<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
<?xml encoding="UTF-8"><html><body><div id="attachment_106436" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-106436" onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-106436 size-full" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/pexels-pixabay-301920.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="467" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/pexels-pixabay-301920.jpg 700w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/pexels-pixabay-301920-320x213.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px">Photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/alphabet-blur-books-close-up-301920/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pexels</a></div>By 2023, there will no longer be mid-year exams for Singapore&rsquo;s primary and secondary school students.&nbsp;
In fact, we have already been shifting towards a less exam-centric system for several years &mdash; today&rsquo;s&nbsp;Primary 1 and 2 students do not have to sit for tests and exams at all.&nbsp;
But will the year-end exams carry much more weight, and be even harder to prepare for?&nbsp;
If your child leaves revision to the very last minute, then yes, he or she may be in for a rude shock. But if children are completing their homework and preparing for &lsquo;mini&rsquo; tests throughout the year, there will be enough checkpoints to gauge if they are on track with their learning, and plug gaps before the final exams.
Not sure when your child&rsquo;s final exams will be held? Your child&rsquo;s school should&rsquo;ve given you an &lsquo;assessment overview&rsquo; document, which lists all the weighted assessments for the year, including the final exams. You should refer to this document for the exam dates, as well as the topics covered for each subject.&nbsp;
For Primary 1 to 5 students, final exams will take place anytime between late September and early November. Primary 6 students will sit for their Primary School Leaving Examination written papers from late September to early October.&nbsp;
Have more questions about helping your child with the exams? Read on to find out what other parents and students commonly ask &mdash; and get answers that you can use right away!
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<h2>How to study for exams?</h2>
One mistake that parents make is assuming that children instinctively know how to revise for exams. Many children are actually not aware of what &lsquo;revising&rsquo; for exams means, or how to study effectively. That&rsquo;s why parents will need to provide some guidance!
First, have a discussion with your child to come up with a revision plan. Here are some questions that you can ask:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">From now till the exams, which are the days available for revision?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">How much time can you spare for revision on each of these days?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">How will you revise for each subject? (E.g. Reading the textbook and notes, redoing questions that you have made mistakes on, or practising new sample questions?)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">What/how many subjects/topics will you cover each day?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">How much time will you spend on each revision activity?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">How will you review what you have read? (E.g. Ask yourself questions, explain concepts to someone else, or practise sample questions?)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">If you are practising questions, how many questions will you target to complete every day?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Will you prefer to mark the answers yourself?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Who will you consult if you are stuck on a problem, or need help to understand an answer?</li>
</ul>
Put revision plans down on paper, and advise your child on what a realistic schedule might look like, so that he or she doesn&rsquo;t plan to cover too much in a day &mdash; and fail.
<h2>How to do well in exams?</h2>
Ensure that your child is not spending too much time on study methods that have proven to be less effective!&nbsp;
The most common revision method involves highlighting or rereading the textbook, and copying pointers into a notebook or flashcards, i.e. &lsquo;making notes.&rsquo; Although this may feel comforting and productive, <a href="https://pcl.sitehost.iu.edu/rgoldsto/courses/dunloskyimprovinglearning.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> has shown that it is not as effective as other more &lsquo;active&rsquo; study methods, such as:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Self-explanation: explaining learning materials to oneself</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Elaborative interrogation: asking &ldquo;how&rdquo; and &ldquo;why&rdquo; questions, to improve understanding&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Practice testing: working on topical exercises or sample tests and exams</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Distributed practice: studying a topic with breaks in between</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Interleaved practice: covering different subjects or topics in one study session</li>
</ol>
By focusing on effective study methods, your child will be able to understand and retain information better, and therefore be better equipped to tackle questions in the final exam.
Bonus tip: If there is essential information that your child needs to memorise but keeps forgetting, have him or her <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/news/news/study-finds-reading-information-aloud-yourself-improves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read the information out loud</a> &mdash; the dual act of speaking and reading makes information more memorable for the brain, and increases the likelihood of retention. You can also teach your child to use mnemonics, such as the name &ldquo;ROY G. BIV&rdquo; to represent the colour spectrum.&nbsp;
<h2>Where to find motivational quotes about exams?</h2>
Some dedicated teachers will print out motivational quotes for students before the exams, and you can do the same at home. But be mindful to pick quotes that your child can apply, rather than something too abstract, such as &ldquo;believe in yourself, and you will be unstoppable!&rdquo;
Quotes about adopting a growth mindset can be very useful before the exams. Examples include:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that I&rsquo;m so smart &mdash;&nbsp;I just stay with problems longer.&rdquo;&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;By becoming a little better each and every day, over a period of time, you will become a lot better.&rdquo;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;You&rsquo;re in charge of your mind. You can help it grow by using it in the right way.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://everydaypower.com/carol-dweck-quotes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here</a> for more quotes from psychologist Carol Dweck, who popularised the term &lsquo;growth mindset.&rsquo; You can print out some of these quotes for your child, and explain how they are relevant in real life, especially in the way we approach exams.
