The IGCSE exam looms large in the journey of most students through their education system. Subject combinations might vary, but make no mistake — taking the IGCSE is a difficult and arduous task for anybody.
For the parents of IGCSE candidates, helping your child to prepare for the challenges ahead is key to lay the foundations for success. Here are 5 such challenges that you and your child should look out for when preparing for the IGCSE:
1. Information Overload
The sheer amount of content that students are required to absorb for the IGCSE may appear daunting to both you and your child.
Your child will have to develop the good habit of periodically reviewing older material across the school term in order to avoid having to do so late in the year, when time is especially precious.
Information overload becomes much less of a problem when the information is spread out in bite-sized portions over a longer period of time. At The Learning Lab Asia (TLLA), we recognise the importance of consistent work, and our teachers are always at hand to go over past content with students to establish content mastery.
2. Eliminating Common Mistakes
The IGCSE leaves very little margin for error, which is why it is absolutely crucial that your child gets adequate help in identifying, and then eliminating, the common mistakes that your child may make.
These could include having more practice for certain types of Mathematics or English comprehension questions that they struggle with, or addressing conceptual confusion for any of the various Science topics.
As parents, you can offer your support by working closely and communicating with your child’s teachers, both in school and at TLLA, to find out which areas your child might need to focus more on. As always, talking to your child to understand their concerns and struggles is important and helpful too.
3. Acquiring Exam Skills
Absorbing all the content taught in the classroom is just the first step to success for your child in preparing for the IGCSE. The next step comes when he or she actually sits down for the examination, and is expected to put into practice the content that has been learnt in the classrooms.
This is when possessing the right exam skills will prove critical. such as time management and prioritization, as well as knowing his or her strengths and weaknesses to assess which questions to answer, where applicable.
Through practice and self-assessment, these skills can be acquired and honed prior to the IGCSE, giving your child the confidence he or she needs to overcome this international exam.
4. The Last-Minute Syndrome
Managing your child’s procrastination can be very stressful and hard to come to grips with, especially when they are scrambling to study for the IGCSE. Children by default tend not to look beyond the immediate present and what they enjoy or do not enjoy in the moment.
Consistent work and planning from an early stage is the key here, and that requires commitment and discipline from your child, as well as a robust support system set up around him or her.
5. Managing Great Expectations
Your child will have to deal with the pressure that is being heaped upon them ahead of the IGCSE. Working under pressure is a fine balancing act, and as parents you may want to provide additional support and guidance to your child during this period of time.
Set achievable goals and encourage your child to have a growth mindset so that they are able to learn from past mistakes and be able to learn independently as they work towards their academic objectives.
Your child may also be struggling under the weight of his or her own expectations, and an unequivocal show of support and love from their parents may be exactly what they need to hear.
Generating the Momentum Your Child Needs to Excel
The IGCSE exam is a uniquely demanding undertaking for all students. To be able to navigate all the challenges that will come his or her way, your child needs to adopt a multi-pronged strategy that blends on-paper learning with soft skills.
At The Learning Lab Asia, we are keenly aware of the key ingredients your child will need on their IGCSE journey, and committed to helping him or her identify and avoid any potential pitfalls.
Start early with our IGCSE Exam Preparatory programme and help your child to achieve academic success with us. Click here to enrol.