Five ways to help your teen revise THIS half-term

With in-person GCSE and A-Level exams well under way, you might be feeling the tension in your household this half-term as we enter another revision period. Though the urge to help your child get stuck in to their studies might be tempting, it is important that they themselves take the time to find the answers and be resourceful. There is also the unnerving risk that you yourself might not know the answer – which is okay! MyTutor – the UK’s most trusted tutoring platform – has compiled their top 5 tips on how to support your teen with their studies to help dilute the anxiety around revision season, and offer guidance on what to do if you’re unsure.

Let them have a go first
It is normal for your child to ask for help when they hit a wall with their work, however, this does not mean you should come to the rescue and find the answers for them. Esteemed education expert Professor Guy Claxton is firmly of the belief that the best way for an individual to grow intellectually is to face the challenge at hand with curiosity and creativity. This in turn will strengthen problem solving skills and embed useful learning habits for real exam settings.

Know the quality learning resources
It’s all good and well to put in the hours into rewriting notes, but often it is the quality of the study time over quantity. We are privileged to have thousands of great resources at our fingertips. For example:

1. Past GCSE exam papers for practice
2. Helpful step-by-step videos like our explainer videos on the MyTutor TikTok account
3. Exam prep tips on Youtube channels
4. Revision APPS like Mindmeizer and ExamBlue flashcards to help teens consolidate and remember
5. Timetable planner APPS and goal setting templates that help your teen get organised
6. Blogs, APPs and social media accounts focused on teen wellbeing– because revision can be stressful and have a knock on effect on mental health

Encourage them to ask for help
Not knowing the answer instantly is both common and advantageous to support growth. We learn best by asking questions, and who better to ask than someone who knows what they’re talking about. If your teens feels apprehensive about asking their teacher, you can always help them find homework clubs or a tutor as a less intimidating alternative. It’s also good to stack up as many questions prior to asking them to save going back and forth.

Find someone to help them
Exam season can certainly take its toll. The emotional strain can have rippled effects, especially if your child experiences low self-esteem associated with poor grades. Therefore, investing in regular 1:1 support goes a long way. MyTutor found that 78% of parents feel that tutoring has positively impacted their child’s mental health which is why they recommend their online tutors. One of the main benefits with this is the tutors are only a few years ahead of the student, so they double as role models, putting their students at ease and making them feel comfortable asking for help. Apart from the obvious benefits of achieving better grades, tutoring often helps boost teen self-confidence, and can even raise future aspirations since your teen is spending time with academic role-models.

Help them set up a positive workspace
As the saying goes, tidy workspace, tidy mind. This definitely rings true when revising. Creating a study-friendly workspace increases productivity and concentration. By ensuring they are readily equipped with the correct tools, and revision must-haves means the chances of distraction are significantly reduced as opposed to having the TV on in the background and a cluttered desk.

Other ways to support your teen as they revise is to have healthy snacks ready, since studying uses up a lot of energy. And you can encourage breaks too since their brain will sometimes need to look away from a problem to actually then solve it.