teens and exams

[eyeore]

how do you get your teen to sit and revise? my son is getting so stubborn and it usually ends in a shouting match which i hate. he says he revises at school, which i sometimes see some evidence of but i'm not sure how much really gets done. anyone going through this? any ideas?

 

[tennisfan]

I found when I was revising, it best to be left alone so to speak. Exams are stressful for most people.

I think it best to just trust your DS, I hope it works out

 

[hildasmuriel]

I'm so sorry that I don't have any answers for you, I just wanted to give you a and say that I feel your pain.
My son will have MSN conversations going, music on, his PS2 on and a text book open in front of him, as if the information is going to magically jump up and embed itself in his brain. If I dare to suggest the laptop is turned off, he points out that he also has a revision guide website open and is 'working' on that. The only thing I insist on is that all electronic devices go off at 10 pm. No social outings are allowed during exam period either. You can try suggesting good revsion practice but in the long run only he can do it.
This has driven me mad for years, but I am on the downward slope - his exams started yesterday (on a Bank Holiday Monday!) and in 15 days time he sits his last exam and that will be it - finished with school for ever. I daren't think about what happens if he doesn't get the grades he needs for Uni.

 

[tashasmum]

Had the same dilema last year with dd and her exams. They were told by school, and in front of parents that some children learn better online with their friends so that was the answer she would come up with when she was questioned as to how much she had done.
In the end we bribed her with money for each grade A and B she got. Worked a treat as she did very well.
Good luck.

 

[Gaynor]

I have to agree with Tashasmum, bribery worked a treat for me. My DD was offered a set amount for every good grade so the better the grade the more money she could earn for herself and she did very well, money talks when it comes to teenagers.
I think the more you nag the more they will do the opposite of what you ask. My daughter did an awful lot of revision classes after school and also at weekends they opened the school sat/sun for a few weeks in the run up to the exams so I didn't worry too much about her studying at home. One of her teachers told me 2 hours of revision in school is worth more than 4 hours at home because of all the distractions.
I'm wishing you 'all the best' it's a stressful time for parents as well as pupils.

 

[jjk]

my son is sitting his gcses soon and we have had some huge fights over revision. we have encouraged Him to attend as many of the afterschool revision sessions as possible.

we also have withdrawn his season ticket for footie matches etc if he hasnt done what we deem to be enough revision, funny enough this did the trick for us, and he has knuckled down ever since .

I will be relieved when we get to the 10th of June and its all over as i feel exhausted with the pressure of it all.

sending you a hug as l know how you feel

 

[mandymouse]

My son will have MSN conversations going, music on, his PS2 on and a text book open in front of him, as if the information is going to magically jump up and embed itself in his brain. If I dare to suggest the laptop is turned off, he points out that he also has a revision guide website open and is 'working' on that.

This is exactly what we're going through too. My DD is getting ready to take her GCSE's from next week, and she is more interested in Prom and her Year Book

I'm hoping she'll get stuck into some revision this weekend, and I'll be reminding her of all the money her sister got a couple of years ago for getting 9 passes, which I hope will spur her on

One things for sure, I'm not going to nag at her, coz if she can't be bothered to pass her exams for herself, then I'm not going to get myself worked up about it either - teenagers !!!!

 

[mandymouse]

Just sending lots of hugs to all of us who are going through exam time

 

[joolz1910]

I have this every year with the students that I teach. If anyone has a quick-fix answer can they let me know.

Seriously though, I know 'education is its own reward' but a little bribery goes a long way. As others have said, the carrot often works better than the stick!

A lot of the kids are looking forward to their leavers' ball/prom - buying an outfit/hiring a limo/paying for hair&nails might be a nice incentive. Money talks!

 

[wilma-bride]

Wow, just reading this, I feel incredibly lucky. DD is just coming up to her GCSEs (although she has already done some of her exams early) and she is pretty good about revising. I don't have to tell her at all - on Saturday, she spent most of the day revising for her French Oral, which was today. Even though her new boyfriend is taking up a lot of her time, she is still very dedicated to her school work and her eams and I'm incredibly proud of the mature approach she is taking - it just remains to be seen if all her hard work will pay off when it comes to results.

I really feel for those of you who are having to fight to get their teens to revise (I suspect I might be joining the ranks on that particular one this time next year when DD2 is going through it) and I can only say that I think leaving them to get on with it is probably the best policy - I remember, as a teen, getting extremely stressed and digging my heels in when my parents nagged me about revising.

Good luck to all the teens sitting their GCSEs soon

 

[jen_uk]

From another teachers point of view I know what a nightmare it is trying to get teens to revise. My AS psych students have their exam next week, I encouraged them to start revising at Easter, when I taught them today I mentioned that the exam was next week and they all thought I was winding them up! Clearly the other 200 times I told them the exam date they weren't listening!! I know that for a few of them they will only revise the night before the exam

Good luck trying to get your teens to revise!

 

[joolz1910]

From another teachers point of view I know what a nightmare it is trying to get teens to revise. My AS psych students have their exam next week, I encouraged them to start revising at Easter, when I taught them today I mentioned that the exam was next week and they all thought I was winding them up! Clearly the other 200 times I told them the exam date they weren't listening!! I know that for a few of them they will only revise the night before the exam

Good luck trying to get your teens to revise!

Ain't that the truth.