<h2>What to eat before exams?</h2>
Is there such a thing as an &lsquo;exam diet?&rsquo;&nbsp;
Some local parents advise their children to stay away from <a href="https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/800/Heaty-and-cooling-09Nov2015-NHG" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&lsquo;heaty&rsquo;</a> foods to avoid falling ill before the exams. You can also read up on brain foods to help ensure that your child&rsquo;s mind is in tiptop shape. These include:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">fatty fish (such as mackerel, sardines, and anchovies)&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">dark leafy greens&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">berries&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">dark chocolate&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Keen to know more? Read our <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/the-psle-diet-food-habits-that-can-boost-your-childs-smarts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quick guide</a> to why the above foods can boost your child&rsquo;s smarts!
<h2>What to do if a child is stressed about exams?</h2>
A child who is stressed may display one or more of these symptoms:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Headaches, stomachaches, or feeling &lsquo;sick&rsquo;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Anxiety</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Aggression, irritability, or mood swings</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Depression</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Nightmares</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Changes in appetite or sleep habits</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Withdrawing from usual activities</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Bedwetting</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Unusual negative behaviour</li>
</ul>
As a parent, you should first try to understand why exams can be stressful. It&rsquo;s usually due to these factors:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Consequences, such as not getting into the class or school of one&rsquo;s choice if one performs poorly.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The relationship between grades and self-esteem: When students assess their worth based on grades, a higher grade will lead to high self-esteem, while a lower grade will cause a dip in confidence.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Judgements from others, such as parents.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Fear and anxiety, because parents, teachers, and other authority figures may have overstated the importance of exams.</li>
</ul>
With this in mind, do some self-reflection to check that you are not contributing to your child&rsquo;s exam stress. (Read <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/helping-children-cope-with-exam-stress-tips-from-a-parenting-workshop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a local counsellor&rsquo;s tips</a> on talking to your child about exam anxiety.)
At the same time, be aware that not all stress is detrimental. Just like pro athletes, a student entering an exam hall can be energised by a small amount of stress &mdash;&nbsp;if the student is able to view it positively. According to research, those who are able to remind themselves that stress could be helping them to perform better may eventually score better too!
But if your child is more likely to be overwhelmed by stressful feelings and thoughts, teach him or her this simple &lsquo;4-7-8&rsquo; calming technique. This involves breathing in for four seconds, holding one&rsquo;s breath for seven seconds, and breathing out over eight seconds. Repeated over several cycles, this relaxation technique helps to regulate breathing, and prevents one from entering into &lsquo;fight-or-flight&rsquo; mode, where the body will begin to show physical signs of stress.

Need more exam-related tips? Browse our <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewforum.php?f=27" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Primary Schools &ndash; Academic Support</a> forum section to find a relevant chat and connect with other parents! Or simply start a new conversation of your own. 
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What Singapore Parents and Students Want To Know About Exams: How To Do Well and More!

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<?xml encoding="UTF-8"><html><body><div id="attachment_94715" style="width: 2058px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-94715" onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-94715" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/emma-matthews-digital-content-production-8K62atzbulQ-unsplash.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1536" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/emma-matthews-digital-content-production-8K62atzbulQ-unsplash.jpg 1200w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/emma-matthews-digital-content-production-8K62atzbulQ-unsplash-800x600.jpg 800w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/emma-matthews-digital-content-production-8K62atzbulQ-unsplash-320x240.jpg 320w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/emma-matthews-digital-content-production-8K62atzbulQ-unsplash-1536x1152.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@emmamatthews?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Emma Matthews Digital Content Production</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unsplash</a></div>Weighted assessments may be months away, but it&rsquo;s never too early to sit down and help your child create a study timetable.
However, don&rsquo;t assume that all you will need to do is to buy your child a planner! A child doesn&rsquo;t automatically acquire revision and planning skills in school &mdash; in the primary school years, it will be ideal if you can spend time guiding your child towards healthy study habits.
Some parents have a distaste for anything related to exam preparation. Or they may feel that they want their children to discover how best to learn on their own, even if it means experiencing failure. But if you look at the big picture, helping your child with the planning process is less about good grades, and more about preparing your child to break down a goal into smaller, actionable steps. Perhaps some children can figure this out on their own, but not all do. Others may fall prey to wishful thinking &mdash; and subsequent disappointment &mdash; or they may be overwhelmed by stress and inertia whenever a major task looms.
