14 things: Parents should do during their child’s exam!

20 January,2024  |  By Brainwonders

The exam time is a serious time at every students household. All the children care about is studying well and scoring good marks and the parents are behind their kids to help them study well and score better marks. Higher is the pressure upon those kids who are going to appear for the SSC/HSC exams!

The name itself causes jitters among some kids, such is the terror of these exams. Children fear the BOARDS mostly as it is a life changing experience in a students life.

There is a whole lot of excitement too with the selection of their desired field, college, course of study, and more; as eventually after these exams they will able to get one step closer to their dreams. All this comes at a price of scoring well in the exams.

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So all the children are driven towards their goals of scoring good, which adds immense pressure on them. With such high tension, it is the job of the parents to help and support their kid. There are many ways by which parents can help their kids with small but highly beneficial gestures-

• Lookout for any kind of warning signs: To help your child during their exams time you can begin by looking out for the warning signs. Some children develop stress symptoms more than other children and their responses could include nausea, vomiting, fever and aggression.These can further develop into burnout and depression. Parents must remember that their child is far more important than any examination in the world, and so must not further push them. If they notice any such symptoms, they should kindly talk to them and make it clear to them that their love for them does not depend upon any examination marks.      
• Being there for them: With the parents managing the household, they may not be very available to them. However, the attention is very much required during this time. The children may have things to share, or might just need your assistance. So the parents may try and be around at least during the exam time to make things more comfortable for their children by keeping the house calm, peaceful, positive and warm and being the support system that they need.
• Help them maintain a balanced routine: It is very important that your child maintains a healthy and balanced lifestyle between their studies and rest. Their timely and wholesome meals must be accompanied by 15-20 minutes of relaxation activities. Studying late night should be avoided as a good night’s sleep is necessary for a good study session and exam performance.

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Approximately 6-8 hours of undisturbed night sleep is highly recommended by doctors for a healthy living. Especially during exams time, it keeps your mind fresh and study ready!

• Proper meals: Wholesome meals should be taken properly on time.You are what you eat,and eating junk food not only makes one sick, but also makes one lethargic. Parents can help by preparing a meal time-table convenient to the child. They can also encourage the child to eat more nutritious food by eating them themselves too. Caffeinated drinks though tempting, should be avoided like coffee, soft drinks and energy drinks.

• Having dinner together: This may sound ridiculous but it is very effective. Children tend to neglect their health in an effort to study a few extra chapters. So having dinner together not only helps a kid to have a proper meal at proper time, it also gives them a break from studies. It also provides the family members an opportunity to interact, share and bond. Do as how your child is doing but avoid discussing their exam preparations at the dinner table.

• Know your child’s capability: It’s important that parents understand that every child has a certain capability. Rather than forcing your child to score beyond their capability, parents should rather help them do their best in the exam and leave the worries of the result to the later part.

• Keeping away distractions: It is important that your child is able to study in a warm environment with minimal distractions. Your contribution to it could be that you can keep the T.V. and music volume low. Avoid watching their favorite serials or comedy shows without them so that they do not feel left out on the fun.

• Moderate their activities: If you notice your child wasting too much time on social media, or talking to their friends it is time to put your strict foot ahead but rather not with a ill-temper. Instead you can try steering their attention back to their pending work with a calm demeanor and asking them to use their break time for such activities. Remember to be polite but firm.

• Study-breaks: Along with proper studies it is important that kids have proper breaks in their time-table. This freshen ups them for their new slot of studies. Ideally a kid must study 2 hrs with a 20 mins break at least. So according to their convenience you can help them plan their studies as well as their study breaks. And ensure that the child uses their breaks as breaks!

• Assisting with studies: Parents can also help their child in the revision process. They can take up their oral tests or written tests and assess them. If not with the studies then parents can keep a check with the requirements of their kids like making sure all the textbooks, reference books, past question papers, stationery and other required materials are available to them. Parents can also help in timing their writing or simply by sitting with them while they revise.

• Relaxation techniques: With studies, relaxation of mind and body is also vital. Parents can promote few simple relaxation techniques to the kids like going for a walk after studies or dinner. They can even encourage them to read short stories or poems or you can watch your favorite shows together.

• Plan their exam day: Often the student is so concentrated on the studying that they forget about other aspects of the examination process. It might be possible that your child may have not planned their exam day already and might rush at the last moment trying to find their belongings or locating their exam centre. This happens to most of the students who do not prepare for the examination day in advance. All this could make them late as well as nervous for the exam. So if possible help them in the preparation of the examination day, along with visiting the exam centre in advance.

• Help them focus on next paper: After a certain paper is over and the review does not seems so positive from your child, do not probe them further into discussing their paper. Instead just remind them that discussing the paper will not help now. So ask them to focus on the next paper and enhance their next performance.

• Focus on your personal needs too: Every person has certain emotional needs of their own. Some parents literally relive their exam fever through their child’s exam. This is also very common and so most parents tend to get over-conscious about their child’s exam which indirectly affects the child too. So most psychologists advise that both parent and child pay attention to individual well-being as well.

Most of the apprehension during the exam springs from the future implications of the exam performance. This often contributes as undue panic. Thus, students can seek professional guidance to help them with their concerns rather than contaminate their exam preparation. The Brainwonders D.M.I.T. is a scientific assessment and counselling that helps the student to explore and understand their learning styles, strengths and personality in order to use it to build successful career and personal relationships as well.

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