My A2 kids have been asking if swine 'flu is coming, and whether the school would be closed down - they are hoping to avoid the exams altogether. I told them that they would need a Plan B.

 

[CustardTart]

We had info from the school that DS was supposed to do 50 hours of GCSE revision over the Easter hols - we compromised as we were going to WDW for a couple of weeks and he did 40 hours but was brilliant about just getting on with it. He told me he would do "office hours" - 9 till 12 and 2 till 5 (I don't know what office he's thinking of but anyway...) and he got on with it without any hassle... I have taken the attitude with all 3 of my kids that it's their exams and I can't make them study so whatever happens we'll just deal with it - I gotta say, it's worked so far...

I, on the other hand, am supposed to be revising for my first year Uni exams and use EVERY trick in the book to avoid doing any work - seems I am still incapable of taking my future seriously or setting an example. Ah well, I guess some of us just have it and some of us just don't...

Sending good luck and best wishes to all students (and parents) with exams looming!!!

 

[Dimplenose]

Ds (18) not only revises but has managed to have every piece of coursework and homework finished early. It has taken no nagging from me to get him to do this.

DD (15) is more able than her brother but doesn't work. I've resorted to bribery for her. I swore I'd never do it, but it works so I'm happy to. (Her school are running a compulsory GCSE coursework catch-up session the first week of the summer holidays, as we're going to be in Florida then she's actually started to get the work done on time - whether it's to the best of her ability is a different question!!)

 

[natalielongstaff]

Best of luck to all those sitting Exams soon

 

[disneyhockeymad]

haha I was a complete nightmare when I was sitting my GCSE's and my AS levels... I would only revise properly about a month or so before and then work myself into such a panic! My A2's were no problem, I revised for ages for them but I'm finding my uni exams much the same, I just have no motivation! I found that I revised much better when I couldn't hear what was going on around me, for example if I knew my parents were going out and they were making a big fuss of it I would get so easily distracted because I wanted to go with them! Good luck to everyone who is going through exam time, and I apologise on behalf of all my fellow exam candidates! We get VERY stressed!!!

 

[wicket2005]

I offered them a financial incentive to revise, they followed a structured timetable revision plan taking into account when they were at school and off, which helped to ensure a balanced revision of subjects and vend off boredom by varying the subjects. I also helped them revise by going over subjects with them.

Each kid is different, my oldest followed the plan then I stepped in to test him on his revision. The youngest needed a bit more help so I devoted all my time to help him revise. He found the approach of talking about the subject and being tested by me of more help (and he significantly improved the grades he was expected to get). I was able to identify problem areas and help him revise more in those areas.

Both kids did really well in their GCSEs but the key is to identify how that child best revises and also balance the revision out with breaks. What works for one may not work for the other so you need to be able to adapt. However, both my lads did want to revise though just needed a bit of guidance on the right approach.

Only you know your son so it is difficult really to suggest how you can make him revise. They will be doing revision at school but it is just managing his time free time. At least he is revising even if he has the distractions on though I would personally try to get the distractions off and try to see how much he actually does know.

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

My answer is a combination of all of these answers. I've done bribery, nagging which hasn't worked and also taken the view that if he can't be bothered to sort his own future out why should I get stressed about it. I've had a constant headache for over a week now and I suspect it linked to the fact that he's got his first exam on May 18th and is planning on revising the night before! He has gone to Saturday morning revision club and says they do revision at school so I'm leaving him to it. He's already got enough GCSE's to get into the 6th form so he regards these as just some extra ones

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Tell me about it - I feel all of your pain. Dd is about to start her A'level exams and so far has done nil revision as she has been too busy doing media and art coursework and drama performance. DS has just had some very poor mock GCSE results, which he did no revision for at all, and so hopefully that will suggest to him that revision for the real thing IS necessary. He is also doing one GSCE in science this year, but apart from nagging, which doesn't seem to work, I don't know what else will work. I think a financial motivation will have to be the answer!

 

[wilmabride'sdaughter]

Wow, just reading this, I feel incredibly lucky. DD is just coming up to her GCSEs (although she has already done some of her exams early) and she is pretty good about revising. I don't have to tell her at all - on Saturday, she spent most of the day revising for her French Oral, which was today. Even though her new boyfriend is taking up a lot of her time, she is still very dedicated to her school work and her eams and I'm incredibly proud of the mature approach she is taking - it just remains to be seen if all her hard work will pay off when it comes to results.

I really feel for those of you who are having to fight to get their teens to revise (I suspect I might be joining the ranks on that particular one this time next year when DD2 is going through it) and I can only say that I think leaving them to get on with it is probably the best policy - I remember, as a teen, getting extremely stressed and digging my heels in when my parents nagged me about revising.

Good luck to all the teens sitting their GCSEs soon

Thanks Mummy


And tbh, even though this is coming from a teen, i probably couldn't help you with your questions. It depends on how bothered that teen is about doing well in the exams, to how much revising the teen will do. I'm pretty scared so i do tonnes of revision. The best way is just to leave your son to come to you if he needs help. We do get a lot of revision done in school but i suggest that he gets some done in the time home from school. I'm not sure how you can help him with the factual part of the revision, but for speaking exams and such i'd just offer to help and if he accepts it then he does, if not the so be it.

And Sarah is right. A financial motivation will help . My dearest mother is offering to pay £5 for every B, £10 for every A, and £20 for the A*s.