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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

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Original poster

GCSe revision - how is it going?

40 replies

andisa · 03/04/2012 18:06

My DS is getting on with it but with so much cajoling from us. He wants to do well but finds revision "so boring". His grades have been good, a few slipped a bit in recent Science modues but without us organising him I'm not sure what he would achieve. Some boys methinks are not mature enough for the responsibility of exams at 15 as our DS will be.

Well done to all those mums who hang on in there and support their lively sons to get sitting and doing the study! It takes effort. And good on the boys despite their reluctance who do knuckle down - my DS included

OP posts:

webwiz · 03/04/2012 19:21

I think a lot of year 11s still need a bit of organising whether they are DSs or DDs! If it just takes a push to get them going then its worth doing.

DS is in year 10 and so doesn't have many exams this year but he still managed to have a major meltdown over physics revision. Thankfully he seems to have recovered his equilibrium after a couple of lie ins though.

This was meant to be the year off exam stress now that DD1 and DD2 have finished A levels .

gettingsorted · 03/04/2012 19:41

I have spent several tens of pounds on revision guides, paper etc and against my better judgement I decided to tidy up his room so he could have a clear space to work in. But we have still only managed 2 hours since breaking up last Friday. He has just gone off again, swearing, saying he won't be back tonight. I wish I could say "don't bother revising - it will all be ok", but I know that would be letting him down, as he will do really badly if he doesn't get something done now.

cybbo · 03/04/2012 19:45

My D is VERY reluctant to revise. VERY. I'm trying very hard not to make revision the sole topic of conversation between us but its tricky when I see her doing bugger all

GnomeDePlume · 03/04/2012 21:01

DD is pressing on. She works hard through the year so hopefully hard work will be rewarded.

circular · 04/04/2012 07:50

DD1 YR10, so just first units in Chem, Phys, Bio, plus Eng Lang paper in May. Then first Unit Geog in June.

She cannot see much point in starting to revise so early, but has reluctantly agreed to spend 2 hours a day. Started with Biology, and realised most of B1 (which was covered in yr9) has been forgotten, so slowly beginning to see the point of going over it.

So sticking to what we agreed, although I don't think it's anywhere near enough.

Not a clue if any 'studying' could/should be done for the Engl Lang.
Doubt she will touch Geog until half term.

Really dreading this time next year - feel for all of you with Yr11's.

Born2BRiiiled · 04/04/2012 08:30

Just a word to hopefully help. Make sure they "do" stuff rather than just reading. It's less boring. So, making revision notes which are really short, key points only, glossaries, mind maps, highlighting.

musicposy · 04/04/2012 08:31

Very well. She's up by 9am and revising pretty solid, all constructive stuff. And this is a girl who can be pretty lazy!

But her phone is years old, utterly crap and she can't afford to replace it so I have offered her my iphone afterwards if she puts in lots of effort. . I need one with more minutes on it anyway so she's doing me a favour.

I didn't hinge it on results because I did that for a couple she took last year and she completely failed to grasp the fact that work=results, and didn't do nearly so well as she could have done.

I don't care how shameless this is; she'll have these GCSE grades for the rest of her life so well worth it.

webwiz · 04/04/2012 08:53

Circular do you know what exam board it is for English Lang? DS is doing AQA and he is supposed to be keeping a reading diary of different types of "articles" that he has read - newspaper, magazine, travel blog etc because the exam paper is based on interpreting non fiction texts.

musicposy nothing wrong with a bit of bribery encouragement

seeker · 04/04/2012 08:58

My dd has study leave from may 11th- so it is very hard for her to motivate herself this holidays!

trish391971 · 04/04/2012 11:18

I think it has "hit" my DS at last that the exams are in 6 weeks! He has been pretty good doing 3 hrs Per day since breaking up friday, he has gone to the Daily Mail Schools Rugby final at Twickenham today and I think he deserves the break really. I am hoping this six weeks make a big difference to his results considering that not much revising went on before the last few weeks.

My bribe is £50 per A*/A and £25 per B, nothing for any less:)

Good luck also to the lovely Mum's on here who have to constantly encourage their DS/DD - I hope it is easier for AS/A Level!!

seeker · 04/04/2012 12:24

Bloody hell- £50 for an A! What if he gets 10 As?

