Chunking Tasks: Making Revision Manageable

In class, teachers chunk tasks down into manageable parts for their students. By doing this, the work becomes more accessible and is step-by-step. Chunking also aids memory: it helps to facilitate effective learning. Your teen likely uses chunking without even realising it. For example, when they recall their address or their phone number, they probably learnt it in sections or ‘chunks,’ right?
However, when it comes to revision outside of the classroom, students may feel completely mind-boggled by stacks of revision notes staring them in the face. The list of things to do may increase- and even a small task can be overwhelming if your teenager doesn’t know how to chunk their study down! As a revision provider, we also believe in the power of chunking, so we’re here to help your teen consider how best to do this:

Getting Started

Your child has a few options to get them started. They could pick a topic or a subject to focus on. They might pick up a particular revision guide. They might select a past exam paper. Then what?
Whatever it is, choose to make a plan. Making a quick list of what needs to be done (bullet points are good for this) can be helpful. There’s satisfaction in being able to tick things off as they go, too!

Recall the Techniques

Each exam comes with its own demands. Therefore, your teen needs to recall the tactics and skills they have been equipped with in class. During our revision courses, we revisit these techniques, so it’s an excellent reason to sign up! Our course leaders are teachers and subject specialists themselves, so they know what the SQA exams ask for.
Depending on the subject, your child may have certain acronyms to remember how to paragraph, or they may have equations to memorise (examples.) Start with these as structure. Encourage your teen to use these at home and apply to their independent study.

Work in Bursts

We run our revision courses intensively- over just a few days. This is a way of exposing your child to core revision aspects in a focussed and purposeful environment. When your child is revising at home, it is best that their study time is just as focussed, too! Therefore, working in sensible bursts of time, with breaks, is most likely to lead to impactful revision.

Feeling confident and ‘less stressed’ about exams is largely down to having prepared and practised for what’s ahead!

Mind Maps and Sections

Lastly, one of the reasons that subject experts tend to recommend ‘mind maps’ is because they are excellent for chunking ideas. They- as the name suggests- allow your child to map out their knowledge and ideas. From this, your child is able to select the most important ideas, organise their thoughts or gauge how much they know. Breaking tasks down into sections, tables or numbers is an alternative way for your child to tackle their revision. For example, if they’ve got an essay to write, it’d be wise to plan out each paragraph into sections, then use this to revise from.
The courses we provide are for students studying National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers, and we guide your child through excellent revision techniques, such as this.

See Full Article Here: Chunking Tasks: Making Revision Manageable

What’s the hardest part of revision?

There’s no denying that revision comes with challenges. Not many teens are having the time of their lives when they revise!

That said, revision contributes to your teenager’s future. Revision helps them to do their best for the greatest outcomes. Revision will make an impact, but what’s stopping your teen?

Starting

Getting going is often the toughest bit. Mustering up the motivation to actually get on with it is something your child is going to need to overcome. Many teenagers find that the solution to this is to find a calm, focussed environment to work in. Whether that be in the school library or in a quiet space at home, your teen will find it much easier to start their work if they’re in the right ‘zone.’

This is where our revision service is an excellent place to turn, too! As an external provider, we offer SQA courses for teenagers taking National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers, where the environment is highly motivated and purposeful.

Staying Focussed

Often, the hardest part of revision is sticking at it. It’s not that difficult to pick up a pen and start working, but staying focussed is the trick! It’s amazing how many procrastinations one can find to escape the studying mind…

Simple tricks such as setting timers, working on one whole exam paper, or dividing the workload up into tick-lists or chunks will help.

Juggling

For your teenager, they’ve also got to master keeping their head in the game for many different exams, topics and subjects. It can be a lot to manage. This is where getting a revision timetable together is vital.

In addition to this, mapping times of intensive revision is wise. Plotting when your child may be attending our revision courses, for example, will give indication as to when your child will spend longer periods doing revision. Once your teen can see the bigger picture of how the rest of the academic year looks, they can then start to break tasks down into weekly- and daily- priorities.

One of the hardest challenges with revision is keeping up the motivation! But, momentum for this can soon start to trail off… especially when there seems a ‘lull’ between prelims exams and the final exams.

