Top 10 Tips For Assisting Children Taking Exams
For many parents having a son or daughter take the Junior High School or Senior High School Certificate Exams brings back waves of fear and anxiety
which they last experienced when taking the exam themselves. For many parents
this sense of dread leaves them feeling overwhelmed and powerless in assisting
their child to successfully negotiate their way through this period of
exams.
You can do a lot now to support your son or daughter and also make
the experience for the whole family a rigorous but not necessarily stressful
one.
Parents
need to reassure their children that the West
African Examination Council in drafting the papers in each subject, has not set
out to catch them out. Rather the exams are designed to enable students to
demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of each topic they have explored
over the past two to three years of their studies.
Certain
sections within individual questions are designed to test the brightest and the
best students to the absolute limit of their potential. So parents should
reassure their child that success is always relative to your ability in any
paper, and not to get upset if the child fines the paper impossible to
complete, perhaps a section or part of a particular topic.
The following are few tips that can help you in supporting your
son or daughter who is taking Exams:
(1) Know the exam schedule. Pin the exam timetable up
prominently at home, with each exam to be taken highlighted. Diary the date and
time of each paper your student has to take. In the stress of the whole exam
period you need to be always aware when they have to be in the examination
centre.
(2) Ensure that your son or
daughter is present for each exam. For
parents who are working, and leaving home early, avoid the ultimate disaster of
your child missing an exam. Ensure they are up and dressed before you leave
home for work each morning. A small number of students regularly fail to turn
up for morning papers.
(3) Draw
up a check list of daily requirements, based on the day’s exams. Make a final check each morning
before you leave home, so your son or daughter is fully prepared for the day’s
exams. Writing instruments along with the other requirements such as rulers,
erasers, calculators, should be checked, along with reading glasses, water, and
any non-intrusive nourishment such as glucose sweets, or fruit.
(4) Listen
to the story of the day and move on. After
each day’s exams allow your son or daughter to recount to you their daily
story. Do not be tempted to review in detail with them any errors or omissions
in the paper. Such a process achieves absolutely nothing, other than to
increase the student’s stress levels. Simply allow them the time and space to
tell their story and move on to the next challenge, the next paper.
(5) Help
them to focus on the next challenge. It
can be helpful to your son or daughter to review the paper or papers
immediately ahead. Simple questions such as, what is up next? Are there any
compulsory sections? Are there any predictable questions? These questions can
be useful in helping your student devise a study schedule for the time
available before the next exam.
(6) Help
them maintain a well-balanced daily routine. You should ensure your son/daughter
has a proper balance between study and rest. After an exam they need time to
rest and recharge before they can do any beneficial study for the next paper.
Remember that on average this is a two-week process and they need top be as
sharp on the morning of their final paper as they are today.
Late-night
study sessions are not advised.
(7) A good
night’s sleep improves exam performance. All study should end at least
an hour before bedtime to allow the student to unwind before sleep. To help
relaxation at this time, simple treats such as a hot bath, or some simple
breathing exercises to slow down the body and mind can result in a refreshing
night’s sleep. It is not advisable to fall straight into bed from the study
desk as your mind will be buzzing for hours as you attempt to get to sleep.
(8) You
are what you eat. What
you eat and drink affects your performance in any activity, especially one
involving mental sharpness. As a parent you should try to ensure your son or
daughter has nutritious food during the coming weeks, starting with breakfast
each morning, lunch, their evening meal, as well as snacks during the day.
Grazing on junk food is very tempting at times of increased stress. Avoid this
at all costs.
(9) Success
is always a team effort. Drawing
on the support of everything that is potentially positive in a student’s life
helps to maximise exam performance. Such supports include a heightened
awareness on the part of all family members in their interactions with the
person doing exams, appropriate interactions with their friends, private home teachers and participation in any sporting or social activity that is not
injurious to ongoing success in the exams. All these factors help to maintain a
student’s spirits during such an extended exam period.
(10) Do
not over hype the importance of any examination. It is very easy in the middle
of a stress-inducing experience such as a major exam to get the whole event
totally out of perspective. Parents need to be aware that sons or daughters
taking terminal examinations can sometimes mistakenly believe their standing in
their parents’ eyes is dependent on their success in the exam.
Parents
should ensure their student facing the West African Examination Council Exams as
well as any other Examinations are absolutely clear that your unconditional
love and regard for them is in no way dependent on how they perform in their
Examination.
This
affirmation is the greatest gift you can give them at the start of their
examinations.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article as much as I loved writing it for you. I hope you’ve also got a torn of value from it too.
I appreciate you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this material. If you liked what you read and these ideas make sense to you, then why not follow the footsteps of my other successful students.
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Once again, thank you and I wish you nothing less than success!
Best Regards
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