getting a French tutor 4 weeks before GCSE exam so that he could up his grade and confidence.

Cooking his favourite foods.

Trying not to get too stressy over girlfriends! Life goes on even during A levels!

Encouragement is key in my opinion, praise them for doing revision and depending on the age, have a reward chart in place.

Let them know that you are there to help and encourage them but don't apply the pressure they can only do it for themselves.

just give them support and encouragement and remind them you're proud of them

flash cards are good!

When I was married and the step-DC came to stay it was about providing a good, calm environment for them to study.

I made sure they had nutritious snacks and dinner, a clean, comfortable room in which to study, an offer to help revise if they wanted it, cleaned pressed uniform for school the next day, as well as a nutritious packed lunch or lunch money for school the next day.

I just wanted to remove as many stress points as possible to make their only focus on school.

My eldest gets very worked up and worried at exam time. I try and keep things really simple, a trip to the shop so he can choose all the stationery that he needs (one less thing for him to be worried about). Check up on his revision, without constantly nagging about it. Importantly, breaks from revision to do something active - exercise and endorphins make us feel better by themselves. Lots of positive talk about previous good results - trying to channel him into remembering the happy moments and how great it feels to do well. Decent meals in the revision period - fuels the body & brain. And an absolute must of an early night and a good nights sleep before.

Make sure they have lots of good nutritious food, a quiet space to revise and also time out sessions so they don't do too much at once. Patience and understanding is a must as they can be more emotive than normal during this period!

We're not at the exam stage yet, but I remember my mum being very hands off, to the extent that when I did well in my first uni exams she asked how I'd managed it - apparently she thought the fact that I'd spent almost the entire Christmas holidays in my room was because I was playing solitaire on the computer, not because I was revising!

When my kids get to that stage I hope I can keep the pressure off that effectively! Equally I hope I can work out what the best strategies are to support each of them - leaving me to my own devices worked, but other kids would need something different.

Don't pile on the pressure. Regular breaks and downtime are important for them to stay motivated and retain important information.

Lots of support and praise.
Allow for down time and rest. Have a fun activity planned at the end of exams.
If they do want help, offer to test them. I found this really helpful during GCSES.

Remove them from their distracting virtual online world and offer help, support and encouragement to help build confidence.

With eldest doing A levels it's been a case of trying to keep up slow and steady, regular work through the year rather than ending up doing a mad binge days before the exams. Although I think a mad binge might happen as well ;)

Peace and quiet, the correct breaks, good food and a calm demeanour when they are panicking and freaking out. No tv for anyone so they don't feel left out.

I have a daughter sitting exams this year. I have been organised and bought. -file paper - dividers - colour postcards and tons of fruit and juice cartons. Whilst life must go on we make sure she gets plenty of time to revise but also keeps up with her hobbies and friends.

Let the little things go and give a bit more slack. A tidy bedroom can wait.

A nice simple but consistent before bed / morning / after school routine can never be underestimated for making things more relaxed and under control no matter the age of the DC. We find chatting about the topics and rminding each other of the trickier facts at random times throughout the day is fun and helpful also.