Holidays are there for a reason. Unwinding, relaxing and so much more. The body and, more importantly, the mind needs a recharge during a holiday.
The information overload experienced during a school term needs to settle and we need to sift through what is important to store in our long term memory. We need to push that “refresh” button during our holidays.
However, the holidays just never seem long enough. Just as we get used to sleeping in and having later nights, the new school term comes knocking. For those of us living in the Western Cape, the third term holidays just seem to always end so abruptly and we tend to hit the fourth term running. That applies to both the children and teachers alike.
Now that the first week of school has started, and we’ve adjusted to the termly routine, we also have to face the prospects of exams and those dreaded ongoing assessments. The reality is that exams are only a few weeks away. Your child should be receiving their exam timetable fairly soon which is normally the wake-up call.
Routine is the key to getting out of holiday mode. The quicker your daily routine falls into place, the quicker a new rhythm takes over and getting ready for exams won’t feel so daunting.
Start preparing NOW by doing this …
- Prepare a study area. This is critical.
- Ensure your child has all the stationery they need at home and school, with spares available.
- Make morning wake-ups and bedtimes a part of the routine.
- Set a realistic study program. Let your child be part of this process, and listen to your child (within reason) as it is him or her that will be doing the studying.
- Discuss previous study methods: what worked, what didn’t? How long were effective study sessions that kept your child’s focus (e.g. 20 minutes)? How long are effective study breaks in between sessions?
- Discuss certain subject topics with your child. It’s important that you show an interest and allow your child to ask questions. The more comfortable they feel about a topic, the easier it will be to study.
- Use weekends not only to study, but also to prepare notes for study sessions and to check if your child understands what they have been revising.
- Test your child to see if they understand the work they have been studying, and if they have retained the knowledge. PRO tip: try WorksheetCloud! It will help you check to see what your child understands and with what they might be struggling to grasp. Remember, studying is meaningless without understanding.
Most importantly, put your child first – these are extremely important exams coming up. Encourage your child to work towards a goal, even if it’s only a 1% improvement per subject. Accomplishing a goal is always fulfilling and boosts self esteem.
Remember: the more prepared your child is, the less anxious they will be come exam time. Practice does eliminate stress, so the more effort they put into practicing the better off they will be. Don’t let your child manipulate you into feeling sorry for him or her. Feeling sorry for your child will not help in the long run.
Need help with exam revision and practice? Try WorksheetCloud. It gives you access to hundreds of interactive and printable CAPS-based worksheets in subjects like English, Afrikaans, Maths, Natural Science, Social Science and more.
A prepared child is a confident, happy child.
Hi Ntombiyenkosi
Thanks for your message.
The CVC number is the last 3 digits of the number that appears on the back of you card next to your signature strip.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll be very happy to assist.
Kayleen 🙂
Thanks! This is fantastic advice. 🙂
It is always a struggle to get my kids back into routine after any kind of holiday. I’m hoping to use WorksheetCloud to improve their results this term. Definitely signing up! Thanks for the great work.
In all my years of teaching it was usually the kids who were organised that realised their potential.
I think that the best start at the beginning of the year is to discuss with your child the importance of being organised and prepared. This starts with the little things, like having all work and materials ‘at hand’. So much time can be wasted on looking for things when they are needed urgently.
Is IEB covered in your study program?
Hi Tebogo
Thanks for your message and interest in WorksheetCloud!
WorksheetCloud is perfectly suited to learners at IEB schools as our quality standard is exceptionally high.
We currently have many IEB learners making use of our worksheets since we launched in 2014, and we’ve had fantastic feedback from parents and learners about how WorksheetCloud is assisting them.
IEB schools must, by law, cover minimum content and skills as laid out by the Department of Education in terms of the CAPS curriculum. You’ll find that WorksheetCloud covers this content excellently and I’m confident that your child will benefit from a WorksheetCloud subscription.
You can see a full list of subjects and topics we currently cover on this page: http://www.worksheetcloud.com/worksheets/
If you feel ready to sign up to WorksheetCloud, you can get started here: http://www.worksheetcloud.com/sign-up/
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at any time or visit our FAQ at http://help.worksheetcloud.com for quick answers to your questions.
Kayleen 🙂
Fantastic tips for parents to help their kids to prepare them for exams as well as for students too.
Thank u so much worksheetcloud!!!! Im a 8th hrade student and worsheetcloud is the thing that got me trough with these newsletter.
How do you help a child with depression ,anxiety and ADHD study for the term 4 exams without stressing them out. ps she’s in gr6 and has poor memory and concentration