Below, we look at five assumptions or mistakes that students and parents might make when drawing up a revision timetable, with tips on what you can do instead!
<h4>#1 Believing there is &ldquo;plenty of time&rdquo; for revision.</h4>
If you take away the time spent in school and on after-school activities &mdash; including co-curricular activities (CCAs), remedial classes, enrichment classes, and private tuition &mdash; you might find that on most days, your child barely has enough time to catch up on homework, and even relaxation time is not a given.
That&rsquo;s why the very first thing that children should do with their planners is to list all of their other commitments, so that everyone will have a clear picture of how much time can be allocated to revision.
<h4>#2 Thinking there is a standard &ldquo;best time&rdquo; to be a productive learner.</h4>
According to Michael Breus, clinical psychologist and sleep expert, we should get to know our personal chronotypes, which refers to our &ldquo;body clock&rdquo; or our individual pattern of activity and alertness in the mornings and evenings. This is closely related to our sleep behaviour or &ldquo;sleep drive&rdquo; &mdash; there are light sleepers, early risers, those who favour day activities but can fall asleep at any time, and those who are more night-oriented. That said, when it comes to learning something new, there are certain time periods that don&rsquo;t work for anyone. For instance, 4am to 7am are not for processing new information, so don&rsquo;t even try!
You can get more information from Breus&rsquo;s book &ldquo;<a href="https://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&amp;BRN=202681482" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Power of When</a>,&rdquo; but in general, he says that light sleepers should learn something new between 3 and 9pm, while those who function better in the day would&rsquo;ve peaked by 2pm. Those who prefer the night hours will likely be able to absorb new information well from 5pm to 12am &mdash; that said, 12am is too late a bedtime for any primary school-going child who needs to be in school by 7am.
Breus also describes memorisation as a three-step process, involving acquisition, consolidation, and recall. Sleep plays an important part in these processes, and Breus cautions that the worst time to memorise anything is after a bad night&rsquo;s sleep, as well as first thing in the morning. He also claims that the best time to test one&rsquo;s recall is 3.30pm for light sleepers, 2pm for early risers, 5pm for non-early risers who still prefer being active in the day, and 6pm for nocturnal types. Of course, you don&rsquo;t have to take his word for it: your child could experiment with different timings for different tasks, such as memorising science facts versus writing a practice essay, and give you feedback on what seems to work best.
<h4>#3 Not prioritising sleep.</h4>
It is recommended that children aged 7 to 12 should get <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-much-sleep-do-kids-need/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9 to 12 hours of sleep</a> on average, so if your child needs to be up by 6am, he or she should ideally be in bed by 8pm for 10 hours of rest, which is quite impossible for most primary school children. But 9pm is feasible (we have KSP members whose secondary school children are still turning in by 9pm or 9.30pm at the latest). In working out a revision schedule with your child, once you&rsquo;ve identified the &ldquo;busy&rdquo; periods of the day, you should also indicate the non-negotiables for each day, i.e. relaxation and sleep.
Do note that a lack of sleep doesn&rsquo;t merely affect your child&rsquo;s state of wellbeing &mdash;&nbsp;several studies have linked better sleep to better academic performance. For instance, a joint study by two Montreal universities specifically examined sleep in relation to report card grades, and found that children with greater &ldquo;sleep efficiency&rdquo;<a href="http://time.com/3663796/for-better-grades-let-your-kids-sleep-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> performed better</a> in math and languages.
<h4>#4 Assuming everyone knows what it means to &ldquo;revise&rdquo; or &ldquo;study.&rdquo;</h4>
Ask children in primary school to create a daily revision plan for an upcoming weighted assessment, and they will probably mark several slots on their planners for &ldquo;studying&rdquo; or &ldquo;revision.&rdquo; Exactly what does this entail, and what is the objective for each day, and is there a bigger goal for the weighted assessment? If you don&rsquo;t go through these steps with your kids, they won&rsquo;t know what they&rsquo;re working towards, and they may not even realise, for instance, that casually browsing their second language textbook is not the equivalent of learning how to write the characters from memory.
To keep things simple, you could think about the end goal as a 10 percent increase in test or exam scores, based on previous performance. Thereafter, you and your child will need to go through the weighted assessment outlines and rubrics to find out what your child will be tested on, and how marks are allocated. Next, identify what your child can work on at home (versus what would be better taught by a teacher or tutor). If your child is not being tutored at all, home revision options would typically consist of practice exam papers and topical or component-specific exercises.
There will also be some memory work that your child will need to do, and your child should develop a practice of self-testing to check that the information has been retained. So if your child is planning to do textbook revision, do clarify what he or she has in mind, and list the steps clearly in the revision plan.
