Parental support has been shown to be 8 times more important to a child's academic success than social class. You don’t need to be an expert to make a significant difference to your child’s academic career. Below are some quick tips on how to support your child through their exams.

Help Plan

Create revision timetables of 1 hour sessions with a short break at the end. Be specific about which topic your child will study in each session. Put the exam timetable in sight and make a checklist of materials/instruments your child needs to bring with them each day.

Ensure they have all essential materials and stationary.

Pick up any revision guides that they may need and buy fun exciting stationary. Lots of colours, post its and fluorescent tabs can bring joy to ongoing revision.

Make The Home A Calm Environment

It is often said that our mind is heavily influenced by our surroundings, so do your best to create an oasis of calm at home.
It is a good idea to have a chat with other family members and request that they be more understanding and make a few allowances as the child taking exams will be under extra pressure. Under all costs do your best not to nag during this period.

Be Present

During study leave, be around the house as much as you can. Exam preparation can feel isolated at times so having someone there to discuss progress with and have some banter can make all the difference. Be there to discuss how exams went but encourage your child not to do a post mortem and compare with friends after exams as this can be counter productive.

Fuel For Thought

Fill the fridge with nutritious snacks and make sure your child continues to eat with the family. This helps them break away from the books and maintains their spirits.

Keep Moving

Encourage regular exercise. You can go to the gym together in the morning, play table tennis or even a brisk walk around the block a few times a day will make a big difference to their ability to concentrate.

Timing Is Key

Help your child figure out which hours they find most productive to study. Ensure past a certain time that they go to sleep, and where possible, discourage late night cramming.

Get Their Mind Prepared

Ask good questions to get them thinking about the next paper.
For example, “What topics might come up?” or “Are there compulsory questions?”
Remind them that exams aren’t everything and that you’ll be proud of them if they do their very best.

Celebrate Together

Organise something fun you can do together at the end of the exams. This has been a stressful time for all of you, so it is nice to celebrate all the hard work and effort you’ve put in.

We hope this helps a lot of you out there!

Please know we're here if you have any specific questions for us, or are in need of any advice. We'd like to help you all as much as we can, that's what we aim to do through our blogs. However, if we don't answer specifically the challenges that you're experiencing personally, please reach out to us so we can do our best to provide support.

Until then, enjoy your May! The sun seems to be slowly creeping through the clouds more and more now, so the weather will most definitely brighten up the next few months for us!

9 Ways To Help Your Children Through The Exam Period