Effective time management skills are important to have in life. They’re especially crucial now that mid-year exams have been removed for all primary and secondary schools by 2023.
Historically, exams have been used as academic indicators to assess how students may be faring in their respective subjects. Depending on the results, parents could gauge how to better support their children.
With the announced change, how can you, as a parent, help them prepare for end-year exams?
At AGrader Learning Centre, we’re firm believers in consistently learning to build abilities. Yet, we recognise that this can be hard to achieve without the right habits.
Guide your child to learn consistently with our recommended time management tips for students’ exams below. Start small and remember to celebrate their wins as they build this important life skill.
1. Create Dedicated Revision Days
Set exact days to revise specific subjects. For instance, Math on Mondays, English on Tuesdays, Science on Wednesdays, and so on.
By revision, we mean any study sessions and exercises to practise on top of homework and preparation for regularly scheduled tests. Having these predefined days helps your child to build a routine. This way, they’re more likely to automatically reach for English practice papers on Tuesdays, for instance.
This also reduces the amount of time spent thinking about what to revise as the decision has already been made! Your child would also be able to have a deeper focus for better learning.
For instance, they could use this quality revision time and reinforce their understanding of various subjects with learning videos by experienced tutors as part of the AGrader’s Everloop Improvement System.
2. Plan Ahead
Mark out key academic milestones on a calendar with your child. These milestones include term dates, dates of weighted assessments, key assignment due dates, and more. It should be ideally mapped out before the start of a new school year or term. If you haven’t, the next best time to start is now.
Take some time at the end of each week to write down regular events for the week(s) ahead. This could include co-curricular activities and tuition classes. This should also include events from their personal life, such as fun gatherings with friends and family.
Writing out all these activities helps you and your child to determine what a realistic revision period is. This way, you’d create more realistic plans.
For example, time for revision may be reduced because of one-off commitments like participating in a sports game or performing at a concert. Planning ahead lets you and your child see the big picture. In turn, this helps you to prioritise what needs to be revised in a shorter time span.
3. Reduce Distractions
Physical distractions
Declutter your child’s study area with them. Random stationery, notebooks or toys can make it challenging to stay focused on their revision after they’ve started work. Guide them to reset their study area at the end of each day. This way, they’re ready to start afresh and focus on the following day’s revision topics.
Digital distractions
If the space allows, remove digital devices such as laptops and tablets from your child’s line of vision. Avoid procrastination by making sure their handphones, if they own any, are placed in a different room. It’s natural that they’ll be drawn to screens and social media platforms more than practising word problems.
Create a specific time period to use tech. During this time, they may access digital classroom materials if need be. This then keeps all other revision times tech-free to allow for better focus.
Mental distractions
Build keystone habits that ensure your child is in their best mental state. Namely, getting the optimal 9 to 12 hours of sleep. At AGrader, we believe that taking time to build the right foundations will yield better results than applying different tactics.
Enforcing strict bedtimes may not feel as satisfying and may even be met with greater resistance. But try it for at least a month to see that this small step can make a big difference. Better sleep won’t eliminate mental distractions. But your child will be better prepared to refocus and return to the specific tasks they’ve planned.
4. Buffer for Procrastination
Even as adults, we envision work days where we get to tick off things on our to-do list. But be realistic: how often does that happen? Often, never! Unexpected interruptions and distractions will be a part of life – so help your child start planning for them early.
Add a buffer to their revision schedule each week so that they have time to catch up when things inevitably don’t go as planned. If you aren’t sure how much time to set aside, start with half a day each week. Then, make adjustments depending on your child’s needs.
5. Set Goals
Guide your child in defining long-term goals they’d like to achieve and goals for each revision session. We suggest using SMART goals where the objectives are:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-Oriented
Let’s say your child needs to practise English comprehension exercises. A general goal would be: complete English comprehension. A SMART goal would be: Complete one English comprehension from AGrader revision sheets within 30 minutes.
Making a SMART goal helps them to identify the supporting materials they need and ensure that enough time is set aside to complete the task.
6. Review and Reflect
Time management skill for students is a skill that can be built with practice and feedback. Set aside some time in your child’s schedule at the end of each day to do a quick review.
They should be able to answer: what has been completed? Is there a revision that needs to be brought forward to the ‘catch-up’ day? Were there practices that took longer or shorter than expected?
The review isn’t meant to be a critique. Your child should think of themselves as scientists gathering information. For instance, their hypothesis may have been, I’ll take 30 minutes to finish this Cloze Passage.
In reality, let’s say they took an hour to complete the Cloze Passage. The review then gives them the chance to assess the reasons they’re spending too much time on certain areas. They can then use the new information gathered to create more realistic plans for the future.
At AGrader Learning Centre, we believe in building foundations and consistent practice to support our students in making remarkable improvements. This was a key driving force behind the creation of the Everloop Improvement System.
Our unique system identifies specific learning gaps and provides proprietary teaching videos to address each student’s needs. Learn more about how this system complements AGrader’s high-quality lessons and supports effective revision here.