Use your Experience

As an adult, you probably spend much of your day multi-tasking and juggling all of the things you have to sort or do. Therefore, one of the most powerful things you can do to help your child at this time is to consider what you do to balance your workload. Which of these can relate to revision and your teenager?
Sometimes, the hardest part of revision is the thought of it. Perhaps it seems overwhelming. Dull. Too challenging. Again, what do you do when faced with difficulty? How do you mentally cope with these things as an adult? Using your own experience and expertise might be one way that you can not only empathise with your child but also help to equip them with strategies to handle the hardest parts of revision!

Encouraging your child to seek support will help them to stay afloat: whether they seek support in you, in our revision classes, with peers or class teachers, don’t let the hardest part be doing it alone.

See Full Article Here: What’s the hardest part of revision?

Habits of Highly Successful Students

Highly successful students often have sensible instincts and smart habits surrounding their study. Here, we want to share some of these habits with you, so you can encourage your teenager to be just as successful:

You might ask: what is it that a successful student does- and does well?

They Study Often.

Much like learning to drive or learning to ride a bike, high achieving students know that they need to put in persistent effort and regular practise. This is usually a quality learned over time, but it’s better to start late than never! Opting to create a revision timetable, or have designated time in which to revise, is the best way to set up a study habit that will last.

As a revision provider ourselves, we know the impact that revision has. It’s vitally important to revise for exams, and imperative that your child does some sort of revision. In an ideal situation, students will adopt regular independent study habits, as well as sign up to revision classes, such as ours. We provide intensive courses- designed to boost grades- and our classes are guided by excellent subject teachers to ensure your child’s revision is highly impactful.

They Avoid Cramming

Students who participate in planned revision sessions (whether that be at home every night or a combination of classes,) tend to avoid last-minute cramming.

Cramming is only a short-term solution, and your child needs to truly embed knowledge in order to utilise it properly. To be effective, the best thing to do is work on getting information into the long-term memory.

They Test Memory

Following this, successful students are willing to stretch their minds and test their memory- again and again. The desire to retain knowledge sets apart some students. Whether it is flashcards, quizzes or continuing to return to topics, testing memory consistently will help!

They Become Precise

To gain top marks, many exams demand your child to be precise, and the best way to prepare for this is to practise! If you’re quizzing or testing your teen, probe for as much detail as possible about what they’re studying. Ask questions that start with ‘how’ and ‘why’ as this will help your teen to elaborate.

Also, your teen will do well if they can make connections. Have they seen similar things within the topic or elsewhere? Can they compare an idea? You could even connect ideas to your own experiences and memories.

As your child progresses further into the year, they’ll likely feel like the pressure is applied from all angles: teachers want to squeeze the best out of them; your teenager increasingly gets closer to their finals, and the workload may increase. Keeping stability is key.

They Maximise Opportunity

High flyers tend to seize opportunities to further their knowledge and seek support. Our revision courses are popular, and we cater for students taking National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers. We come highly recommended, so we advise you sign up to our Easter revision courses. Take us up on the opportunity to maximise your child’s revision and help them intensify their learning. Attending one of our courses may well be the tipping point that boosts

Source Here: Habits of Highly Successful Students

Find the Most Effective Study Space

Where your child chooses to complete their ‘out of class’ study is important. If your teenager claims that they revise best whilst multi-tasking watching TV, you might query how much of their revision has actually gone in?

There might be a time and space for more casual approaches, but generally speaking, your child is most likely to succeed if their study environment is focussed and purposeful.

As a revision provider ourselves, we know the impact a good study environment makes: that’s why our courses are so highly recommended. But even if your child attends one of our revision courses, it’s good for teens to have a space to access ‘outside of the classroom’ or at home.

Library

Lots of students opt for their school or a local library. This is a calm, quiet place- with access to books and resources that your teen might want to dip into for their revision, too. If your child intends on venturing to University, there’s a huge expectation that students utilise their Uni library- so you may wish to prepare your teen for that now!

