Exams are stressful – not only for learners, but for parents too. Did they study enough? Are they going to reach their goals? And, depending on your level of anxiety, thoughts about their future, how you raised them, and if you should have pushed them more or less…How can you as a parent help them prepare for exams?

It’s like the horse and the water thing… You can take the teenager to school and make them sit in front of their books, but you can’t make them learn. It should probably have been “You can take a mule to the water, but you can’t make him drink.” And let’s face it: teenagers can be as stubborn as mules.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

No phone in bed. Sleep is important for memory consolidation and phones beeping is not conducive to sleep. Make it a family thing and let everyone put their phones in a basket by the plug. Who knows it might help you too and there is nothing wrong with traditional alarms.
Consistent bed times and waking times = better sleep. “But I can’t fall asleep!” Like everything, practice makes perfect. Some stretches and breathing exercises before bed can also help.
Get exercise. Take them for a walk around the block, in the park or even in the garden. It could even be a great time for bonding or revising their work by telling you about it verbally.
Brain nutrients – it’s all in the breakfast. Brains needs nutrients to function. Life is busy and mornings can be a rushed stressful time, but that is why cereal, peanut butter was invented.

  • Zinc – meat, fish, legumes, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, garlic, nuts and seeds, cereals and dairy
  • Iodine – cod, seaweed, turkey, yoghurt, tuna, eggs, strawberries
  • Vitamin B6 – pork, chicken, turkey, fish, bread (brown or seed is better), eggs, vegetables, peanuts, milk and cereals
  • Vitamin B12 – meat, fish, dairy and cereals
  • Omega-3 – fish, nuts, seeds and egg yolks

Practice tests. Download them some practice tests, but make sure you let them understand that it is for helping and not for adding to their workload and pressure. You can look at www.sapapers.co.za
Be kind – always :)