Top 3 Focuses for Effective Exam Preparation
From the infamous ‘I Sued The School System’ viral video by Youtuber, Prince Ea, to the more recent ‘Life Beyond Grades’ movement initiated by a group of concerned local Singaporean parents, the ever-changing education environment is a topic that is constantly a concern especially to parents and politicians.
In the third quarter of 2018, the Ministry of Education (Singapore) announced that the education system in Singapore will be reducing its emphasis on academic results. This has since led to some schools abolishing the quarterly common test system and others taking a turn to focus on more life skills and executive skills for their students.
Without a doubt, there are definitely benefits to such changes. At the same time, we are also hearing other concerns arising from parents and graduates of the I Am Gifted! school holiday programme: “How will my child know their academic standing if there are no more tests to prior to the major exams?”, “How will my child be prepared effectively for a major examination setting?” and more. These were amongst some of the more popular concerns and is what led us to an important conclusion: Now, more than ever, it is important to ensure that we (parents and educators) take an active role in the exam preparation of our children.
So the million dollar question: How to prepare for exams?
Here are the top 3 focuses for effective exam preparation:
1. Cultivate a Positive Mindset
You probably guessed it, it all begins with the mind. No external motivation, whether pain or pleasure, can be compared to internal motivation – the will to succeed and excel in whatever we do. The aim here is to cultivate a mindset to help our children understand the importance of getting prepared and to take initiative and be responsible for their own learning.
2. Planning an Effective Revision Cycle
With each lesson in class, new knowledge and information is taught and shared with our kids every day. It goes without saying that early preparation is crucial and will ease learning while reducing stress levels. It is important that our kids understand how our brains work and how the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve affects everyone. It is all about discovering a revision pace that is suitable for your child, plan it out and stick to the plan.
3. Creating an Ideal Learning Environment
Comfortable lighting, away from distractions, brain stimulating background music and more! Creating an ideal learning environment will boost learning, aid memory and become an anchor to get your child into a productive state of mind.
Read our Creating an Optimal Learning Environment article to find out more on how anyone can a simple checklist to create their own ideal learning space.
Much still remains unclear as to what will be the standardized changes that will be introduced by the Ministry of Education (Singapore) into the local schools. But one thing remains unchanged, that as parents and educators, we must continue to play an active role in shaping and preparing our children for their future.
Want more exam preparation tips and strategies? We will be conducting our bi-annual Exam Preparation Workshops in April and August. Your child can learn about the common mistakes in examinations, what are the crucial things to do before, during and after exams and more. The Exam Preparation Workshop provides a final push to gear up students to tackling examinations in all levels.
Contact us to register your interest here.
