How to Help your Child Prepare for Exams

As adults we all know that sitting an exam is an incredibly stressful experience. No matter what the subject matter or reason. However, it isn’t just adults that can feel the pain of exam time, our children do too.

As parents, we want to make sure that your children are happy and that they never feel stressed, even at important points of their lives such as exams. But how can we help? James Goldsmith, Academic Director at 11plustutorsinessex.co.uk shares his top tips on how to help your child prepare for exams:

1) Help them to work out a revision schedule

It is no secret that one of the best ways to ensure that you do well in an exam, is to plan for it. Children are not going to be natural born planners, which means, as a parent, it is going to be down to you to help them. You will need to sit down with them and work out a revision timetable, taking into account all the different subjects they will need to keep in mind. It is best to try and keep the revision time broken down into smaller chunks as this will allow them to focus their attention easier.

2) Buy tools that make revision more interesting

A huge amount of children will benefit from visual aids during the revision process. Brightly coloured highlighters, stickers and dividers for a ring binder are a sure fire way to help them to focus themselves on what they need to learn and make it as memorable as possible.

3) Make things around them as comfortable as possible

The last thing that your child is going to want is a loud, stressful home life when they are trying to get ready for an exam. This means, as a parent, it is your duty to make sure that their home life is as relaxed as possible. We know that things that can happen which will be hard to keep on top if, but ultimately, the calmer their home life is, the easier they are going to find it to focus on their revision and getting ready for their exams.

4) Never bribe them

It can be tempting to tell your child that if they do well in their exams they can have something they have really wanted. Whilst this probably sounds like a great idea, bribery of this type can be counter-productive. Instead, remind them of the personal reasons to them, that they should try their best, such as how it will make them feel. You can also reward them after their results, however, this should never be used as a carrot to dangle in front of them.

5) Show Love and Attention

Before you know it, exams will be done and your hard work will have paid off. The important thing to remember is that you should show your child plenty of love and attention when they have finished their exams, regardless of how they may have done, after all, they should always be perfect to you!