<h4>#5 Being overly ambitious with the study plan.</h4>
It might be useful to have a list of topics and tasks that need to be checked off, while doing the detailed planning on a weekly basis, so as to allow for more fluidity in the revision plan. After all, many things can crop up within a day to take away from study time.
Do give your child autonomy in planning; if children insist that they can cover several topics within an hour, let them go ahead and try it, with an agreed-upon method of testing their understanding after the revision is completed &mdash; doing a practice test or exercise is the most straightforward form of testing that you can use at home.
The other thing to note is that concentration tends to lag after 20 minutes or so, and it would be best if your child realises this on his or her own. Once children have gained some awareness of what actual revision feels like, they will be able to create more realistic study plans for themselves, with breaks factored in.
&nbsp;
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What Smart Learners Do (And Don’t Do) When Making Study Timetables

<img onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-77610" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/24284925_s.jpg" alt="" width="848" height="565" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/24284925_s.jpg 848w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/24284925_s-320x213.jpg 320w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/24284925_s-800x533.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px" />
You may not want to believe this but the SA2 exams are coming up soon.
Instead of leaving things to the last minute, and increasing the stress levels of you and your child, you may wish to begin thinking about how to tackle the revision that needs to be done.
Here are 5 exam tips for you to try out at home!
<h4>#1 Put together a feasible study plan</h4>
As the popular saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Think about the amount of time your child has each week after accounting for the time spent on homework, extra classes, and enrichment classes. Sit down with your child to schedule on a calendar the various subjects and topics that will need to be covered.
Depending on the age and maturity of your child, let him decide when he will tackle Math, Science, English, and Chinese. You may also wish to highlight certain topics that he may be struggling with and allocate more time to revise those.
(If you don’t have a relatively large physical calendar, you may wish to print out an empty monthly calendar for this planning exercise.)
<h4>#2 Keep it varied and interesting</h4>
You may think that it’s better for your child to focus on his weak spots and keep drilling away at those. But this can also backfire by killing whatever motivation he has left for the subject.
For instance, instead of doing a hundred MCQ for Science, think about using videos or science magazines like Science Adventures or The Young Scientists. If your child likes to draw, get him to map out or summarise a topic by creating a chart or mind map.
If it’s a language subject, such as Chinese, you can watch child-friendly videos on Toggle, such as <a href="https://tv.toggle.sg/en/shows/the-story-of-nao-nao/episodes">The Story of Nao Nao</a>, or read a comic book, apart from revising the textbook and spelling lists.
<img onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-77398" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/19279367_s.jpg" alt="" width="785" height="610" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/19279367_s.jpg 785w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/19279367_s-320x249.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 785px) 100vw, 785px" />
<h4>#3 Keep distractions at bay</h4>
Children may struggle with keeping their eyes and hands off digital devices, and understandably so, since we live in a digitally-rich environment. When they are trying to do research on the computer, their minds may wander to the latest online games they’ve been playing.
If you’re not around to keep an eye on them, you may wish to set some ground rules for revision time. If your child has trouble keeping to the limits set, think about installing a parental control app like <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ourpact.androidparent&amp;hl=en_SG">OurPact</a> or <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google-family-link-for-parents/id1150085200">Google Family</a>.
<h4> #4 Review past information a day, a week, and a month later</h4>
<a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/human-memory2.htm">Research shows</a> that periodically reviewing new information you’ve learnt helps to move that information from short-term to long-term memory. Instead of cramming the entire subject over 2 days, it is a lot more effective to break up the studying over a few weeks. This way, your child can focus on certain topics, and attempt to draw associations or categorise the information meaningfully – which aids in long-term memory retention.  
<h4><img onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-77399" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/KSP-Image-1.png" alt="" width="850" height="474" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/KSP-Image-1.png 850w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/KSP-Image-1-320x178.png 320w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/KSP-Image-1-800x446.png 800w" sizes="(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px" /></h4>
<h4>#5 Provide a nutritional boost</h4>
With the exams around the corner, do your best to ensure that your child sleeps well, plays well, and eats well.
If you want to boost his nutritional intake, you may wish to try BRAND’S® Essence of Chicken for Children. BRAND’S® Essence of Chicken is proven to enhance concentration and working memory by improving blood flow to the brain, and reduce stress hormones, making it the perfect companion for the stressful exam period.
It now has a new variant that is enhanced with lycium or goji berries, which are packed with antioxidants and help to protect the eyes.
It also increases your child’s metabolic rate, which in turn provides your child with added energy to tackle his study plan. 
With these 5 tips in mind, you’ll be able to support your child to be disciplined in his revision efforts, and they’ll also be better positioned to perform in the upcoming exams.