Study Rooms

Some schools and colleges have specific ‘quiet study rooms’ accessible to students. Maybe it’s not the sort of thing your teenager comes home shouting about, so it may be worth prompting them or querying whether this is something your teen has access to. Lots of us find it much easier to ‘get to work’ when we’re within our ‘working environment.’ Putting in the extra hours by staying later at school may well be what works for your child!

Group Study

Maybe your child thinks they can’t realistically revise well at school because they’re too distracted by friends at school? This is one of the ways our revision courses can be the perfect opportunity for your child. We provide the means to study in a motivated place, amongst like-minded peers. As an external provider, we have students- studying for SQA exams– from different schools and locations across Scotland. We also run our revision sessions in small groups, with a subject teacher at the lead, to ensure the key content and techniques are covered. Our course fuel your child’s knowledge and strategy- that they can then utilise at times when they are revising alone!

We can’t blame technology alone for distractions! Distractions, as we all know, happen for a whole number of reasons: lack of motivation; boredom; getting started; thinking things are too hard- the list goes on.

Home Alone!

When your child is revising independently at home, it’s wise to offer them a calm and ‘clear’ space. Your teen is likely to need space to spread out paper and workbooks. Even somewhere like the kitchen table can be a helpful space to revise a few hours per day (yes, you might have to keep nagging your teenager to move their stuff off before dinner!)

Storage space is the key! Finding your child a cupboard or place where they can stowaway all their books and paper is sensible.
Ultimately, the answer to all of this seems to be finding spaces that are calm and as distraction-free as possible. By doing that, you will be giving your child the best chances of revision success!

Read More Here: Find the Most Effective Study Space

Unique Ways to Study

Studying can feel a bit same-same. With revision, it can feel like there are lot of notes, lots of listening, plenty of mind maps and a floor filled with flashcards! Whilst our revision expertise will tell you that all these things work well, a little bit of ‘thinking out of the box’ can give a helping hand, too! There are certainly ways to make the process more engaging; ways you can shake things up and encourage more studying across the year.

Get Creative

Fostering creativity is a great way to liven up studying- especially if your teen enjoys this! Simple ideas might include getting an old reel of wallpaper and writing mind maps or ideas along it. Another idea could be to pick up a few canvases and create revision-based artwork to hang up for a few months.

Then there’s more straightforward ideas, such as fill up a sketchbook over time with revision or make a quotation or fact collage.

Utilise Tech

Most teens have access to a phone that can voice record, make videos and take photos. Therefore, why not consider ways your child can use their phone and technology to their advantage?

And don’t forget, there are simple tools your child can use their phone for such as stopwatches and timers. Even if they’re practising an exam question, it could be an idea to set the timer and play around with how quickly they can complete a paragraph or work to time. During our own revision classes, we are always keen to ensure that students are familiar with the papers, timings and style of questions- as mastering exam technique is all part of the process!

Acronyms and Rhymes

To help memorise information, lots of people find it useful to create acronyms or rhymes- things that stick in the mind and are easy to remember! Sometimes, the more humorous or outlandish ones are the ones that really stick…

Visualise

Still thinking uniquely, a revision tactic that works for some is to ‘visualise’ things like formulas, facts or quotations placed on surrounding objects. For example, you might try to memorise a straightforward formula by visualising that it is stuck to the lamppost outside your front door. This type of activity seems particularly effective when people actually engage in walking around and retracing their steps to these objects and ideas as they revise.

<blockquote class=”SQA-Revision-Courses” cite=”

https://gradeboostertutoring.com/revision-course/a-mind-set-for-study/”>Self-discipline is really hard for us as adults, let alone for teenagers. During your teenager’s exam years, clear structure will be your teenager’s ‘carpet for walking on!’ It is structure and routine that is likely to help them stay in control and on track when it comes to their studies.

Go External

For many students, they just don’t want to always study alone. It can be the sense of isolation that’s off-putting (or that there’s nobody there to put them under pressure to do the work!) The perfect solution for this is to book your child onto one of our excellent revision courses. We provide intensive classes, led by subject teachers, at crucial times of the academic year- but we do this as an external provision. We, ourselves, are unique: we offer a revision environment that your students would not get in either classroom or at home. We pride ourselves on offering fantastic courses!

