If your teenagers have final exams next week, they may feel stressed about remembering all the math concepts and formulas they learned over the last few months. Final exams are a great opportunity to improve grades, but not doing well will damage grades.
Using a study checklist will relieve some of their stress. Share the checklist and the questions with your teenagers to help them prepare. After answering the questions, they will know what their next steps should be. Then they can use the checklist to track their studying progress. It will help them feel confident as they walk into the final exam.
1. Are you trying to learn the material for the first time now?
Trying to learn the material for the first time right before the final is a daunting task. Ask about private tutoring at Mathnasium of Cherry Hills. Consider staying on for our summer program, so your child starts next year prepared and confident. We provide a customized learning plan for every student so you or your child can catch-up on missed material. Then, next year you will go into finals feeling ready.
2. Did you learn the material before and now just need to review?
Even kids who learned the material need to refresh their memory before the big day. Studying for a math final not only helps you get a better grade, it helps decrease stress.
3. Are you organized?
Studying from a big pile of papers feels overwhelming. Gather all your handouts and homework from the semester. Separate them into the units or chapters used in the textbook. Get rid of any papers that will not help you study.
4. Are you making studying for the math final a priority?
You will need about an hour per day to study to refresh your memory without getting overwhelmed. You may not have time for some of your leisure activities.
5. Do you have a study group?
Peers and other students in your class are a great resource. They may know a trick you missed. You may understand something that is confusing them. Remember that studying for math tests is actually practicing for math tests. Re-doing problems from old tests and homework assignments and discussing them will help everyone. Write down any topics you are confused about and then ask your teacher about them.
6. Do you ask questions in class?
Most teachers will use the last days before the final exam to go over any questions you have before the test. Make sure to ask your teacher to re-explain any concepts that you are not confident in.
7. Do you have the formulas memorized or written in an organized way?
Find out if you have to memorize formulas or if you can bring a list of formulas. Start by making a list of all of the formulas you need to know for your final. If you get to use a cheat sheet, write or type the formulas clearly in an organized way. If you need to memorize them, use flash cards and use pneumonic devices to help you remember them. For example, for the area of a circle: A=πr2. “Pie are not square.”
8. Do you have a good eating and sleeping routine?
Getting enough rest will help your memory and reasoning skills to function. It is hard to get to sleep at ten the night before your final if your regular sleep time is midnight. You may need to alter your schedule over the next few days to get a good night sleep for finals. Eat food with protein on the day of the exam to make sure a growling stomach doesn’t distract you during the text.
Here's the checklist to help you ace your final:
Checklist:
Best of luck, from all your friends at Mathnasium of Cherry Hills! We're betting on your success!
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