Helping your Child Revise

Recognise how important these exams are and how much time/effort they will need if your child is to do as well as possible.

Encourage them to persevere and to work hard in the run-up to the exams.

Take an interest in what your child is learning – ask them!

Help them to do homework thoroughly and check that they have finished it.

Encourage your son/daughter to ask their teachers for help on any parts of their work they do not understand.

Do not be afraid to approach teachers for advice – ask via their organiser.

Find a quiet place for them to study, and a place where their work can be safely kept.   Encourage the rest of the family to help by not disturbing revision;

Make sure they have a little breakfast every day, especially during the week of the tests - children who miss breakfast perform worse in late morning.

Encourage relaxation time (too much study is not helpful), and emphasise the need for plenty of sleep.

Keep reminding them that it will soon be over!

START NOW!

Check that they are clear about what is in the syllabus and what they might get tested on.

Help them devise a revision timetable which includes the dates and times of the examinations (children are hopeless at this) – then insist that they KEEP TO IT.

Revision can look very daunting until it is broken down into manageable chunks sessions of work spread out evenly so that your son/daughter is not planning to do too much all at once.

Follow the principle ‘little and often’.

Plan sessions to revise specific topics in each subject, not everything at once.

Plan to cover each subject more than once and revisit each one near to the exams.

Build in time for relaxing.  Include any important dates (such as birthdays) when you would want them to take some time off from revision.

Having the timetable displayed in their room is a good idea which helps them stick to the plan.

Get them to check that they have all the notes and texts they need for revision. Get them to talk to their teacher if they are missing any.

Revise by topic not by time, but…

Remember the brain works best for 20-minute stints – after that you get brain drain.   Plan for short, sharp sessions. Any longer than 30 minutes and it is likely that nothing more will sink in. Take a short break in between sessions and have a glass of water (the brain needs water to function properly).   Take a break and some activity (eg shoot hoops).

In the evenings after school, plan to revise one or two subjects only.

Good revision guides are easily available in bookshops.

Excellent revision websites are available at the SATs revision sites page of the school website: http://www.greenfield.durham.sch.uk/acSAT_Revision_sites.htm

Have all the materials they need to hand so they don’t have to go off looking for information.

Ensure that each session starts by tackling the most difficult bits.   If they get ‘stuck’, teach them how to move on come back to it at the end if they have time.

Revising with the TV or radio on or with loud music is NOT a good idea. Having favourite ‘supermarket’ music in the background may help.

Working with a friend is NOT useful because they tend to waste the time talking, and you will feel less comfortable about getting involved in the revision.

Working with an older brother or sister who has already done the exam may help – if they don’t kill each other!

Listen to them read their answers and notes out loud to you. (Reading it out loud will improve their written expression, because they will realise the bits that do not make sense.)  Respond only at the end. It’s a good rule of thumb that if you can follow their explanation then they will be able to produce a good answer to an exam question on that topic.

Most students find going over previous exam papers really helpful Look through a practice paper together and talk through the answers, try drawing or acting out answers of difficult concepts. (Remember that the number of marks gives your child an idea of how much time to spend on each question.)

Reading is not enough. Making brief notes in either words or pictures helps them to ‘fix’ the information. If they’re revising facts, it’s best to use cards to jot notes, in shorter and shorter versions. Using a tape recorder helps improve speaking and expression.

One of the most important factors to remember when preparing for exams is to recognize that people all have their own learning style. Be aware of what helps your child learn.  Approach a subject from lots of different angles – software, games, activities, books, flash cards etc. You can find out what kind of learner you are at:  http://www.greenfield.durham.sch.uk/a_multipleintelligences.htm

Offer rewards for each bit of work completed (e.g. points towards a visit to the cinema at the weekend, or a phone call to a friend at the end of an evening’s work, for example).

Help your child to learn a new descriptive word a day and all the family use it correctly as much as possible – maybe stick it to the front door!

Encourage your child’s learning by reading and discussing newspaper articles – try to identify key points which convey the message and ask them questions to test their understanding.

Get them to use numbers in everyday situations, like shopping, and to work out sums in their head.

Talk to your child about things in the news and the world around them and encourage them to ask questions about the way things work.

Encourage your child to read for 20 minutes every day.

Make sure they get to bed at a reasonable time. If children are tired they find it hard to concentrate – even when they are assertive teenagers with a mind of their own about such things!

Encourage your child to believe in themselves – get them to develop an "I can do it!" attitude to the work.

Encourage the attitude that getting stuck is not a problem, but a challenge and fun!  

Remind your child that the tests are important, but that the tests are not the only way they are to prove themselves in their life.

HELP THEM TO ENJOY!  OFFER LOTS OF PRAISE – BOOST THEIR CONFIDENCE, because SOME PUPILS ARE VERY NERVOUS!

Being calm with your child if they are worried will help them to keep calm, and try to be there to talk through their concerns.

Do not put your child under too much pressure.

They will find things easier to remember things they have enjoyed doing than things they were pressured to do.

Teach them how to relax – e.g. by breathing deeply and closing their eyes to picture a calm scene like a green field by a river

Double-check the date, and the start- and end-time of the exam.

Make sure your child’s clothes are ready for the next morning.

Get ready the night before the (two) pens, pencils, eraser, rulers, calculators and ANY SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT ELSE THEY WILL NEED FOR THE EXAM (e.g. calculator, protractor), and check they all work.

Make sure they have a watch.   Remind them to keep checking the time, so they'll know how long there is to go in the test

Wish them well, reassure them they have worked hard enough and tell them just to try their best on the day.  

Try to be in when they return at the end of the exam day.  

Do not go into any deep moritoriums about how they did – reassure them that you’re sure it will have been enough.

Help them to ‘wind down’ after the exam – and then to prepare themselves for the next one.

Do not ask them to do too many chores, such as looking after younger brothers and sisters.