Any time when children are working towards exams can prove to be a stressful period. The level of stress is so high because most students will be relying on attaining good grades to provide access to their first choice of college or university. Maths is of course seen as one of the most important subjects as well as being a hard area to grasp, which means that it causes students the most worry. As a result students can often become frustrated with maths revision and are then easily distracted. Read on to discover five useful hints that should help your child stay focussed during maths revision.

The importance of breaks

Scientists have shown that the brains learning capacity begins to falter after learning sessions that go on longer than 40-45 minutes. This means it is a good move to encourage your child to take regular 10-15 minute breaks. Make sure that they take their break away from the study area, which helps send a signal to the brain to tell it when it is time to study and when it is time to rest.

Brain food

Eating the right foods during study is important and can help increase the brains capacity to learn. With this in mind you should take a little time to read up on which foods are good for the brain and then include some of them as part of your child’s eating plan.

Easing the burden

The majority of parents will ask their children to undertake chores as a way of increasing responsibility. Letting your child off these kinds of chores whilst they are doing maths revision can be a good move. Whilst the chores may only take up a small amount of their time, removal the responsibility means that they have one less worry, leaving them more focused on their studies.

Give support

Where possible, try and get involved with the maths revision process. This can be achieved by discussing and offering any advice that you are able to on certain subjects, which should help spread the burden. You can also test them on the topics that are covered by the curriculum.

Reward their efforts

It is a good idea to take your child away from maths revision for longer periods than the 10-15 minute breaks that we have discussed earlier. So maybe take them to the cinema or go out for a meal as a family. An alternative option is to take them to their friend’s house where they can relax with people who are under the same pressures.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 28th, 2011 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.