Exams are often a battleground between teens and parents, your teen is stressed out, flustered or completely tuned out, and you may not know how best to step in without entering the realm of the helicopter parent. Fortunately, there are many approaches you can take to guide your high schooler through this challenging process without hijacking every minute of her study calendar.
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Potential Challenges
Now, before discussing study tips, sometimes, educational struggles come from elsewhere. If you are worried that an adolescent may be getting cyberbullied, and you notice they seem distracted, read this article by cybersecurity experts at Cybernews to learn some tips on how you can monitor child’s text messages. Then you can create a surround for passing of exams, as supportive as possible, by removing all the distractors outside.
Creating the Ideal Study Environment
One of the essentials about good studying is the physical environment. Your teenager’s bedroom may be his or her haven, but that’s not always where he or she needs to be to crack open the textbooks, so collaborate with your teenager to figure out a quiet, bright, and distraction-free study place. The kitchen table, home office, or perhaps a spot in the living room.
A simple desk lamp, an end table, or a comfortable chair, or even binders or folders to stay organises do wonders; so invest a bit in those basic items.
Some teens may be able to study better with music in the background or even white noise, and some need complete silence, so it is best to talk to your teen rather than assume how it should be done.
Understanding Different Learning Styles
Not every adolescent learns the same way, and being attuned to your adolescent’s learning style can be a lifesaver. Some students learn in a visually-oriented way, further using colorful notes, mind maps, and diagrams to help them to learn excelled. Some students are auditory learners, absorbing the curriculum easily if they read out loud or talk to other people, while kinesthetic learners crave movement and require hands-on activities to learn.
Observe your teenager’s natural learning style
Would they rather talk things out, write them out, or walk around to memorise? So once you learn what type they are, all you need to do is help them develop study skills that complement their type.
Developing Realistic Study Schedules
Parents typically make the mistake of being too permissive or overly dictatorial about study hours. Talk together about the exams and examination preparation — breaking the studying for exams into smaller steps;
Some characteristics of an effective study schedule:
- Get going early: Cramming the night prior is hardly ever a real method for success. Get your teen to identify test dates early and plan backwards.
- Take breaks: The human brain has a limited attention span. Schedule time out every hour or two, ideally at least a fifteen-minute break, to avoid getting burnt out.
- Change subjects: Switching between various course subjects or disciplines can keep ideas fresh and stave off tired brains.
- Never be too rigid: things that occur, well you need flexible schedules to build in some flexibility for things that you didn’t expect to happen.
- Honor their natural cycles: Day people, night people, it runs the spectrum with adolescents. Lean into their energy levels instead of against them.
Providing Emotional Support without Pressure
Exam time is stressful enough for teenagers without parents adding to the pressure by behaving like the proverbial headless chicken. Rather than pursuing them about study or marks, support them emotionally and help them manage stress.
Ask them from time to time how they are doing, not so much what they are studying. Recognise that exam pressure is a significant issue, and be responsive to their worries. There are times when a bit of understanding by one person can change a lot in the mind of a teen.
Incentivise positive stress outlets such as exercising, socialising, or engaging in hobbies. This is not an off-time from study; instead, these steps are a must-have to defend mental well-being and not lose motivation.
Managing Technology and Distractions
Social media and screen time management is an important part of studying. Collaborate with your teen to set limits on technology during study time — leave phones in another room, use website blockers, or schedule specific times to check social media. However, keep in mind that technology is meant to facilitate learning, so online tools, study apps, and digital flashcards are beneficial aids when used correctly.
Knowing When to Step Back
What’s the most essential skill that parents can have in exam time, having an ear and knowing when to take a step back. A better approach would be to stop helicoptering your teenager and allow them to own their learning. Give them advice and encouragement — but do not try to solve every problem for them.
The grades you get in exams are not really how you measure success. This is how to build confidence, perseverance, and study habits that will be useful both to your teenager in their studies and throughout their lives. Giving your teen the right mix of support and independence to learn these invaluable skills with the short-term challenge of exam prep.
Frequently Asked Questions
Don’t pressure them, but be there to support them through the journey and encourage them. Set up a study schedule with your teenager but also give them the independence to manage their own learning.
The most effective setting is a calm, well-lit, and distraction-free environment. Others might find silence irritating (this is my son) and need background music or white noise to study well—talk with your child about what works for them.
Pay attention to how they interact with information organically. Your students may be visual learners who love diagrams and colored notes, auditory learners who learn best with discussion or reading aloud, or kinesthetic learners who need movement and hands-on activities.
Experts recommend small breaks every 60–90 minutes. Even taking a break of 15 minutes can help recharge the focus and avoid burnout.
Yes, but do it collaboratively. Suggest avoiding temptations such as social media during study time, but also implement tools for promoting better study habits, such as a study app or digital flashcards.
