It’s here! The end of the school year is nigh, which means many teens are feeling simultaneously excited and overwhelmed. Organizing oneself to prepare effectively for final exams can be difficult for lots of students. If, like many kids, your child seems to lack direction and clarity in this arena, take heart! I have some ideas.
Most young adults need help to organize themselves around studying. Pre-planning can make a big difference both in how teens feel at this time of year, and how they perform on their tests. As with anything in life there are lots of approaches, but I’m going to stick with just one (You and your teen should feel free to customize this approach so it works best for her/him). The goal? Have a conversation with your young adult with the intended outcome of creating a Final Exam Study Plan (for the sake of self-amusement, we’re going to call this a FESP). Some kids will do this happily and others will express reluctance, and in the end, most teens will feel grateful for the help whether or not they ever say so.
About two-three weeks before your teen starts their final exams, schedule some uninterrupted time with him or her. In order for this planning session to be successful, your child should have the following materials on hand: exam schedule, study guides, his or her agenda, and an open mind.
When you’re ready, use the following questions to guide the conversation. I like to take notes throughout; it keeps my clients (and my kids) and me honest and on track:
In which classes will you take a final exam?
When do you take which tests?
How confident do you feel about the material? OR How ready are you for the test? (The goal of this question is to help your child figure out how much review they need to do vs. how much learning, because learning takes more effort and time than reviewing.) Don’t be surprised if your child struggles to answer this question accurately, or if you get a brush-off answer like “I’m good…” Most teens have a pretty good sense of how well they know the material; not all of them are comfortable giving a forthright answer. It’s okay to push your teen here for accuracy since it will lead to a much more accurate study plan.
How much time do you need to study for your math, English, Spanish, science, etc. test? Now we’re getting down to the nitty gritty: It’s time to talk about budgeting time. This can get complicated, so please don’t expect it to be simple. It’s asking too much for many teens to get this right when looking at studying an entire semester’s worth of material, so we break it down for them. Again, there are many approaches, but I’d stick with either dividing the number of chapters, major concepts, or study guide pages by the number of days available to study. This makes the whole process more manageable. As the responsible adult in the family, you can and should offer feedback about timing. Questions like, “Hm. You said you need 10 minutes to learn the French Revolution. Do you think that’s realistic?” will be much more helpful than, “There’s no way you can learn everything you need to know about the French Revolution in 10 minutes!”
Okay! Let’s look at the calendar and map out when you’re going to do all this studying! Once you have an estimate of the amount of time your child will need to study and review the material covered, it's time to bring out the calendar. I like to start at the end and work backwards to the present. You already have a breakdown of how much time your child needs in order to be prepared, and you also have their calendar available, so now it’s time to plug in study time. Don’t forget to leave space for breaks! The human brain works best with brief breaks every twenty minutes or so; leave space for self-care!
It’s helpful to remember that you’re modeling good time management and planning strategies to your teen, and you’re also offering him or her practice and support. It’s unlikely this will “take” after just one time, so be prepared to do this again the next time your child is approaching finals. Teens can also practice these important planning skills throughout the semester with larger projects and tests.
Good luck!