What can you do as a Parent to help?

I have split this down into four areas, the three-week panic, the three-day panic, three- hours panic and three-minutes panic. It seems to be that that’s how it works.
Three-week panic is obviously the one that’s going to set in first. What you can do with this is set your teenager a couple of questions, or ask the school to, about topics they know. What you’re trying to do is build up their confidence.

Three-day panic is definitely going to set in. I get them to look over the things they said they half-knew at the beginning. Get them to look over them, because they’ll realize how far they’ve come. They’ll realize that, “I don’t half-know this anymore. I know it.” Help them see if they can find the links between things that they half-know and know.

Three-hour panic, the best thing is give them something to study that they know well. It’s going to raise their confidence up.

Three-minute panic, basically you have to tell them to relax and breathe. It’s going to help them just before they go into the exam rooms. I remember specifically being sick before my biology exam. We must help them deal with it. “Okay, you sit down, feel the chair. Breathe. Center yourself.” I know these aren’t words that we use a lot with our children, but we need to start so they can deal with this, cope. If there is any massive panic, whatever it is, help your teenager go back to something that they know. It’s going to raise their confidence.

Are you a coach/youth professional or teacher who believes that all children should reach their potential?

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I have been using this system successfully now for over 3 years I love it, know it works and want to support you to use it too. The system itself is simple and easy to use. It takes a very holistic and individual approach to studying. I believe in success, but I don’t believe in it at any cost. That is why the system I have come up with combines many different techniques and approaches and puts them into a practical form that supports students through this crucial stage, without killing anyone in the process.

Whether the child is gifted or hovering between a pass and a fail, this system will help them improve their grades.

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• One opening workshop in Northampton – full day, Saturday February 27th.
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Children and Cheating

Why are we so surprised when children cheat? Did we not all do it; if there is a quicker way to do something won’t we all give it a go? It is human nature to find a quicker way of doing something that uses less energy but gets the same results. Back in our cave days it made lots of sense for us to do this. However morally, it leaves us with an issue as parents. How do we get the point across about teaching without putting our children off trying things in a quicker more efficient way?

I am dead against us saying “Cheating is bad” to our children. To me it does not give the child enough information to make a future decisions when faced with a similar dilemmas.

So if your child is caught cheating what should you do?

1. First of all, don’t panic. It does not mean your child will fail in life or become a bum on the street corner. It is something quite normal that every child (and adult for that matter) does.

2. Ask them what they wanted to achieve by cheating…..was it to get a better grade, was it to put in less work , was it they did not have time, was it to stop the teacher shouting at them? What was it? What was the reason behind the cheating?

3. Ask them how they could have got what they wanted without cheating. How could they have got more time/a better grade without cheating?

4. What might lure them back to cheating, what may tempt them to do it again and how can they ensure that it does not happen?

5. Ask them what they think about cheating, what are the advantages and disadvantages of it? Come on, we cannot say it is all bad. It does for example save time, with that we cannot argue. Talk about the consequences of advantage and disadvantage. A consequence of choosing not to may be having to spend more time studying, a consequences of choosing to cheat may be that you leave school not really knowing anything fully.

6. Ask them what they will choose to do next time. The word choose is important here, there is a choice.
If the child is a little bit older you can talk to them about the law regarding copyright, etc. so they can get a real feel for what it means.

As for a consequence most often getting caught and the humiliation is enough and will stop any child really doing it again to any great degree. So if it is the first time, then let the consequences of getting caught be enough. If it continues then you really need to look at the root of the problem and step in a deal with that.

And there has been some research in the UK that has stated lying and cheating are signs of a creative intelligent child!

Teenagers and Homework – what is too much?

I have recently become appalled at the amount of homework our schools are giving young people. My unofficial survey of over a hundred teens found that the average amount of homework is 2-3 hours a night. None of the teens I talked to were lying, this shocking statistic is true! Even one 12-year-old I spoke to agreed with this. What are we doing to our children – are we taking away their childhood because we as adults have decided that passing exams is THE most important thing in the world and that having fun and being a child is second on the list? It infuriates me!

Imagine doing an eight-hour day at work and then coming home with an extra 3 hours work every day – would you be happy? Now, I am not saying that this does not happen sometimes, but every day, and lets not forget that we are choosing this, our children have no say in the matter.

Work/Life Balance is such a big buzz-word at the moment, with businesses now having work life balance policies and actually encouraging their employees to take time out for themselves and to spend time with their families. The government is always harping on about work/life balance and how important it is for our welfare to get the balance right. As a nation we are doing everything we can to stop adults working all hours God sends and take some time for them. However, are we not missing the root cause, actually forcing our children to work 3 extra hours after a full day at school?

Now, maybe I have an idealistic view here, but I can never remember other than studying for exams, working that hard (and studying hard was my choice). What has happened? Perhaps this can be put down to a system that increasingly awards merit and achievement over who a person is and their contribution to society. Sure, grades are important, but there is more to life than getting good grades and I can certainly say that my degree is of no use to me at all!

I have a dream of schooling systems that awards grades for qualities such as Commitment, Perseverance, Enthusiasm and Compassion. Schooling systems that really prepare children for life (whatever that means to them), systems that award ingenuity and innovation. A school that strives to transform all the problems in modern day society and gives our young people a choice and a mind of their own. Imagine been given a homework assignment that actually asked you to go out and find a piece of history in your town and write about how it is affecting the community rather than write an essay on the 1066 invasion – who cares about 1066 anyway? Oh, how blissful this would be; I personally would pay any amount to give my child an education that encouraged individual thought and creative problem-solving.

Until them I am doomed to try to explain why spelling is not the be-all and the end-all to my 7-year-old when her teacher continues to preach how important it is and anyone who fails may most likely end up sweeping floors. It’s just not true, how dare they put this much pressure on my 7-year-old?