The End Is In Sight

The grade 12's are in their final exam for 2015 and their parents are losing sleep, hoping that their kids have done enough through the year and doing their part studying for each paper.
Yes, the end of school is in sight for our seniors, but their lives are just beginning! Some of them will go on to university or other tertiary institutions to study for a specific vocation, others will enter the work force right after they receive their certificates.

Choosing a career is such a big decision, especially if you will spend a lot of money and invest time into studying for this career. You certainly won't want to waste either your time or (your parents') money by choosing an unsuitable course, only to find out a year or so into studying that you'll have to start all over again.
That's why it's advisable to get some kind of career advice from an expert before choosing.

Many students have already secured their places at university for their chosen courses, but it's not too late to re-evaluate their choices. Courses can be changed easily in the first few weeks of university, so as soon as you realise that this just isn't for you, march off to the student career advisor's office and have a chat with them on changing your course.
Don't feel you have to stick it out, just because you started it and your parents are paying good money for that course. Rather change quickly and start off right than having to admit a year or so later that it wasn't right after all.

I am always available to evaluate your choice with you before the universities open next year and if in doubt when classes start, my doors are still open to help you find a more suitable course.

In the mean time, good luck to all the matrics! I hope your first week of exams have gone smoothly and that your hard work will pay off when you receive those certificates!

Left Brain vs Right Brain Infographic

Here is a nice infographic I found on Pinterest that sums up some of the functions of the left and right brain hemispheres. Of course it is only a drop in the bucket of what a complete brain profile might tell you, but it is a very nice overview.

TV and Family Ties

Thanks to developments in technology, televisions and other high-tech entertainment devices have become a common part of modern life around the world. Most kids plug into the world of television long before they enter school. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation:

• two-thirds of infants and toddlers watch a screen an average of 2 hours a day
• kids under age 6 watch an average of about 2 hours of screen media a day, primarily TV and videos or DVDs
• kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games

Tuned in or tuned out?

Life in the 21st Century is fast-paced and places huge amounts of pressure on our children’s time and energy. Schoolwork, sport fixtures, after-school activities, electronic devices (such as cellphones, MP3 players and gaming units) all demand our young ones’ time and attention. Now add TV viewing into this equation and suddenly there’s little-if any- time left for family interaction and building interpersonal relationships.

Whilst it may look like a grim picture, we are not suggesting that as parents we should toss out our TVs; but that we should pay more attention to what our children are watching and how much time they spend watching it.

As parents we are ultimately responsible for the development and education of our children. It is important to realise that we are the role models that young ones turn to for guidance and direction when facing important life lessons. To successfully guide and support our children, we need to play an active role in their lives. Ask yourself these questions:

• What is my relationship with my children - am I involved in their lives or am I simply a stranger sharing living space with them?
• Do I give my children undivided time and love or are they competing with my cellphone/emails or other distractions for my attention? 
• Have I created an environment where mealtimes are spent around the table talking about what happened during the day?

Feed the relationship
Research shows that families who share at least one unhurried meal together during the day have stronger communication bonds and are more involved in each other’s lives. Mealtime conversations give parents an ideal opportunity to learn about what happened to their children during the day, whether they are facing difficulties at school and what is on your child’s mind.

This insight can help you to guide and positively influence your children to overcome the challenges they may face. On the other hand, if mealtimes are rushed or spent in front of the TV so we can watch our favourite soapie, what message are we sending to our children about our level of interest in their lives? Surely it won’t be long before they feel that TV is more important than they are!

Control the remote!
Some parents argue that although their children do watch a lot of TV, they do this together as a family. Some even feel that this is quality time spent in each other’s company. 
But consider this: How much time is spent in real conversation when watching TV? We’re not referring to the times that you and Junior may laugh at the same joke during a TV show; we’re referring to meaningful conversations that give you the opportunity to really get to know your child- what hurts them, what makes them laugh, their hopes, dreams and fears. 
So how CAN you keep TV in its rightful place and not allow it to replace you as your child’s role model and mentor?

READ OUR FREE DOWNLOAD TO LEARN MORE.

While there are many entertaining experiences for children to enjoy on TV, it is important to keep in mind what children need at different ages for their healthy development. Children need time to build strong bonds with real and caring people, time for active physical play and ‘hands-on’ activities- and as the parent it is your responsibility to create these learning opportunities for your child.

I wish you all a wonderful and festive season!

Exam, Procrastination & Time Management

When it comes to studying, students are notorious for their excellent procrastination skills. Procrastination during the school year can cause stress and frustration to both students and parents as exams approach and the pressure to remember important facts increases. With just a little bit of planning and organising, the stress levels surrounding exams can be reduced significantly. Let’s see how...

On Your Marks...
You’ve heard it said over and over, but it’s worth repeating: there is no time like the present. Don’t wait for tomorrow or put studying off until the night before the big test, start you exam preparations today. The possibility exists that if you fall into this routine of pre-test cramming; you may well be putting all the information into your short term memory rather than your long-term memory; meaning that you will have to re-learn it all before the next test or exam.

Get Set...
Don’t spend too much time planning and organising either. It can easily happen that you spend hours or days planning to study, organising books and making a neat time table when in fact you are not really focussing on the material you need to be revising. Complete your planning quickly and well ahead of time.
When is the right time to start preparing for an exam? A month, 2 weeks, or maybe 2 even days before? No. The key is to do a little bit of preparation every day from the start of the term so that all the work will be summarised and ready to study by exam time.

STUDYING = revision, identifying possible questions, working out long questions, going over old papers.

Studying is not making notes from scratch.

Go!
Taking notes in class is your first step to being prepared for exams. When you get home after school, take some time to read through your class notes and compare them to your textbook and other material to make sure your notes are complete.

Don’t rewrite your textbook! The idea is to summarise the key points in your textbook into a few pages with as few words as possible. If you like, use colours, pictures, graphs, etc. to make it easy for you to understand your notes.
If you invest a little time every day after school in exam preparation, you won’t waste hours during exam time prettying up your notes; you’ll be ready to study them much faster than if your notes are a mess.

Create a revision sheet for each subject and mark your progress in each section as you complete it. It is also important to make notes of sections you do not fully know or understand and need to return to. This way you can keep track of your progress and it’s a fantastic way for parents to monitor your studying.
Not sure what a revision sheet is or how to make one?
You can download a printable sample revision sheet and print a copy by following this link.

A Break from the action
It is also good to remember that students shouldn’t be studying around the clock.

Study breaks are very important to let the brain rest and be refreshed for the next study session. Study sessions should range between 20 min for Gr. 4 students and 1 hour for Gr. 12 and above.

Breaks should be between 10 and 30 min, but this does not mean taking a quick nap or watching a TV program. During study breaks, students should engage in some kind of physical activity. Play outside with the dog, shoot some hoops, jog around the block, run around the house or just take a walk. The physical activity will help energise your mind in preparation for the next study session.

Whilst we've managed to scratch the surface regarding effective study skills and how to avoid procrastination, a personal consultation with one of our trained Edu-Profilogists® will give you an in-depth insight into YOUR personal learning style. You will also be given customised study skills tips and one on one training on information recall techniques best suited to you. To book your assessment and personal study skills course, email now.

Changing Educational Paradigms

I've discovered this interesting video on changing education paradigms. It's a visualization by RSA Animate of a speech by Sir Ken Robinson. It is an eye opener on current school systems, ADHD and individual learners. It is definitely worth watching the full 12 min.

However, if you don't want to watch the whole video, I have also found a short clip from this video depicting ADHD. This is a must see. 

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!