So, why not try starting with these 5 ideas and seeing how your teenager gets on? There are plenty of different ways to get stuck into studying and revision, and the sooner you find what works well for your teen- the better!

Source Here: Unique Ways to Study

Why Revision is a MUST

If you’ve got a teenager in an exam year, you may be wondering what all the revision fuss is about. School is the place for learning, after all- why can’t they cover everything they need to know whilst they’re there?!

There’s a few answers to this:

Firstly, you want to factor in success. To be successful at examinations, your teenager needs to work hard both inside and out of school. This is because, to achieve top marks, it is an expectation that your child will revise topics over and over again in order to truly embed them and understand them.

We all know the old saying: “Practise makes perfect!” Whilst there might not be a ‘perfect exam answer,’ practising papers and continuing to cover aspects that they have already learnt in school will certainly lead to much stronger chances of success!

Timing

In addition to this, there’s only so much time that your teenager spends in the classroom. Whilst there’s enough time for teachers to deliver the material and course content, there’s never going to be the time to cover absolutely everything twice!

There may be areas of weakness that your child has and, whilst teachers will help your child to fill in these gaps, we have to realistically recognise that one teacher may have several students to support at any one time.

This is where a revision provider, such as ours, is an excellent opportunity for your teenager. We provide small-group settings, led by subject specialists, to guide your child through key aspects of their revision. Our intensified sessions offer your child the chance to scrub up their knowledge (and ask questions!) in an environment that is highly focussed yet welcoming.

Confidence

We also know that revision is critical to your child’s confidence- and confidence is such a big factor that affects an individual’s exam performance! If students know that they have worked hard and revised well before an exam, they’ll enter the exam hall feeling ready to face what’s ahead.

In addition to this, your teen will be equipped to succeed- after they have attended one of our revision courses– because we guide them through their revision. If you and your child are reading this, you are perhaps already conscious of the work they have ahead of them? To make them feel more reassured, sign them up to one of our Easter or Grade Booster revision courses: We are currently offering an ‘earlybird’ discount of 10% for our SQA National 5s, Higher and Advanced Higher courses this ends on 31st January.

Seeking support via teachers- or joining up to our revision classes- is a great solution for propelling revision forward! Our courses are a guaranteed way your teenager will be revising well.

“I didn’t catch you the first time”

Finally, revision is important because your teenager is NEVER going to remember everything they learn the first time that they hear it! Your teenager is human, after all… Revision outside of the classroom helps them to remember: it is part of the ‘learning process’ for youngsters in their exam years! And revision is great for promoting your teen’s sense of independence before they enter adulthood, too.

Read More Here: Why Revision is a MUST

How to Help a High-Flyer

As a parent or guardian, the last thing you want to do is interfere with something that seems to be ‘working’ well. Your teenager might naturally be a hard-working, academically-minded individual, who prefers to take studying in their own stride. With a zest for independence, some teens are high-flyers who require little support or input.

However, it’s good to consider ways you can get alongside them- and ensure they are equipped to keep on doing what they’re doing!

Help Them Take Care

Your teen may already be studying most evenings. You’re lucky that you don’t have nag away at them! The thing is, teenagers like this may put an awful lot of pressure on themselves, but only because they want to achieve the best. Therefore, it can be tempting to tell them to ‘look after themselves’ and ‘don’t overdo it,’ when what they actually might need is a bit of TLC from you and your family over their exams years. Treating your teenager with some patience, a calm home environment and hot dinners (!) may be the most conducive thing you can do to help them as they work their way towards top grades!

Open Opportunities

Also, supplying them with opportunities to join a revision course can be hugely beneficial, too. We are a revision provider, and we offer intensive courses over Easter, giving your child the chance to study in ‘bursts.’ This eases the pressure of slogging away for days on end, at busy times of the year.

Revision classes are great for well-being, too, as you might find that your teenager could do with spending some time with others, rather than studying alone all the time. Studying independently is good, but too much of it can be quite lonesome. Signing up to a revision course is one way of working amongst highly-driven peers, who are there to support one another.

In terms of home life, ensuring your teen eats well, sleeps well and rests well is crucial. Being as healthy as possible will be conducive to managing stress better: healthy body, healthy mind- as they say!
Spending time outdoors and enjoying some leisure time will help keep your teen’s zen!

