As exam season approaches, parents tend to focus on ensuring their child spends ample time studying and revising. However, while academic preparation is crucial, it is equally important to encourage your child to remain active and engage in regular exercise. Physical activity during stressful periods like exams can significantly improve one’s mental and physical well-being, with various studies proving that exercise boosts academic performance amongst students. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of exercise and provide practical tips on how you can encourage your child to maintain an active lifestyle, even when nearing the examinations.
Being physically active improves health and strengthens the muscles and bones, which is important for a growing child. It also reduces the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer in the future. However, “Beyond physical benefits, exercising positively influences the mental, emotional and cognitive development of children,” says Micheal Lim, Head and Senior Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Sports Medicine Programme, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH). Let’s explore some of the benefits of exercise during exam season below:
1. Improved Concentration and Memory
When you exercise regularly, it boosts blood flow to the brain which increases oxygen supply. Additionally, exercise can stimulate physiological changes such as increasing the production of growth factors which can promote growth of new blood vessels in the brain as well as improve the overall health of new brain cells. This improves cognitive function, enabling your child to focus and retain information with lesser effort.
2. Enhanced Cognitive Function
Regular exercise increases blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain, which can improve memory and concentration. This allows students to retain information more effectively and stay focused during study sessions, making exam preparation more productive.
3. Improved Emotional Well-being
Physical activity releases endorphins, which help reduce stress and anxiety. By engaging in activities like running or playing sports, students can boost their mood and alleviate exam-related tension, leading to better mental health during the stressful exam season.
4. Better Mental Health
Exam stress is inevitable, even for primary school children. Getting regular exercise releases endorphins (the ‘feel good’ hormone) which can help alleviate this stress and also relieves tension in the muscles and body. Activities such as running, cycling or playing ball games under your block can help your child boost his/her mood, and improve your child’s emotional state during the examinations.
5. Improved Sleep Quality
Maintaining an active lifestyle can help to regulate sleep among children and teenagers. Exercise helps decompress the mind, reducing sleep latency and making it easier to fall asleep at night. It also enhances your child’s deep sleep, which is part of the Non-Rapid Eye Movement (Non-REM) sleep phase, crucial for muscle growth and strengthening the immune system. Better quality sleep indirectly translates to improved academic performance as your child is able to remain more alert throughout the day and can now tackle complex problems.
For instance, your child would need to exercise critical thinking and demonstrate a variety of language skills when tackling the Synthesis and Transformation section of the English Paper 2. This section requires students to rewrite the given sentences using the words provided, without changing the original meaning of the sentence. Some example questions are as follows:
Nanyang Primary School 2023 Preliminary Examinations:
Q1: After eating a heavy meal for lunch, Joshua was too full to eat dessert.
Ans: Having eaten a heavy meal for lunch, Joshua was too full to eat dessert.
Q2: Raju was selling muffins at the charity fair.
Ans: Muffins were being sold by Raju at the charity fair./ Muffins were being sold at the charity fair by Raju.
Q3: Tim was curious. He followed the mysterious black cat into the alley.
Ans: Tim followed the mysterious black cat into the alley due to his curiosity.
If your child is still unable to answer similar types of questions, we have a solution to offer you. At WRITERS AT WORK, we pride ourselves as the Best English tuition in Clementi, as well as many other locations island-wide. With our effective teaching methodology that has been developed over many years, you can entrust your child’s English learning with us.
Beyond what our teachers can offer students academically, parents are direct caregivers and should take responsibility for your child’s physical well-being. According to health guidelines, children and adolescents generally should engage in at least 60 to 90 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity every day. Here’s some practical tips on how you can encourage your child to exercise and clock in those active minutes:
1. Family Activities
Plan family activities that involve physical activity, such as evening hikes at nature parks or weekend bike rides. This way, you can promote fitness by setting a good role model for your child, and this also serves as an excellent family bonding activity, strengthening the relationship between you and your child.
2. Schedule a Routine
Deliberate effort has to be made to incorporate active time into your child’s daily routine. Give him/her an hour in the evenings to play sports in the neighbourhood with peers, or have a jog at a nearby park. Consistency will allow your child to develop healthy exercise habits that can be upheld in the long run.
3. Join an Interest Group or Club
There are a wide variety of affordable sports classes available on ActiveSG, such as basketball, swimming, judo etc. Find a sport that your child is interested in and enrol him/her into a suitable class. These lessons can be exciting and motivating for children and encourage them to pursue their sports passions further.
Encouraging your child to remain active during the exam season is not just beneficial for their physical and mental health, but also crucial for their academic success. At WRITERS AT WORK, we are committed to supporting your child in every aspect of their development. Stay tuned to our website for similar blog posts where we will share more tips and strategies for you to support your child during their examinations.
Attain Stellar Results with WRITERS AT WORK!
English is a compulsory subject which all students must undertake. However, mastering the English language is not something which happens overnight – it takes consistent practice and effort to learn the nuances of the language. Students must read more and practice writing to gradually improve. Cramming for a language subject nearer to the exams is an impossible feat. After all, Rome was not built in a day! Attaining such a skill will have positive implications for not only your child’s education in school, but also employment prospects in future.
At WRITERS AT WORK, we are committed to providing the smoothest learning experience for your child sitting for their English exams. With our carefully curated methods of teaching your child how to write well, your child will learn how to present their thoughts and arguments in a coherent and concise manner. WRITERS AT WORK reinforces your child’s language skills and provides a strong foundation for their academic success, keeping up with all aspects of their progress both inside and outside of the classroom to nurture them holistically. For more information about how WRITERS AT WORK makes a difference, feel free to explore our website, watch our YouTube videos and catch us LIVE on TikTok!
If you are interested in our primary English tuition and secondary English tuition in Singapore, WRITERS AT WORK has expanded to 9 convenient locations. To find the nearest location that suits your needs, please explore our options. If you have any inquiries regarding our range of programs or class schedules, please feel free to contact WRITERS AT WORK!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
1. Is Creative Writing Good for Kids?
Creative writing is good for children as it teaches them how to use their imagination. Children have a vivid imagination and will enjoy coming up with different storylines and characters. Through the use of creative writing, children can express themselves using the English language, which is also good for their emotional development and maturity.
2. What are Good creative Writing topics?
A good start is to write about what you know. Students can start by writing about things that are familiar to them, such as school or family. Then, students can move on to more complex topics, requiring them to use their imagination about events which would be unlikely to happen in real life, such as a fairytale or an adventure story. Older students can write descriptive essays about being in a situation or about more abstract concepts, such as regret.
3. How to Begin a Story?
A good story should have just the right amount of exposition to illuminate the setting and the characters for the reader without giving away the entire plot. The story should begin where it is relevant, and the general gist of the situation should be outlined. The writer should know how to move the plot along from where they start easily, and the story should flow logically.
4. What are the Basic Steps in Creative Writing?
A good first step would be to plan out the story – it is important that the story follows a Plot Curve which has a logical sequence of events and a clear conclusion. The main and supporting characters should be clear – there should not be a whole village of characters – just enough to further the plot. Moreover, the central conflict of the story should be clear.
