Though there are many reasons why some children rarely score or even pass tests and exams, not being able to finish the papers on time remains one of the hardest for parents to accept. Instead of wishing in vain for the schools to extend the time limits, here are some time management and question tackling tips you can impart to your little ones to help them speed up.
TIMED PRACTICE SESSIONS AND RECTIFICATION
Have your kids practise on mock papers at home. Time them like they would be at school and during these sessions, observe how they approach the papers. Study how they read passages and answer questions, and see if they manifest time-wasting habits such as trying to over-beautify their writing. Also spot if they manifest daydreaming tendencies or an urge to over-answer simple questions. After you have identified their bad habits, correct and guide them along the way till they gradually increase their pace.
LOSING FOCUS AND GETTING IT BACK
It is easy to lose focus especially when one has to read at length. Hence, to make sure they avoid losing precious time to ineffective reading, teach your kids to place a ruler under the particular passage line that they are at, or use a pen cap to glide across the words as they read.
As for those who are inclined to dozing off, place medicated oil in their pencil cases so that whenever they feel sleepy, they can stay alert by dabbing small drops of the oil on their temples.
SCAN, ANSWER OR MOVE ON
Here, your kids scan through the papers and at first attempt to only answer questions that they can know at once, without pondering too long. Every time they come across questions that they are unable to apply this read-and-answer-straightaway technique, get them to circle the numbers of these questions, so that they can easily spot and tackle them, after they have gotten the easier one out of the way.
This technique helps to build confidence gradually as the candidate feels good from being able to answer questions, without feeling demoralised yet from the tougher questions. It also reduces test anxiety and guilt from having spent too much time on tougher questions.
Some might argue that this is a sloppy way to deal with papers, but when your kids are finally able to answer all the questions that they actually know from the time saved, you would think otherwise. However, advise your kids to only use this technique if they are certain that they will take the effort at the end to religiously scrutinise their answers again.
POINT-FORM ANSWERS
Tell your children to only try this as a last resort if they are only left with the last few minutes, but a whole lot of unanswered questions on writing-intensive papers. At this point of time, rather than construct proper sentences as answers, it may be better to answer in points. This definitely will not earn them full marks, but they might still get some points here and there, rather than submitting blank answer sheets.
GET RESTED FOR MAXIMUM SPEED
Sometimes the very reason they fail to finish within the time limits is because they had tackled the paper in a very tired state devoid of full concentration, and recall abilities. Stop the last night revision cramming and shoo them off to bed early for a good night’s rest. Do the maths. It’s better to go to the exams with a 100% ability to deliver an 80% knowledge, rather than going in with a 55% ability to deliver a 95% knowledge.
Lastly, remind your children that no matter how rushed they are, it is most important to take time to read all questions and instructions carefully and entirely. This comes first and foremost, as there are no sillier mistakes than attempting to answer based on a wrongly read question.
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