Mid-year exams - a balancing act

Rope walking

We are in the thick of Grade 5 exams. Miss Fine tells me each day that she did not prepare enough, and that she does not feel good about the upcoming papers. We try to help her as much as possible, but ultimately she is the one who needs to get the material into her head...

We are still trying to find the best way to learn, and help her learn. To find that perfect balance of help, but also letting her take over her studies independently. The underlying anxiety also doesn't help, but the best we can do for it is to prepare enough. (Although, there is never an enough for the highly strung...)

How to survive exams - 3 things for Moms

I  am writing this post to qualm my own anxiety about the first exams of Grade 4. Exams are tough on moms, and the whole family, as well. Trying to help your kid to learn, but also ensuring they get enough sleep and nutrients, and the lunch-boxes are sorted. Our kid also has to stay at school, because she does not have the luxury of being fetched after the morning exam time. The children are allowed to go home, and they can stay at home on the days they are not writing. Miss Fine has to stay at school until Dad can go and fetch her a bit earlier in the afternoons... Shame, man. (Now we have  parent-guilt as well. *sigh*)

Bag of necessities - Letibalm, Natura Tissue Salts and Tissues

The following list makes me stay on top of this stressful time, and I keep reminding myself of this.

The first exams are here

Da face

To say that I am scared is an understatement. I am scared of Grade 4 exams. Grade 4 has been a culture shock, and we are still reeling.

LIfe is a choice, not an excuse

Study course notes

We signed up for a study course, and this past weekend was the weekend that we could fit it in. Grade 4 is a culture shock! More for the parents than the kids, it seems! :-) The extra subjects, tests, exams and projects are a lot more than the previous grades. The parents need to help manage, AND time manage, AND help the kids to learn.

We are so glad we signed up for this! We got a couple of telephone numbers to phone from the Grade 3 teachers last year, and the lady who phoned me back is from a Tina Cowley Reading Centre. The course was from a Friday afternoon, followed up by the Saturday afternoon. It was more than a good six hours of learning how to learn.

Plot twist

When something goes wrong in your life
just yell
"Plot Twist!"
and move on.

I love this quote!

It is usually not about the wrong turn, but how you approach life after that!

I am writing this for the eldest.

The Student had a big disappointment yesterday. She heard she failed her accounting subject for the semester. She won't be able to do the rewrite, because we won't be here. She has known this since the beginning of the year, that she would have to pass the first time!

She has already started to make plans for next year, but now her plans have to be put on hold for a while...

She will have to get a job here in South Africa to finish the post-graduate! (She had plans to start travelling and working overseas!)

I have first-hand experience that even with the worst plot twists, I could see how it benefited me in the end!

Go with the plot twist, my Love!
I know it will be part of the adventure!

Exams and motivation

Good luck to all the students who are writing exams!

Especially to our own Student who is buried in her books computers!



I remind her of her own wisdom:

Millenium Lady: How to motivate yourself when things get tough: "Sometimes, life gets tough. In the past month, I had so much work to do that it felt like I was drowning..."



Smell the roses, but not for too long!

I know you can do it!



Love, and thinking of you!

Finals and end of the year

I am sure everybody is busy with endings and final sport days and end-of-the-year events!

It is hectic! And we have just one little one that's keeping us busy...

Little Missy had her Sport(s) Day at school on Saturday. I liked the fact that all took part, and they all got a chocolate (most important!) medal after completing 10 items.

Little Missy enjoyed the hurdles the most. She lined up for a race with the boys as well.

She also had her end of year gymnastics! It seems we will continue with it next year! She has been enjoying it. Not like the previous year where we had seen a number of melt-downs of a reluctant gymnast...

I love the end of the year! It is great to be able to look back at the year, and thinking that you have made/accomplished it!

I am also very proud of The Student who finished her second year at Varsity.
She is waiting for a final mark, but it seems she passed all her subjects!
Now the students have nearly three months of holidays!

Enjoy!

Exams and missing times

We are not seeing The Student that much these days, as she is busy with exams, and she could not join us for the most recent holiday in Umdloti.

Little Missy cries and complains almost every day about missing her sister.
"Dit vat té lank!" (It takes too long!)

She has been drawing pictures for her sister, and taken a shell and other paraphernalia as gifts to her  to put in her room.

We miss her too...

Each time we do something as a family; we think of her and we know that she would have enjoyed being there as well.

Last night on the phone I heard her voice was near tears.
The exams are tough, and there is not much a Mom can do!
Only sympathies and suggestions of how to tackle a huge workload!

I hope it goes well with the exams!


This year has been much better without initiation demands at university, and she has much more freedom with going out. We can see that she is enjoying it!

We love it that she enjoying her young life!


Vasbyt!

Best wishes to all the Moms students doing exams!

Life lessons while studying

The Student has learnt a couple of valuable lessons while studying.

In our era of Google, Wikipedia and cut & paste it is a valuable lesson for all Students. Of. Life.

I always try to believe the best of people, and usually expect the best from somebody else.
I also believe that the way we expect them to be is the way that they will show up in our lives!

She lent in good faith her memory stick to a fellow student, and had her work copied by two others. Work that she had put much effort in.

In the end she had to go and lay a complaint, and had to face "stories" and bad vibes going round.
She also got the same marks for her assignment which the other two got. So her marks were compromised!

Her memory stick were also stolen after that!



The lessons that she has learnt:


- Never give your intellectual property to somebody else to copy. Help them with ideas, but never give the whole document.

- Keep your memory stick in a safe place. Always!!

- Do not lose your trust in other people, but do not make it easy on them to violate it!

- Do not let yourself lose your focus on achieving your goal, specifically to get an education!

- Work hard to play hard, in that consecutive order.

- The Truth always prevails!


Best wishes for the exams, my girl!
I know it will go well!

How do moms do exams?

The final year in school, and the preliminary exams are in full swing for the Teen.

What can moms do to help their children? I feel extremely helpless.
I cannot take the burden of studying away from her!
She needs to get high scores (no pressure here!), because it will impact on bursaries for her studies next year. We need it!

A mother’s list in times of children’s exams:

• Lots of positive encouragement and support;

• Show a keen interest, and know what she is writing every day;

• Give her some slack with regards household chores;

• Keep things peaceful and the routine going at home;

• Buy some extra brain vitamins;

• Prepare brain food, such as fish and fruit and vegetables;

• Ensure some extra healthy snacks for study times at home, as well as between examination papers;

• Believe in her;

• Shoulder and back massages for back spasms;

• I used to get up with my daughter when she was smaller, to go over her study material with her. I can make sure she gets up earlier when she wants to go over her study material now.

Do you have any more advice?

Photo: Patrick Pretorius Photography