Preparing Your Teenager for Exams

What are good ways of helping your teenager prepare for exams?!

There are many things that are important in the preparation for

exams, but all these things are one of two types:

1. preparation of the subjects by the student, and

2. preparation of the student for the exam!

As parents, your job is to prepare the student for the exam, and let

the student prepare with the different subjects. Unless you are also

qualified to teach your teenager the different subjects.

So, how do you prepare your teenager for the exams? There are many

things you can do, so let us start with the most important thing

first.

You realise, of course, that your student has to be in excellent mental

and physical condition if he or she has to do well in the exams. Notice

that I mentioned both physical and mental conditions. For the mind to be

in excellent condition, the body has to be in excellent condition, otherwise it is simply not possible. As simple as that!

The body and mind are closely interconnected, one affects the other.

The most important thing for keeping your teenager in excellent condition -- both physical and mental -- is SLEEP !!!

He or she should get the proper amount and proper quality of sleep EVERY NIGHT, and ESPECIALLY the night before the exam!

It is only if the student sleeps properly that his or her mind will work

properly to do well in the exam. Students and parents who brag about

sleeping very little and studying all night are just being foolish. That

kind of practice will result in them doing below par in the exams.

So, as parents, how do you decide what is the proper amount of sleep for

your teenager? The amount of sleep varies from person to person, but it

will be at least 6 hours and at the most 8 hours. To determine the right

amount, for a few days just allow you teenager to sleep normally and then wake up normally without an alarm. By normally, I mean the student should go to sleep well before midnight, definitely no later than 11pm, and without any mental tension about the exams or about waking up early. After a few days of such sleep you will notice a pattern: maybe your teenager wakes up after exactly 7 hours sleep, or after exactly 8 hours of sleep. If he/she sleeps longer than 8 hours, you have to set an alarm for 8 hours. If he/she wakes up earlier than 6 hours, you need to calm down your teenager and make him/her sleep longer. Maybe give them hot milk before bedtime, or some nice ayurvedic kashaaya drink.

Once the sleep duration has been determined, ensure your teenager gets that much sleep EVERY NIGHT, and ESPECIALLY the nights before the exam.

Next, how do you make sure your teenager gets good quality sleep? Here again there are several things to do. First and foremost, make sure your teenager goes to sleep at exactly the same time every night. Set an alarm for your teenager to go to sleep, not for waking up! This is an important and unusual tip, so note it down! And, make sure that this time is well before midnight, definitely no later than 11pm.

Once you have done the above, there are more things you can and should do. First, feed your teenager dinner at least 2 hours before bedtime; the body takes 1.5 hours to 2 hours to digest the dinner, and it has to be completely digested before bedtime. Second, give your teenager a proper dinner, don't try any diets that will reduce his/her food quantity. Third, give healthy food, which includes lots of carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetables of all colours, plus fruits. Fourth, after say 6pm don't give your teenager things such as coffee, tea, coca cola, or other soft drinks because they contain caffeine and will disturb his sleep.

Now that you have ensured your teenager is getting good sleep, you have laid a strong foundation for his excellent performance in the exams. Without this foundation, you cannot expect your teenager to do well in the exams.

Preparing Your Teenager for Exams - 1 Sleep!