Helping Prepare for Exams

It's hard to believe we are already in November! Many of our students are starting to prepare for their end of term exams. A common complaint that I get is that ‘my child doesn’t know how to study.’ If you are in this boat, not to worry, I have some tips that will help.

Firstly, it’s important to remember that studying is a skill that can be taught. When our kids are not given instruction on how to study, they often just look over their pages endlessly with without a goal in mind. For studying success, we want them to have study strategies that can help them improve.
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Start by looking at the subject areas that your child needs to study. In areas where there are example problems or papers that can be used, guide them through the practice questions that can be completed. Plan with them as to how many review questions they should get done within a certain period.

In subjects that require memorization of definitions and facts, it may be helpful to make some flash cards. Put the term on one side, and the definition or important facts on the other side. Teach your child how to go through the stack of terms and say the definition or facts orally before checking the answer on the back of the page.

When there is a lot of reading involved, suggest that they look at the headings of each section and turn the headings into questions. For examples, if the heading of a section is, “Natural Resources within the Turks and Caicos Islands,” guide them into turning this title into a study questions – “What are the natural resources found in the Turks and Caicos Islands?” Writing the questions, they make in a notebook or on flash cards provides a great way for them to review content.
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In addition to the three strategies provided above, here are some important tips to keep central when supporting your child through exam season.

1. Organize for Studying Success – Decide where studying is going to take place. Ensure that the space is free of distractions during study time and has all the tools needed.
2. Plan a Study Schedule – When there are several subjects that need to be reviewed it can become overwhelming and students may need support managing their time. Look at their exam timetable, discuss with them which subjects may need more of their time, and draft a schedule for which subjects they will study when and for how long. See this schedule as a starting point and adjust as necessary.
3. Set Study Goals – Help your child decide how much content they need to get through in each study session or if there are any concept they want to master. This will help them to focus on the task at hand.
4. Consider their Learning Style – We all have our learning preferences. If your child is a strong visual learning, provide them with a whiteboard and markers to make things visual as they study. If they have a strong musical style, allow them to listen to instrumental music as they study. Learning styles inventories can be found online to help your child determine their areas of strengthen.
5. Encourage Intervals – It’s easy to expect longer study periods the closer that students get to exams. Remember that the brain needs time to rest, and focus can increase after breaks. Encourage your child to study hard, and to enjoy their breaks. 

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