With the holiday season just around the corner, one last hurdle remains: exams. While many may find this period stressful, it can become easier if parents train their children to study from a young age.
This would mean setting up a routine and fostering the habit of studying from a young age to avoid stressful exam seasons later on.
“Teach your child to study. One of the greatest skills they can learn in education is learning how to learn. From a young age, if your child builds up that academic confidence, they will be able to face exams with confidence,” said Shuhaida Adams from Islamic Careline.
She said starting to study for exams just weeks before the tests was setting pupils up for poor performance. This applied not only to exams, but to their mental health and other aspects of their lives as well.
“If you’re going to only start applying yourself now or start studying for the entire year, it’s a big risk and it’s a great amount of pressure and stress that it’s too much to bear. You will find of course burnout, the moods [and] difficulty coping with just the daily tasks,” she said.
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Mental health and exams
Pupils often find themselves under immense pressure during the exam season. This could be from their own expectations, their parent’s expectations among various factors. Cramming for a test is definitely a cause of stress.
“Your mental state does affect your academic performance [and] your social performance. All of that is connected,” she said.
Adams explained it was also important for pupils to live in an environment that was conducive to their mental health as it played a role in their performance.
“If you have a child who is very stressed out – a child who is exposed to a lot of difficulties; a child who doesn’t have family support – they are most likely going to struggle during this time,” she said.
It was important that children developed a habit of studying effectively as early as possible so that they became used to it. This would also alleviate the stress that comes with exams, she said.
She added that guiding and supporting pupils during the academic year was crucial.
“From the beginning of the year, as they are starting school, [try] being there for them, staying on top of what is required of them, know where they are struggling, helping them through the areas that they are struggling so that when you come to this final exams, it’s not something extreme for them,” she said.
As she explained, averting stress and maintaining mental wellbeing during exams also included having a good diet and exercising regularly. She said these were critical for good health and academic performance.
