Free Download CBSE Papers: How your Parents and Friends Can Help a student at the Time of Exam Preparation

Even though you’ll feel much better about exams when you’ve finished this book, you’re still likely to need some further reassurance, support and practical help as you work through your studies, revision and the exams themselves. I recommend strongly that you re-read selected chapters as necessary and in particular, Chapter 8 just before the exam. But you’re also likely to need support and reassurance from your family, friends, course colleagues and tutors. This applies particularly if you find that things start to worry you, that you are struggling to keep up or if issues in your private life are affecting your chances of success. Your tutor will almost certainly be sympathetic as well as able to offer useful advice. This chapter looks at the important role that all of these can play.

PARENTS

For students encountering their first taste of examinations, parents have an important role. Teenagers are prone to many pressures in life for which parental understanding, tolerance and support are vital. The spectre of examinations is no exception and parents can play an invaluable role in helping to convey and reinforce the messages in this book. Of course this means that they have to read it themselves first and I recommend this strongly. In many instances they will have bought it for the student and that’s a good start. This section is aimed primarily at them so if they haven’t yet read it, ask them to do so.

Reinforcing the messages

It doesn’t just end with buying the book, reading it and endorsing its contents.

Even the most enlightened student can su¡er a crisis of confidence at any time, particularly just before the exams, and parents will need to reassure them gently of the key messages conveyed here.

I have certainly found this necessary with my own children even as far as the final year of university. In particular, reminding them of the techniques in Chapter 8 can help their confidence as the exams draw near.

A little coaching and encouragement throughout the year can help a great deal. Helping the students with their planning and fitting holiday and social commitments around critical times will be invaluable. Making sure that they take breaks and organising a place to study are also practical ways in which parents can ease the burden.

Reinforcing the messages on positive thinking and taking control of the process will also help, as will making sure that diet and lifestyle are conducive to good performance (see Chapter 7).

Demonstrations of support and care such as this can do a lot to relieve stress and maintain confidence and, in my experience, students respond well to this. It takes very little effort but can make a big difference. Remember, though, there is a difference between support and nagging (and teenagers are certainly very sensitive to the latter!) so bear this in mind and don’t overdo it.

Bribery and inducements

Some parents offer their children material or cash rewards for success in examinations. I’m sure this achieves the required result in some cases, but I feel it does nothing for the longer term aim which I believe is to encourage them to take responsibility for their own personal development. My feeling is that support and encouragement of the non-material kind is much more appropriate.

Helping with self-development

It’s worth noting for parents and students alike that from the age of about sixteen you cannot expect to be spoon-fed by teachers. In fact it’s a very risky strategy to rely on this (as you saw in Chapter 1). The ideas and tips also explained there will stand you in good stead for all forms of Further and Higher Education. Parents can help students here by ensuring they are familiar with the syllabus and getting hold of past papers.

Students will certainly have to look out for themselves at university and parents can be a great help in this without being over-protective. Support and encouragement for students to deal with the issues themselves will help them a great deal in learning to cope with the responsibilities of life generally.

Helping students keep a sense of perspective

Parents should be careful to avoid comparisons of their children with others. Not everyone can achieve ‘A’-grades in everything. Where students show commitment this should be praised irrespective of the results and in most cases even modest successes are worthy of praise and celebration. Expectations should be matched as closely as possible to abilities and children should also be valued for other aspects of their nature unrelated to academic ability.

Whilst very important, exam success is not the most critical aspect of anyone’s life, and certainly not worth the ill-effects on health that sometimes arise. Parents should look out for the common signs of stress (e.g. difficulty in sleeping, loss of appetite, stomach upsets, etc.) and provide support as appropriate. Parents who stay calm themselves during such difficulties will help moderate the student’s anxiety, but if symptoms become extreme then medical help should be sought.

Support and reassurance

This is similar to what we talked about above in relation to parents, partners, friends, etc. But an added dimension, where course colleagues are concerned, is that they can probably understand the problems a little better because they are subject to the same course requirements. Again the emphasis should be on mutual support and understanding. Many long-term friendships will begin with students supporting each other in the face of common adversity.

Self-help groups

Many students these days are finding that setting up self-help groups really increases their understanding of the course, with pleasing results at exam time. Even a brief review and chat amongst yourselves in a small group will:

Help achieve a common understanding of the key points.
Enable you to share ideas about potential exam questions.
Give those who didn’t understand any particular points a chance to get clarification from the others.

But there’s also another great advantage. Constructive discussions like this can help build confidence for everyone taking part.

Share your thoughts on both the key points and potential questions with course colleagues. This is best done in a group of 2 to 4 students. Coffee and lunch breaks can be a useful time to do this or you may wish to formalise the arrangements with regular evening sessions. I know that this is yet another task I’m lumbering you with, but you can view it as a social event which may also help you to feel better about it. In fact the sessions can be split into work and social elements to maintain balance.

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Thursday, June 23, 2022

How your Parents and Friends Can Help a student at the Time of Exam Preparation

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