Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Keeping the examination blues away - Lawrence High School


With the board exams looming large, can the stress and anxiety be far behind? Examinations are considered a stressful affair for both-the parents and the children. I think it is more to do with the approach rather than the exam by itself. A healthy and clinical approach will help both parties arrive at a neutral feeling and will be able to cope better during examinations.

As an old saying goes, preparation is the key to success. Preparing well in advance will naturally keep the stress levels at the minimum. With no surprises staring at you at the last minute, you are well-equipped to carry on the revisions before the examinations. Parents can help students achieve that by helping them prepare a schedule well before and tackle the difficult and tricky topics in advance.

Keeping distractions at bay should be the next important thing to do during the final count-down to the finals. Mobiles, internet, Facebook, chatting (even if it means discussing studies) should be kept at the lowest minimum. Too much of discussing about how much each one has studied and how much one needs to catch up only raises the anxiety levels.

Allowing time for recreational hobby is not a sacrilegious thing to do. In fact all study will bring down the absorption levels after a point. The mind needs to recharge with something creative or stimulating. It could be anything- a favourite sport, painting, music, dancing or even cooking.

Keeping realistic expectations and having a clinical approach is one of the best methods of approaching any exam. Parents and children need to bring down the expectation levels to match the capacity of the student, keeping past performances in mind too. An overall 60% achiever cannot top up his scores to 85% just by cramming in the last few days.

Finally, parents need to befriend their children and win their confidence. They need to demonstrate that exams and their results is not the end of the world-even if they are board exams.  

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