Mock exams - help needed.

[RedDragon]

Hi,

Bit of a strange request - not exactly sure where I should have posted it.

Right, here goes.:)

I have a child of my own who is taking his mock GCSEs next week.

He is a super lad - polite, caring, friendly etc. I don't have a minute's trouble with him.

Thing is, I mind a LOT of children (after school). The children don't stay for very long as it's mainly for an hour each after school.

Anyway, what I wanted to ask was is there anything I can do to help my lad. Because he is so easy going etc it can be easy to just let him get on with it all (hope I'm not waffling) and deal with the louder/more needy kids.

Has anyone got any experience of children taking exams?

I have asked him while we have been on our own but he just says he is fine.

Thanks for any help.

[sarah707]

Peace, quiet, cups of tea, rest after each 1/2 hour studying, computer when he needs it, ear to moan into if required... school should have given him a study timetable which you could read with him and make sure it's achievable and he knows where he's going with it...

Scary time for most teens - hope he's ok! :D

[angeldelight]

Hope he is ok

I used to be terrible with exams worry myself silly and not tell anyone

I would try and spend a little time with him and ask if he needs help going over anything

I know my friends son has his next week also and hes been using the BBC website for tips and help
There are lots of different subjects you just need to flick through to find them if you look at the subject choice

This is the site they are using not sure if its any help I havent looked at it personally

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/french/mockexam/index.shtml

Just put no pressure on him and wish him good luck from us

Angel xx

[RedDragon]

Yes, it is scary.

Because he is so easy going it's easy to miss something. I've been buying him little treats (those posh chewing gums that I always say "How much!" and I took a loan out to buy him a pot of Ben and Jerry's ice cream).

HE'S GOT SOME GREAT THINGS (OOPS CAPS, SORRY) to look forward to (tickets to gigs, relaxing holiday etc) and I don't pressure him into what marks he should be getting (to be honest the marking system is a bit over my head).

[Tatia]

My daughter is taking her proper GCSEs this year. The best advice I can give is to make sure you know the timetable. I made a copy of it for myself so I am aware of what she should be doing. I don't think directly after school is always the best time to study anyway (needing a break and to unwind a bit) so can you set up study time for the evening, when mindees have gone, after your son has had his dinner and feels more relaxed? I probably sound like Betty Crocker but I make her special snacks or drinks and just generally do what I can to ease the pressure.

[Tatia]

Oh yum, the Ben and Jerry's sounds nice, too, though!:thumbsup:

[angeldelight]

Yeah I would study if I knew I was getting a tub of that ice cream - yummy haha

Sounds like you are doing everything right anyway

I am sure he will be fine

Good luck to your son

Angel xx

[Pipsqueak]

Hope all goes well for both your children Claire and Tatia. Think you have had some good advice - knowing the childrens timetables etc.

As for dealing with a busy household - if its for an hour after school can your son not have that as his winddown time when he comes in from school and then when the house is a bit quieter he can settle down to study?

[Polly2]

Just wanted to say I know how you feel

My Daughter is in the middle of her mocks now. Trouble with her is she is so laid back she is not bothered at all!!

I stress about them more than her. Although she is on the computer finishing her coursework til all hours.

Why do teachers insist on having deadlines for coursework in the middle of exam week??

Just does not make sense to me.

Anyway hope your son is ok and not too stressed xx

[angeldelight]

Good luck to your daughters Tatia and Holly

Hope you both do not stress to much because its usually the parent ha

Angel xx

[manjay]

My dd is also doing her GCSEs proper this time. She is VERY strong willed and I have found the more I push and probe the worse she is!! She has wind down time when she gets in while the mindees are here. She usually waits until my ds who is 1 has gone to bed as he is her little shadow. We usually sit in the kitchen together of an evening each on our computers. All indidations so far are that she will do fine and she is very determined about what she wants to do.

Lots of support is in order I think

Hope they all do well

[ajs]

good luck for j amanda i hope all goes well

many of you will know that my dearest ds did very badly in his gcse's last year 3 at c the rest lower
i try not to be too pushy with the kids and he had his own space etc and all i ever got from him was yes he's fine then the results came. now he is at college doing a business btec although still not doing enough work hopefully in sept he can start on his alevels

daughter is doing her gcse next year and we didn't even know when the mocks were she does so little for them
she arrived home friday week and announced her mocks start next week (last week for her )

great a fun weekend in our house i can tell you

[manjay]

Thanks Mandy! I realised long ago that she was never going to be a straight A student!! Far too interested in boys, make up, hair etc;) but she has already got what she needs for her college course from course work and some exams she did last year so that takes the pressure off

[Tatia]

I get peeved with my daughter as she is in the top set and incredibly intelligent. She actually took some proper GCSEs last year and passed cos she's fast-tracked. Also on the gifted and talented list. But she's dumbing hersef down for a boy. He's a nice kid and all but not as clever as she is and not as hard-working as she used to be. It's the hard-working part that bothers me, btw. She's making decisions that are going to affect her A levels and chances of getting accepted into a good Uni all because of a smelly boy.:rolleyes:

I try so hard not to push and to maintain a balance but I'm telling ya, the hardest part of teens is the letting go and relaizing you are losing influence with them!

