VCE exams are in full swing!
And while most of the hard work has been done…
It’s not too late for students to work on improving their performance on the big days.
Encourage your kids to adopt some healthy and productive approaches to study in these last few weeks…
And avoid those things that may get in the way.
Great!
Kids who do well at school?
Fantastic.
Kids who love learning?
The best.
And parents can help their kids to love learning in and of itself.
But why should they?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an approach used by many psychologists to help their patients deal with a variety of mental and emotional challenges.
It’s a problem-focused, action-orientated talking therapy that has proven to be extremely beneficial in the treatment of depression and anxiety.
And the principle that underlies the therapy is that if we can change the way we think, we can change the way we feel…
By training ourselves to identify negative, dysfunctional and destructive thoughts (a less intuitive task than you may think), we can then begin to work on replacing them with healthy ones.
And the benefits of CBT have been championed by psychologists for decades.
But now, new research suggests that CBT can not only change our thought patterns, it can literally rewire our brains!
When it comes to an approach to study, one size does not fit all.
Many students will find and develop their own approach over time.
But there are some principles that have shown to be particularly effective for many studiers, and can be a good starting point for a new study plan or a change of approach.
A recent article on Buzzfeed identifies some of the best approaches to study by a Professor of cognitive science, and our staff psychologist Christina has weighed in on how and why these tactics work!
We’ve discussed a lot of issues surrounding the final years of high school on the blog over the years…
How to help your child survive the VCE, part 1, part 2 and part 3;
How to deal with the pressures of year 12 (by reducing them);
Motivation and success during VCE; and
How to help your child pick their final year electives.
But for many of you, you will now be in the grips of the climactic point of your child’s high school education: their final exams.
So Australia’s leading online mental health organisation for young people — ReachOut — has published some practical tips for parents, to help you help your child through this stressful period.
We’ve talked about motivation and success when it comes to study and examinations.
But an increasingly important issue surrounding these ideas is the pressure that is put on our students…
By the education system, by parents, and by the students themselves.
Studies show that in Australia, we are bordering on an adolescent mental health epidemic.
Instances of anxiety and depression in young people are becoming increasingly and alarmingly common.
And a huge source of these conditions is stress from schooling.
The pressure is even taking a toll on parents, with a mental health organisation setting up extra counselling services for parents of high school students.
So how do we help our kids, and ourselves, to deal with the pressure?
Our staff psychologist Christina Rigoli was quoted on page 3 of The Age today, discussing the tactics parents use to motivate their kids to study.
Among them — bribing with $18,000 holidays, threats of boarding school, and house-wide technology freezes!
The parents confessing to these ‘motivation tactics’ said their efforts paid off, but this is more a matter of chance than formula.
The key distinction in this equation is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to motivation…
What may work in encouraging one child could backfire and have the opposite affect on another.
So how do you know what the right method of motivation is for your child?
We’ve discussed the Fixed versus Growth mindset model on the blog a few times.
It’s something worth noting and considering in many aspects of parenting.
But keeping the principles in mind when helping your kids pick VCE electives can be particularly beneficial for their long-term goals.
A recent article in The Atlantic discusses how a Fixed mindset inadvertently affects our children in their future study choices.
Got any questions before you book? Click here to request a phone call and a psychologist will call you at a convenient time (prospective clients only). Please keep in mind we are often busy with clients but we do our best to respond to all enquiries within one business day. :-)
(*As of 24th July, 2019.)