Keeping Students Motivated for Competitive Exams in Post-Pandemic Era

No matter how dedicated students are towards learning, irrespective of the number of mock tests, practice sets, and coaching classes, there comes a time when they become demotivated for the competitive exams. This could be for a lot of reasons and most of them are temporary.

As the legendary scientist Albert Einstein said, “It’s not that I’m smart, it’s just that I stay with the problems longer”. One of the main reasons for his success was because he was motivated. There is no denying the fact that everyone can use motivation to achieve their desired goals.

The exams season for this academic year is officially on. While some students are going through half-yearly exams, some are done with it. Some students are busy preparing for the different competitive and scholarship exams. After that, students will start preparing for the annual exams.

Therefore, it is crucial for a child to stay motivated through the examination phase. And the people who can get the job done are the parents. They are the most influential people in any student’s life.

Creating an encouraging environment, you, the parent, can help your child stay motivated, especially in the exam time of the post-pandemic era.

Here is how you can do it.

1. A strong relationship with your child

It is vital to have meaningful conversations with your child, especially when they are preparing to appear for an exam. Have conversations about studies and daily life, listen to them. Show interest in something that intrigues your child. Focus on how they feel and facilitate learning through guidance and nurturing.

2. Let them learn from their failures

It is common for a lot of students to conceal their concerns about their academic achievements. They feel embarrassed to accept their failures. Peer pressure is one of the main reasons for depression for most students.

Thus, you have to help them in embracing their imperfections. Teach them to accept that mistakes are okay and how can they learn from them. Show them how to identify a mistake and also help them see it as a part of their learning process.

3. Allow them to share their opinions

As a parent, you must encourage their expression of opinion. Every student has a different and unique thought process. Therefore, not all of them think like their peers or their parents. You have to let them have a say while making appropriate choices and voicing their opinions.

4. Help them in creating short-term and long-term goals

It is not necessary to have long-term goals every time. Yes, long-term milestones are crucial to building up a successful career. But, at the same time, it is important to take one step at a time. Thus, as a parent, you have to help the students create realistic and achievable goals quickly. Make sure they are achievable. Write down the goals to monitor the progress. This helps in creating specific goals.

5. Adapt to their learning style

There are a lot of online mock tests, practice sets, and online coaching available. These practice sessions and mock tests are important to help your child in clearing concepts and also they have a practice for the real exam. Thus, to motivate your children, you have to adapt to their lifestyle of online tests and practice sessions, especially in the post-pandemic era.

6. Your choice of words matter

Being a parent, you are the most important person for every student. Thus, your choice of words can make or break their confidence. While talking to your children about their exams, never talk about their previous exam performances.

Whether the performance has been good or bad, always ask them to seek ways in which they can make their performance better. Remember that speaking too much about the previous good performance creates peer pressure. Thus, students feel burdened and more anxious for their next exam.

Also, talking too much about poor exam performance makes them feel less confident about their future exams. Thus, try and talk to them about different ways how they can improve their performance. This can lead to a strong impact on their mind and they can learn different new ways to perform better.

7. Discuss Their Exam Strategy

Discuss various important things with your kids like how they can write answers in the best way, how to make the answers presentable, which questions should they attempt first, and how to divide the time between different sections. 5 out of 10 students do not pay attention to their strategy and they lose out on marks.

Being a parent, it is now the time to support your children consistently and also be aware of their state of mind. Make sure to be available when they need you.

ALL THE BEST!!