[crazybones]

I get peeved with my daughter as she is in the top set and incredibly intelligent. She actually took some proper GCSEs last year and passed cos she's fast-tracked. Also on the gifted and talented list. But she's dumbing hersef down for a boy. He's a nice kid and all but not as clever as she is and not as hard-working as she used to be. It's the hard-working part that bothers me, btw. She's making decisions that are going to affect her A levels and chances of getting accepted into a good Uni all because of a smelly boy.:rolleyes:

I try so hard not to push and to maintain a balance but I'm telling ya, the hardest part of teens is the letting go and relaizing you are losing influence with them!

That sounds like you are talking about me. I was exactly the same and never made it to Uni - got the minimum "O levels" at the time that I needed for college and just had a great time. Obviously I am sorry now, which is why I am so impressed with all the G&T stuff the secondary school keep putting on for my son who is still in year 6. Any girl comes within 10 feet of him and the shotgun will be out.

[tulip0803]

My DS is also doing his proper GCSE exams this year. He is in top set for everything and luckily he has lots of friends in the same sets who are all intent on Uni etc. He wants to go to Cambridge?? bearing in mind I did 1 A level and DH didn't do any exams (put on permenant work experience at 14 cos the school did not want to deal with his dyslexia:eek: ). I have told him that they are important but not to get too stressed as he can re-sit them. He doesn't seem at all stressed - I think I am more so.

Again he has lots of treats lined up. Trying to get him tickets to Radio 1 big weekend cos all my family still live in Maidstone. Two week holiday in July. DH is looking for a car for him to help do up in the hopes when he actually gets a licence he will take more care of it.

It's like trying to walk a tight rope trying not to put too much presure on and trying to express the importance.

Like Tatia's daughter when we lived in Essex he was on the intellectually gifted and talented list (they don't have that here) so HE has always told US he is going to Uni - but he has not really discovered the girls yet, he is only just haveing a growth spurt in the last 6 months

[littletreasures]

Toby's doing his GCSE's this year too. I think his first exam is about 4th May and last one is 11th June.

He says he is revising, but this holiday always seems to be going out with his mates or gaming on the computer. Games are coming off the computer this weekend ready to start back at school on Monday!!

He has also just managed to get himself 2 part time jobs. They work really well as one is Mon + Wed 3.30-7pm and the other is 10-3 Saturday. His incentive is if he doesn't revise, he will have to give up the jobs and he is so looking forward to earning his own money to buy a computer I don't think that will happen. He is targeted to do well in the exams and doesn't really seem to do much work.

His problem is, although outwardly he doesn't seem to worry, his body does. He was supposed to take 2 module exams last term. One of which he had to do while suffering with a really bad cold. The other he couldn't do because he had such an upset stomach. I need to try and get him to keep calm otherwise he may not get through a month of exams.

Daughter is the other way. In Year 9 so doing SATS. Can't do enough work. Everyday she is doing test papers and looking over her work and rewriting it. She works so hard. But I worry about her as well as she has never failed anything. Passed all her music exams with flying colours. Is in the top 3 in her class for all end of year exams.

Eldest was different again. Had to slog over all her exams. She did really well though and is now at Uni, but finds the work their difficult. She will succeed through sheer determination though.

Good luck for everybody who has exams and also the parents who have to put up with the strops from them during that time!!!

littletreasures

[Blaze]

Nothing to add ...just good luck to all thoses sitting exams. (If i tell my story you'll all get sleepless nights)!:laughing:
Blaze:D

[tulip0803]

YEAH - Good luck to all the children and parents that are doing any sort of exam over the next few months:)

[custardcream]

My eldest son is sitting his GCSE soon too. I am so worried cos he is just so laid back. He cant seem to grasp the fact that if he puts in some time revising now it will pay off. He thinks he can sit his English Lit exam without actually reading the books, he says its fine as he has watched the films at school.Hubby has told me to stop stressing and just let him get on with it.
The main trouble is that he has a girl friend and spends most of his time talking to her on msn.
But this week we have hopefully turned a corner. He is staying after school every night for extra study and the last push to get course work finished, he is also revising on the computer using a programme called `Sam Learning` which the school has subscribed to.
I do feel they are under so much pressure and I for one will be so glad when all exams are over.

[RedDragon]

Luckily for me there are no girls on the horizon (although he is 6 foot 1 and a real lovely lad).

Has read all the posts and I thank you for the great info/help given.

Off to College myself this evening - I didn't realise how hard studying really was.

My last mindee (is that what you call them?) has just left so it's time to crank the Foo Fighters up and have a headbang before College.

[angeldelight]

Enjoy your college this evening

Angel xx