Introduction
Exam season often transforms many homes into pressure cooker environments that affect both children and parents. While kids get overwhelmed with performance expectations, challenging subjects, approaching exam dates, etc., parents also walk a tightrope between offering support and inadvertently adding to the child’s anxiety.
We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, one of the top school in Gurgaon, believe such situations can be avoided if parents gain clarity on what constitutes helpful and unhelpful behaviours during exam time. To make the process easier, we are sharing below a list of dos and don’ts to enable every parent to help their kids better during exam time.
The ‘Dos’ of Helping Your Children During Exams
If you want to ease your child’s exam pressure and help them prepare with a calm and composed mind, we recommend sticking to all the following points:
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Create an optimal study environment
When parents focus on creating an optimal study environment instead of making independent decisions about their kids’ study routines, schedules, etc., they indirectly help their kids with exam preparation. An optimal study environment sets the tone for productive and focused learning, letting kids prepare optimally. If you’re unsure how to create such environments, we recommend minimising visual distractions, installing adequate lighting to prevent eye strain, ensuring comfortable seating that supports good posture, and taking more steps alike that help your child focus on his/her studies with a calm mind minus any distractions.
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Offer emotional support
Sometimes, your child only needs emotional support to navigate pressuring environments. If you notice your kids becoming visually irritable, withdrawn, etc., take it as a sign that they need emotional support. You can begin by replacing dismissive responses, such as ‘You’ll be fine.’ with validating phrases, like ‘I can see this is challenging.’ Your simple act of acknowledging their challenges and lending an ear without immediate problem-solving can work wonders by regaining their lost mental strength. It will help them tackle all exam preparation challenges wisely.
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Help develop effective study strategies
Another excellent way to help your kids prepare for their exams is by guiding them to choose the best study strategies. Not every student learns effectively using the same methods. Hence, identify your child’s strengths, weaknesses, preferred learning modes, etc. It will help you choose the right study strategies for them. If you follow this tip, remember to collaborate with your child to pick the most effective study strategies instead of independently making the choices for them.
The ‘Don’ts’ of Helping Your Children During Exams
We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok firmly believe that when it comes to exams, just as much as it is important to know ‘what to do’, it is equally essential to know ‘what not to do.’ So, for those kids whose exams are approaching, parents should try to avoid doing any of the following activities:
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Don’t neglect balance
If you encourage your child’s behaviour to study most of the time by neglecting other activities, like exercise, de-stress time, etc., you’re unknowingly letting them approach exhaustion and reduced learning efficiency. Every student needs to balance study and leisure so they don’t experience drained energy, lack of motivation, emotional imbalance, etc.
Parents willing to help their kids throughout the exam season must encourage their kids to maintain a healthy balance between studying and taking time out for themselves. This simple technique will prepare your kids mentally to tackle all exam-related challenges without any stress or pressure. Neglecting balance is the easiest way to negatively affect their preparation, performance, and overall well-being.
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Avoid adding pressure
Parents may have good intentions while discussing the child’s future, exam performance, etc., during exam season, but it can backfire drastically. Kids generally experience extreme pressure and stress during exams. Including them in conversations that revolve around the importance of scoring good marks in exams or their performance’s impact on their future can worsen their stress and pressure. A better approach is providing them with emotional support so they can focus on their studies without any worry or pressure.
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Don’t take over
As a parent, it’s natural to feel inclined to help your kids during exam season. However, some parents unknowingly overstep their child’s boundaries in the process. It not only impacts their study routine but also shakes their confidence and inner calm. If you constantly check on your child’s progress, ask them to change their study timing/routine, propose new revision methods without asking them about their preferences, etc., you’re unintentionally causing more damage to your child’s study preparation. This is the reason why we recommend our parent fraternity to transform the exam preparation stage into a collaborative experience instead of making it a power battle.
Conclusion
We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, one of the top school in Gurgaon, very well understand that supporting children during exam time can often become overwhelming for parents. This especially holds true when they have limited awareness about the correct ways to support their little ones. Although well-intentioned, actions like taking control over their preparations, constantly reminding them of their performance’s impact on their future, etc., can cause more distress to children than imagined. Hence, we recommend being aware of the dos and don’ts of helping children during exam season. You can use this blog post as your starting point. It will help you support your kids’ preparations without overstepping any boundaries.