Welcome to How to Thrive Through Your Exams – Part 3 How Parents Can Help – my guide to help you flourish and thrive through the examination process.
How Parents / Adult Friends Help
All the best athletes have a support team around them, and you should be no different. Here are my tips on how family and friends can help you though this challenging period. Share it with whichever adult can help you most. Consider asking older adults for help – they have gone through adolescence and will have a more rational and organised mind, therefore will be best placed to support you.
Dear Adult who has a young person sitting exams….
- Accept that you can’t do the exam for them. Resist the urge to interfere and take over. Trust them. Relax – they are going to be fine. Only interfere if it becomes clear they are doing no preparation; this is usually a sign that they are lacking confidence. It’s your job to build them up by reminding them, with examples, of how they have succeeded in the past.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. Excuse them from as many chores and commitments as you can, but suggest that they continue with their extra-curricular activities to keep a healthy balance.
- Help them develop a revision schedule (see Part 2 – Getting the Grades). Put a copy in the kitchen so the whole household knows the time when they will need the most support.
- Act as a calm sounding board for them. Exams are very stressful and they will inevitably have concerns and worries. Discuss these with them and help put everything into perspective. Help them keep a ‘can do’ positive mindset – remind them of the great things they are doing.
- Stock up the pantry with healthy snacks and ‘forget’ to put sugary treats on the shopping list.
- Be insistent on a consistent, reasonable sleep time (ideally 8 hours or more, never less than 6 hours).
- Be This will be one of the most stressful times in their lives and it comes at a time when they are least able to handle the stress (Check out my earlier blog on ‘Thriving Through Adolescence’). Keep calm in front of emotional outbursts. Don’t be judgemental. Your job, as always, is to love and support them.
The best advice I can give to anyone is not to wait until exams, or other high pressure periods such as University or job interviews, to learn how to feel more in control your life. Develop positive habits as early as you can, empowering you to tackle any challenge in your life at any time.
Do check out my website to see how I use the latest discoveries about how our brains develop between the ages of 15 to 29 to share understanding on ‘How Young Adults Work’. You are not broken – you are at the height of your transformation and, oh my goodness, YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!!!! My goal is to re-educate as many people (and education institutions!) about how best to support you through these years, using positive psychology and mindfulness to train young brains to have awesome mental health. Preventing the development of poor mental health is actually really simple, it’s just that no-one is doing it in the right places at the right time.
Please sign up for my free ‘Morning Motivation Mat’ and you will receive regular support and ideas to optimise your wellbeing.
Join my ‘The Flourish and Thrive Coaching Café’ membership group for support and consider working with me to get where you want to be. I’m here to keep you on track and celebrate your successes when you smash those goals. Remember that I am also here for Parents and Adults responsible for young people. who are trying to get through this pressured time and could do with a friendly ear and supportive advice. I would love to hear from you so please do not hesitate to get in touch, either via email, DM or by booking a free call.
Knowing that you deserve happiness and success,
Caroline
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