Autumn term is a very busy time for your teen. The bulk of their learning happens at this time of the year and mocks are just around the corner too. But they’ve made it to the halfway point, and can finally breathe a sigh of relief!
A lot of parents wonder how their child should be using this time away from school. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing—studying hard or switching off completely. Below, we share our top 5 tips on how to help them make the most of their time.
Let’s go!
- Help them organise their work space.
- Encourage them to check in with their goals (or set them if they haven’t!).
- Support them with their UCAS applications.
- Share revision tools and free study resources with them.
- Remind them to relax too.
1. Help them organise their work space.
The saying goes, ‘cluttered work space, cluttered mind,’ for a reason. Maybe their work area was tidy at the start of school, but now their class notes are all over the shop. It’s hard to find the motivation to study with random bits and bobs everywhere.
If you haven’t already, give them colourful folders where they can file away their papers. Highlight tabs with playful designs and different coloured pens for better note-taking, are other simple ways of getting their school things organised.
2. Encourage them to check in with their goals (or set them if they haven’t!).
If your teen sets goals at the start of the year (like, moving up a grade in English), half term is a good time for them to check in to see how they’re getting on. And if they haven’t set learning goals yet–it’s never too late to start. Learning goals help your teen stay motivated and keep on top of their studies.
Here are some questions they can ask themselves when they’re goal setting:
- How will their goal help them grow?
- How will it help them get to where they want to be?
They can download our free goal planner and pin it above their desk where they can easily check back. Or if they’re better at keeping organised on their phones, they can keep their goals on a goal app like Strides: Goal Tracker. For a deeper dive into goal setting, our expert tutor Nketia covers it all in his free group tutorial this term.
3. Support them with their UCAS applications.
UCAS deadlines are fast approaching. If your teen wants to go to uni next year, now is the perfect time for them to get their personal statement into shape. It isn’t always easy for your child to work out what to include in their applications. So to help them make their applications shine, our tutors share their own personal statements. Your child can look at what makes those statements stand out and get inspired while they write their own.
4. Share revision tools and free study resources with them.
For some teens, mock exams are just around the corner. Half term is a good chunk of time for them to begin revising. But where to start? Well, first thing’s first– it’s a good idea for your teen to put a revision timetable together. That way they’ve got a plan for how to organise their study time.
And if they’re not sure about how to revise for their subjects, they can download our free MyTutor Revision Handbook. It’s full of study tools they can use to whip their revision muscles into shape. Plus, every week this autumn term, our tutors are running free group tutorials with MyTutor Squads. Our expert tutors are here to help answer your teen’s study questions, break down tricky topics in subjects like Maths, and give top advice on revision techniques.
5. Remind them to relax too.
Down time is not only important to your teen’s wellbeing, but it actually helps them with their learning. Looking away from a problem and returning to it a bit later can help bring about creative solutions. Surprisingly (and conveniently!), when their mind is at rest, it’s still busy working things out. So give your teen plenty of chances to switch off this half term. Get a bowl of popcorn ready and watch some Halloween flicks together.
Really, it’s all about finding the right balance. Let your teen lead the way with how much rest they need, and what tasks they could get done for school. And in the meantime– there’s support here for them, whenever they’re ready for it.
If you’d like help finding an online tutor to support your teen’s step up to A-Level, book a call with one of our Tutor Experts.