6 Exam Tips for Parents

Parents would love to believe that their children have their exam preparation under control. However, call it a sixth sense or parent’s intuition, but most of us know better. We realise that sometimes our kids might be procrastinating a lot or maybe spending more time on making the schedule than covering the right content. Maybe something like this leads to a “winging it” attitude and hoping for the best.

With that said, here is a statement that maybe you aren’t prepared for: It can be just as much the parents’ fault as it is our children’s.

Don’t Assume

You probably know the old saying about fools and assumptions and this applies to kids during exam periods as well. Most of us just “assume” our kids know what and how to study for the big test. But the truth of the matter is that a good percentage of them absolutely don’t.

It is not about how much studying the child puts in to prepare for the test, but doing the right kind of targeted studying. Studying smarter not harder.

Here are six exam tips parents need to pass on to their children as they try to tackle their next exam.

1. Narrow Your Studying Down to the Main Components

Find out what you need to cover for the exam, either from the notification or their teacher. Countless students have wasted valuable time preparing for topics that are not even on the exam to begin with. Looking back content all blurs together, so your child may be studying concepts from Chapter Three when the exam is actually on Chapter 4.

Ask your child to prepare their own study guide so they can narrow their research to the topics on the exam without accidentally straying into themes that are not covered.

2. Approach the Belrose Tutoring Academy

If you can find a tutor that knows exactly what to expect from this assessment and has helped countless other students achieve great results knows exactly what to expect, your life and your child’s preparations get a lot simpler. Belrose Tutoring Academy has plenty of professional tutors that not only have taken many of these exams, but have some of the highest scores associated with them. Plus, they have undergone comprehensive training with the Belrose Tutoring Academy that will further improve their knowledge and tutoring skills. Being able to pick a qualified tutor’s brains and ask them specific questions about the exam is worth it for both you and your child’s peace of mind.

3. Look for Practice Exams

Parents may not know, but there are a plethora of practice exams available in seconds through the wonderful world of technology. Can you imagine how well you would have done in school back in the day with the same advantages?

With all the major exams, you can find practice tests online that essentially cover the same topics and are presented in the same style (multiple-choice, essay, fill in the blank, etc…). These practice exams are usually free to take and many of the websites will score the student’s answers and give them an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. If you’re having trouble finding appropriate resources, Belrose Tutoring Academy tutors have access to a vast library of additional resources and can help with this.

4. Keep Moving

There is something really great that happens when we’re active. Not only does it strengthen our body and improve our overall quality of life, but it improves cognitive abilities.

Have you ever noticed how much clearer you can think during or after a workout? Those little problems in life that tend to creep up on all of us and weigh us down can often be solved halfway into running a few miles.

Studies have shown that memory, cognitive functioning, and the ability to recall information quicker are all improved, sometimes dramatically, through consistent exercise. Make sure that your child’s study schedule has plenty of active breaks outside, particularly if they feel like they’ve hit a wall or are struggling with a particular concept.

5. Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

Students will often wait until two or three days before the exam to start cramming. If it is a relatively small exam that is just covering a chapter or so, two or three days may be just enough time. Encoding information into our long term memory so that it’s easily accessible under pressure occurs best with fewer repetitions further apart, starting weeks in advance, rather than many repetitions across one day or a few hours. So encouraging your student to start reviewing their content early, even if it’s only a 20 minutes of extra study here and there is going to make a big difference to how easily they’ll remember content and how confident they feel.

6. Have Your Child Put Away the Phone

Cell phones are amazing little pieces of technology. Did you know the amount of tech in an ordinary smartphone is way more than what they had on the first flight to the moon in 1969? The ordinary smartphone is more than a million times more powerful than what NASA had back in the day.

And how do most of us use this amazing technology? To watch funny videos, text, and spend hours every day on our social media accounts.

If your child has their phone with them while studying, there is a very good chance that more than half of that time is actually spent on their phone. And before you cast blame, you probably do the same sort of things with your phone. The best solution is to lock the phone away in a drawer while studying and allowing use during break times, just like you would in a workplace.

Offer Your Guidance

Being a responsible parent sometimes means taking control and telling your child things they don’t really want to hear. They may believe they have the studying down for exams, but present them these suggestions and it may just open their eyes to a smarter approach to studying.