I've bought dd's Isle of Wight Festival ticket, and she has to pay me back 20 quid for each a*/a she doesn't get.

Original poster

andisa · 04/04/2012 13:09

I don't expect my DS to get all A/A* as he had SN when younger which impacted on learning - even so so far most of his grades are of this calibre.
I just want him to study and try his best and wish to encourage other mum's to spur their DC's on even if they are not aiming for the very highest set of grades. It is about giving it a good go; reaching potential.

One of my DS's friends has given up studying because he struggles to get high grades which is a shame.

OP posts:

seeker · 04/04/2012 13:11

You'd better hope he doesn't surprise you!

seeker · 04/04/2012 13:13

Oops, sorry, andisa- thought it was you with the £50s!

I agree- I think expecting too much from dcs is as bad as expecting too little. Worse, actually.

LeBOF · 04/04/2012 13:13

She hasn't done much yet, but she has worked consistently all year. I'm slightly concerned, but at the same time, a few days break is fair enough. I've said that I trust her to set her own priorities. We shall see.

circular · 04/04/2012 13:17

Webwiz - AQA also. Nothing about keeping a reading diary of non-fiction stuff read. They have been doing a fair amount of non-fiction writing though, like adverts. She has a good understainding of different types of writing for different audiences, so hopefully won't have too much trouble. It's creative writing that's her real weakness..

webwiz · 04/04/2012 13:23

That sounds as if school are on top of it all circular, I think the last question on the paper is a "now write your own version" of whatever type of writing they have been looking at so not exactly creative writing.

trish391971 · 04/04/2012 14:20

Yes he is doing 12 so my top whack could be £600! Realistically it will be more near £450 to £500, If it gives him the boost to study it's more than worth it, he goes to GS so I have not had to pay school fees all these years so I can afford it

Original poster

andisa · 04/04/2012 14:49

Dear Circular,
there is a really good text book for practise for AQA English Language by Lindsay Macnab, published by Nelson Thornes. My DS is doing exercises from this. The AQA revision notes by CGP is useless.

OP posts:

SecretSquirrels · 04/04/2012 16:17

I'm trying very hard not to make revision the sole topic of conversation between us
Same here, although DS is very hard working and ambitious. It's just that he is happy to spend hours on physics which he already knows inside out and he is reluctant to get stuck into the ones he hates such as English and RE.
"Leave me alone I'm on it, trust me" is his answer.
We are away next week so packing all those revision guides to read by the pool .

BackforGood · 04/04/2012 16:31

Gettingsorted - that could be me and my ds - all the 'gentle pushes' in the world, all the support with revision timetables etc, but we have a bit of taking the horse to water but him not drinking here, too.
I@ve tried making suggestions about doing 'chunks' of subjects or even 'chunks' of revision and pointed out how much time that still leaves him for seeing friends or facebooking or watching TV or sleeping, but he's only really inspried by the revision days some staff are offering at school.
He really just doesn't get it.

DameHermione · 04/04/2012 16:33

so far so good......

although she has so much art and graphics coursework to do there appears to be little room for much else..

seeker · 04/04/2012 18:38

Mine is snowed under by art coursework too. So she's gone to the cinema and a sleepover............

gettingsorted · 04/04/2012 18:48

backforgood - good to know we are not alone! At the end of the day, if someone doesn't see the point they won't be motivated - we can but try!

bigbluebus · 05/04/2012 10:08

DS in Yr 10 has 3 x science, english, geography and his final Maths module this yr. Found out last wk he also has end of yr exams at beginning of May too which adds in 2 extra subjects to revise for.
Was doing 1 hr a day revision from mid March but have told him now needs 2 hrs a day - not much out of a day in school holidays imo. He is of course resisting and needing constant reminding to get it done Keeps telling me "none of my mates are revising". Not to mention the 'meltdowns' over bits of Maths he is stuck on (I can't help him as it's 32 yrs since I did O level Maths!!!) and not being certain of what he should actually be revising for English(Edexcel) and Geography - which according to his exam entry is 'decision making' based on pre-provided material which he has not been given yet (even though exam board website says it is issued in Feb!). I'm fed up of the tension already - will be completely grey by June and heaven knows what it will be like next year when he has all the subjects to do!!!

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