How to guide teen to revise for GCSEs

[sugarlips2015]

Hi

No kids of my own and I'm newish to being a step mum to a 15 yr old boy... so any help appreciated! Boyfriend has asked me to help guide him with a revision plan as I used to be swotty.

Just come across quizlet.com with flashcards and quizzes. Or is the BBC Bitesize app with ready made flashcards sufficient (does it cover everything or would it be best to make your own notes (it's extra work but the process itself is surely helpful)? Although said teen gets a little overwhelmed so maybe the Bitesize app is best?

Many thanks!

Anyone used this or can make other recommendations?

Look on his school website or ask what revision resources they have recommended to your dss or dp? Find out what exam board (eg AQA) he is studying for which subject and get/see if he has the CGP exam revision books. His school might be subscribed to some helpful things such as Tassomai for science. We were recommended they do 'interleaved' revision, so say you have four chemistry topics to revise, you do them ABCD then a week later go over again BCDA, etc a couple more times, each time reviewing the topic and then testing yourself using exam questions.

Thanks for the advice. I've rang the school to ask for a syllabus for each of his subjects (he says he doesn't have any . Honestly you'd think I rang up for official trade secrets! We have to get his mum to provide written permission for his dad to be officially on an app where the info is.

It’s really good of you to get involved with this particularly unenviable parenting role - if I were you (and didn’t have a lazy 16yo ds currently immersed in all manner of distraction activities) I’d steer well clear and be the lovely step-mum who is fun to be with, takes him out for necessary burger breaks, and doesn’t nag!

I helped DC make a list of every topic in every subject and then rate them from easiest to hardest. I got them to tick off an easy and a hard one each day, so they didn't;t get demoralised. I timed the sessions for them and made sure they took a quick break for fresh air and a snack then back to revision.

Most helpful of all is at dinner time or on walks to ask them to tell you what they know about the subjects they revised that day. Ask questions and encourage them to explain as much as possible. The more they can 'teach' other people what they know, the more likely they are to access the info easily under exam conditions.

I would deffo recommend that you find out what board he is doing for each GCSE and get the revision guide for each. They are like the mother lode! The other stuff like quizlets and bite size can follow afterwards but you need to go to the source of the bottom line of what each board wants.

You need the basic revision guide. Some do past papers as well
/bundled in but they are an optional extra. You also need something like York notes for the English literature books/texts.

BTW, WH Smith or Waterstones NEVER have exactly what you need in stock. Just order them all online!

Teacher and Mum here. Seneca is great, my DD absolutely loves this for revision. You do need to know which exam board they're studying with though.

For English Language past paper practice is really the only effective way to revise. For Literature quote learning and practice questions.

Yup Seneca advocate here, Achieved 11 grade 9s all sciences due to seneca.
Print off exam board curriculum then highlight each section red yellow green. Red = doesn’t know Green = fully understands. We worked on basis of 30 hours per subject, so if starting in Feb approx 3 hours per night. During Easter was approx 6 hours per day. Start with red items first.
You can also check out uplearn.

Once you know which boards he's doing, print out past papers from the examining board website. The mark schemes are there so that he can mark his tests and learn what constitutes a good answer.

The syllabus is on the exam board website.

If you prefer book for at then you can get revision guides (CGP is popular) to cover the basics. They aren't enough to get a 9 but they cover the basics well enough.