See Clearly

With high-flyers, it’s about keeping their sense of perspective and balance. Some might start to become ‘obsessive’ about their studies, and there’s a point at which it might become detrimental to their stress levels. Encouraging your teenager to still have a good night’s sleep, eat well and to exercise are things that can’t be compromised. Health is a priority, and as a parent or guardian, you can help your high-flyer by ensuring this comes first.

There’s no doubt there’ll be times of stress- it is an exam year, after all! Stress isn’t ‘all bad,’ either: it’s more about how your child manages their stress levels. Breaking revision time into chunks, signing up to one of our intensive revision courses, and taking breaks to do things they enjoy, are all ways to ensure stress levels stay sensible! As your child progresses further into the year, they’ll likely feel like the pressure is applied from all angles: teachers want to squeeze the best out of them; your teenager increasingly gets closer to their finals, and the workload may increase.

Keeping stability is key. It’s the most helpful way to help you, a high-flying teenager!

Article Source Here: How to Help a High-Flyer

How to Manage Exam Nerves

Exam nerves are different for everyone. Some won’t feel nervous until they hit the exam hall, whereas other teenagers may feel a brewing sense of nervousness for months prior to their exams. Sweating palms, palpitations and feeling panicked are sometimes part and parcel of sitting examinations.

In addition to this, many Scottish teenagers are due to sit prelim exams in January and February. There may be a sense of exam worries brooding in your household as we speak! However, it is important to manage levels of stress and worry.

Prepare

Firstly, being well prepared will hugely help your teenager. We must not assume that our teens just know what to do. They need plenty and plenty of practice, which is why revision at home is crucial. In school, your teenager will be equipped with a vast and rich amount of learning and knowledge, but it is your child’s responsibility to revisit this information and put it into motion!

We provide highly valuable revision courses for students sitting SQA examinations at National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers. It’s another excellent way for your child to stay prepared and focused, and our courses run during the school holidays, which helps to maintain a balanced approach to your child’s revision. We find that our classes help to boost students’ confidence, as they leave our classes feeling well-equipped!

Embrace a bit of nervous energy

Nerves aren’t going to ‘go away,’ and it’s important your teenager starts to accept this. Feeling nervous is extremely normal, but also signifies that your child cares about their exams and wants to do well. If their adrenaline starts kicking in, then that may well be a good thing! Many students actually find they thrive from the pressure of exams and it pushes them to do well.

Take time for TLC

With this in mind, taking a bit of time for TLC is always important. Whether it’s taking revision breaks; keeping a few days revision-free, or quite simply learning how to take deep breaths in the exam hall, your teenager is going to need to look after themselves. This is another reason why many recommend our revision courses: we equip your child with effective study skills, and we aid them in their revision- whilst still encouraging time to take a break.

In time ‘off’ from revision, your teen will likely want to indulge in things they enjoy- like we all would! It’s good to value TLC and prioritise a balanced, healthy lifestyle!

If you have gaps in your knowledge or find parts of your course challenging, attendance at Easter School will help.

Don’t let it overwhelm

If your child’s anxieties about exams become overwhelming- to the point it is affecting everyday life- then try and speak to someone. Schools, youth services or a GP will be able to point your teenager in the right direction to find support and advice.

The key to excelling in exams is being able to channel nervous energy into something productive! It can be done, and we hope your child will flourish.

Our Early Bird discounts for Easter and Grade Booster Revision courses will end on Friday 31st January.

Enrol now to save 10%.

Easter Revision April

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Article Source Here: How to Manage Exam Nerves

To the Class of 2020

To some of us, the year 2020 sounds like a surprisingly strange time-warp, but to your teenager, it might be the pinnacle of their schooling or academic endeavours. It might be the year that they countdown until their final exams!

Everything they do at the start of this New Year may be geared towards doing well at school in order to make the next step in their walk of life. Whether it’s furthering their schooling, preparing for university, or getting ready for the world of work, it’s likely your child wants to do well and get good results!

Career Goals?

