Should we stop preparing for the test by now?

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willow_catkin
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 4:49 pm

Should we stop preparing for the test by now?

Post by willow_catkin »

I read in another post that for the month before the test children should stop doing ANY preparation to keep them fresh. Is this true?

DD is doing practice papers now virtually every day (but not all 50 min ones) and getting quicker and more confident with the tricky questions. Cannot see that stopping this for the next 2 weeks would help at all - anyone had any experience?

thanks
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Should we stop preparing for the test by now?

Post by mystery »

Oh just do what you think is right. I did all my O'level revision the night before.
cairo
Posts: 276
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:09 pm

Re: Should we stop preparing for the test by now?

Post by cairo »

I suppose the thing is that they are young and you don't want them to freak out on the day, because the build-up has been so stressful. You also don't want them feeling tired, annoyed or simply that they've had enough of the whole process.

I know someone whose son put his pen down half-way through the second paper because he just couldn't be bothered any more. :shock: So I'd say, when you think your child has had enough, then stop. For some, that'll be a month before, for others three days before.
Marylou
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

Re: Should we stop preparing for the test by now?

Post by Marylou »

I'm very conscious of the risk of doing "too much" at this stage, but I do worry that DS's performance could drop dramatically if he had too much of a break. We aim to do around 5 - 10 minutes every day, mainly using the IPS daily papers which he aims to complete in as short a time as possible just "to get it out of the way" :lol:. We still have a couple of "sessions" at the weekend involving a full-length practice paper and some revision of the question types and general exam technique with a friend - probably the biggest motivating factor as far as both boys are concerned, as the hard work is usually followed by a game on the Wii!
Marylou
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