One of the many reasons why kids are experiencing such an excessive amount of stress is because of the amount of schoolwork they need to accomplish on top of studying for exams. Even with international schools which are adapting a holistic approach to education, overloading students with projects, homeworks, and tests cannot be helped.
The only way to go around this is if we teach that studying hard may not help them finish all of their tasks, but studying smart would. Show them the difference between the two by sharing these tips with them.
Organize everything
A lot of things can be achieved if you plan your tasks out. At the start of every school quarter, make sure they have already marked when the exam dates are so that they know how much time they have to study all of their lessons. Tell them to color code deadlines, school events, exams, and standardized tests so that they will not get confused.
Study the syllabus
Your kids must know how they will be graded so that they can set expectations for the class. This also allows them to prepare for end of the quarter projects early on. Additionally, knowing the rubric can allow students to ask questions about grading and assignments.
Have a study area
Just as all kids have different learning curves, so do their study habits vary from each other. Allow the kids to designate an area where they can study in their own terms. One of your kids may be comfortable in a completely silent environment, while the others might need small distractions like the television or music.
Discourage cramming
Their lessons will not be stored in long-term memory if it is crammed. In fact, cramming does not actually make kids understand the lesson, they are just able to familiarize themselves with key points until the exam. What you need to teach them is proper studying. They already know what is going to appear in their exams based on the syllabus. What they can do is study their notes every day, create a reviewer if they have. Come exam week, they do not need to read their books and notes cover to cover, they just need to look at their reviewers, practice exercises, and browse through their notes.
Create study groups
Discussing lessons with other people cements it into long-term memory even more. Tell them to invite their friends over so they can study together. This gives them a chance to explain how they understand their lessons with their classmates, but your kids might also learn from them.
Have a positive attitude
Much of stress stems from feeling like they cannot finish everything they need to do before the deadline. As guardians, we need to help them have the right mindset when they go into doing each task. We can do this by simply preparing snacks for them while they are studying, offering help, or asking them directly what they need to alleviate their stress.
The key to these tips is pacing. We need to teach our kids that they should not wait at the last minute to start reviewing their notes or doing research for projects. Once they know what is expected from them, they can start doing their tasks little by little so that the week of the deadline is reserved for finishing touches.
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