Revision!

System

I really dont think letting the kids leave school a few weeks early for study leave helps either. At least if the kids are made to stay at school and revise for their exams you know something is going in in the few short weeks before they take their exams.

I must admit, only one of my kids has ever studied for his exams. He was the only one who listened to advice and appreciated guidance. Although my youngest daughter did revise in a fashion, she fit her revision around her love affair with her first boyfriend which meant she didnt study as much as she could have. The other 3 just looked at study leave as a free for all. They passed their exams but their results reflected the amount of time they had actually bothered to revise.

Person_one

Judi wrote: »

I really dont think letting the kids leave school a few weeks early for study leave helps either. At least if the kids are made to stay at school and revise for their exams you know something is going in in the few short weeks before they take their exams.

I think that's a good point actually. For most it would be far more useful to stay in school and have discussions about the subjects, group work, have the teacher's ear for any areas that are weaker etc. rather than either not studying at all or trudging silently through the syllabus alone.

VJsmum

Thanks everyone, it is pretty much what I thought - back off. It is so hard though

Person_one wrote: »

That's not exactly what she said.

No it isn't as at the moment her targets are 8A's and 2 A*, she is taking modular exams so has done a lot of the work and achieved most of the marks anyway. Even a disaster shouldn't put her below a C, but I would be surprised if she came in with anything as low as that (I wouldn't condemn - my A level grades were shocking and I ended up OK).

I just wondered if anyone had advice for how to deal with it. Thanks for you input everyone

catch_me_if_you_can

My DD is the same. She's finishing this Friday going onto study leave before her GCSEs and will rather argue for an hour as to why she shouldn't do a task that would take 2 minutes.

So I've taken the view that she knows what exams she has, she knows the grades that she must get to qualify for her college place.

The only thing I insist on is when revising she revises with the bedroom door open, TV off and her phone downstairs so she doesn't get into long ongoing messaging with her friends. She is pretty good about doing her revision TBH; doing far more than I ever did.

Sally_A

Leave her be....she will find her own level in life, and will probably achieve more if parental expectations are taken out of the equation.

As an only child, I was expected to pass my 11+, achieve x amount of O' Levels - the weight I felt trying to please my Mum far outweighed the joy of learning (hope you can understand that). I ended up as insurance broker (Mum wanted me to be in the civil service, safe job, good pension etc, unfortunately (for her) Dad had Eastern bloc rellies, so that was a no-no in those days).

Daughter was an A level student, confessed to me she didn't want to go to Uni (she was expecting me to go ape at this revelation), not a problem I said - just get a job (I'm all heart really), she started off in a call centre; part time, she was always a bit clever with computer graphics, so ended up doing all the posters for the department, whether it was a raffle, the Christmas do etc. She's now full time in the Graphic Design Dept, and extremely good at what she does.

What I'm trying to say, is let her go at her own pace, and don't try to live your life through her with "what might have been".

It's actually easier to get a job as a bright A Level student, and to learn on the job, than to be a graduate who expects the world to pay them back for the fees they owe.

VJsmum

I guess I am coming across as a bit of a pushy mum / helicopter parenting. Actually I'm not really like that - I know, "That's what
they all say". I did let her go, after all

Working in a University, I know, perhaps better than most, that the British education system gives you lots of opportunities. I also know that I have to teach my students how to revise - as even at degree level - many haven't ever been shown. DD, of course, doesn't think I know anything and that she knows best

I'll suggest she comes on a bike ride tomorrow - then she'll suddenly have revision to do :rotfl:

Bennifred

Judi wrote: »

I really dont think letting the kids leave school a few weeks early for study leave helps either. At least if the kids are made to stay at school and revise for their exams you know something is going in in the few short weeks before they take their exams.
QUOTE]

This is so true! It's bad enough for sixth formers - not helpful at all for year 11s. And as for some of the teachers roaming around doing very little once their students are on study leave, and can't be asked to do anything else.....:mad:

kitrat

anguk wrote: »

That is very true. My DD revised a bit for her GCSEs but once she started 6th form she realised there was much more work and revision involved. She's got her final exams coming up within the next few weeks and she's been revising for months.

I think lots of kids get quite a shock when they start 6th form and realise that there's a big difference between GCSEs and A levels.

I didn't do very badly but I did a lot worse than usual in my first set of AS level exams in the January, that made me realise how much work was needed in order to pick it up for the next 3 rounds of exams before I'd completed my A-levels.

Mrs_Arcanum

VJsmum wrote: »

How do you get your teenager to revise?

I have a 15 year old DD who is in year 11 and about to embark on GCSE's - like, on Monday :eek:

She has 10 exams over the next month and this morning has gone shopping. We told her we didn't think she should go, she should revise. We have separately offered to take her out for a break this afternoon after she has done some revision but she found all sorts of reasons why that wasn't the best thing.

She sat all morning gawping at the TV, so i told her to go and do what she wanted and then come back and revise as she wasn't doing anything anyway.

She is bright and is likely to get 10 A / A* grades. Even at this stage, even without revision, it is unlikely she will get anything lower than a B. She has got into her 6th form of choice which only requires 5 C and above GCSE's - so what motivation can I use to ensure she does the best she can? And should I be [STRIKE]nagging[/STRIKE] encouraging her to do more? Or just leave her to do it her way?

Mine usually has Saturday off. Although I did catch her doing French revision this morning.

15 minute chunks work well. Any more and they stop absorbing the information.

However, it really is down to how motivated they are. No amount of pushing will get them doing worthwhile revision unless they are self disciplined enough.

Dunroamin

Person_one wrote: »

That's not exactly what she said.

You're right, I used the wrong tense. What I meant to say was that if she gets only B grades it will be because she hasn't done enough work.