What does your child want to do? Have they any idea just yet? For some teenagers, they have their hopes pinned on a goal: they know where they want to head. For this type of student, every mark matters in order to achieve the best grades in the subjects they know will help progress their futures. As a revision provider, our courses are an excellent way of boosting your child’s grades. We offer classes in a variety of core SQA subjects.

Open to options?

Then there are students who don’t yet know what they want to do. It might be best to treat their examinations as a broad set of opportunities- subjects that they may end up pursuing or later delve their interest into. Doing well across all subjects may seem demanding, but again, there’s plenty of resources and support available to your child during their revision time. Our courses are intensive, and we find this helps students to be really successful for their focus and motivation. By offering our sessions across a 4-day burst of the school holidays, revision is tailored to cover the most crucial aspects of each exam.

Picturing the Future

The class of 2020 have a big future ahead of them. Whilst the previous year has been one of political stirrings, ever-advancing technology and a world that ’feels’ like it moves faster every year, there’ll be many exciting opportunities and amazing careers ahead. Exams aren’t just about one or two years of your child’s life. They’re part of your child’s fabric: the work that they do to achieve their grades is what matters. It sticks.
Whether they remember the algebraic formula or not, the point is that your child develops their logic and mathematical skill for life. They reason and problem solve and nurture resilience. Therefore, it’s imperative your teenager gives revision their best shot now.

Start Now

Your teenager won’t want to revisit this stuff once they’re out of the school system. There’s a whole world out there to live in and explore: encourage them to revise well now, and they’re in for promising start to their adult life! Our next set of intensive revision courses run during the Easter holidays.

We offer very popular classes for National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers, so it’s advised you book up your child’s space quickly to secure a spot in one of our small groups.

See More Here: To the Class of 2020

Studying on School Break: Is It Necessary?

During the school holiday, most students head home absolutely delighted to have ‘time off!’ As a parent or guardian, you may feel conscious, though, that your child seems to have homework or revision expectations. Is it really necessary that they complete these tasks during a school break?
Everyone needs a break, of course, they do. For children and teenagers, it’s especially important that their young life is enjoyable and happy.

However, exams are important, too.
If your teen has January prelims, students must revise during the Christmas break to prepare for these exams.

Studying Increases Knowledge

Only naturally, some students will be more determined than others to achieve the top grades. But revising for exams is more than about ‘just grades.’ It’s also about confidence, hard work and resilience. Anyone that’s ever taken an exam will tell you that they felt better having been prepared. We provide revision courses, intensively, and we are highly recommended for helping teenagers to feel well prepared! Nobody wants to walk into an exam feeling wobbly or worried: making sure your child revises is one way to ensure they have some knowledge to apply. Knowing their exam technique and timing is part of the process, too- and the more your child can do of this- the better!
Also, knowledge is for life. Revision shouldn’t be perceived as a ‘temporary fix’ to pass exams. Instead, the perspective should be that your child is building knowledge to last a lifetime. If your family agrees with this, you’ll start to see that the input your teenager puts in now is contributing to a life of interest and opportunities ahead!

Studying Boosts Confidence

Our revision courses are an excellent way of boosting teenagers’ confidence. Unlike revising independently, our classes are targeted in small groups and led by subject specialists who guide your child through all the key components of core SQA subjects. Having completed revision courses, your child will have a much better sense of confidence as they walk into the exam hall because they know they have taken action to ensure their knowledge is as good as possible.
We offer courses for National 5s, Higher and Advanced Higher.

Studying Raises Resilience

Finally, resilience is something that not only helps with school tests, but it’s a great trait for life! This said exam years can be one of the first moments your child actually has to learn to be very resilient. There’ll be knocks, criticism and tough work during an exam year- but it’s all to achieve a (hopefully) positive end goal!
Exam years ask of your child to be resilient. Your teen is going to have to face up to this, and your support will aid this. Many parents turn to us, as a revision provider, to give your child that additional support and network when it comes to revision. Resilience is another thing you want to embed, ready for your child’s adult life. Revision builds resilience.

Sign up to our courses today: we run intensive classes across the Christmas holidays to help with January prelims.

Source Here: Studying on School Break: Is It Necessary?