Revision for GCSEs Tuition can help
GCSEs are approaching so it is revision season. It is essential that children know how to improve their study skills so they get the best out of their revision.
Motivation with GCSE Revision
When doing revision for GCSEs children will quite often look at a task and think there’s too much to learn. The best way to get through big or complex tasks is to break them down into manageable chunks. After each chunk decide on a reward this will give motivation with revision, e.g. chunk of chocolate, playing with a pet.
Being Organised
Being organised with GCSE studies can improve how well children do their work, how long it takes them to complete tasks and how they feel about their studies. Rather than keeping everything in your head, it makes sense to write it down in a ‘to do’ list. The next stage is how to go about tackling the list.To take the ‘to do’ list to the next level, prioritise the most important things and add in time targets. Children feel a sense of achievement when they cross of items from the list.
Time Management
The following can help with time management during GCSEs: ‘to do’ list; planners; calendars.‘To do’ lists organise time daily, planners give a view of what’s happening week-by-week and calendars show a month at a time. Chunking your study time is the best way to study productively. Study for 15 minutes setting an alarm. Once the alarm does off have a break for 5 minutes then start another 15 minute study chunk. Once four chunks have been done have a longer break if 15 minutes. Chunking is very effective if followed by a reward.
What to Revise?
The best place to check what needs to be covered is looking at the specification for each subject. These can be downloaded from the exam board websites or from school. Traffic code the specification using highlighters where green means confident, yellow not sure and orange don’t understand at all. This then gives a starting place for revision.
Techniques
- Notes are a very important revision resource. Condensing these notes makes revision more manageable.
- Flash cards are a good way of revising key terms and concepts. Recent research has found that flashcards are one of the most effective techniques for retaining information.
- Flow diagrams work well for revising processes and sequences, for example remembering the steps in an experiment in Science.
- Revising with past exam papers. Most exam experts would agree that practising exam questions is the very best way to revise for GCSE exams because it allows children to apply what they’ve learnt.
It is a difficult time for children and many of them find revision time stressful. Parents can help to ease the stress by helping to organise sessions away from revision, e.g. watching a film, going out shopping, seeing family members, taking the dog for a walk. Cups of tea also help enormously as well as listening when children want to talk about how their revision is going.
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