GCSE Revision and the long distance mother.

Oh the joys of GCSE revision and exams!! I love it!! The happy face of my son as he settles down to a couple of hours revision, with his cup of tea at his side and a wall full of post it notes and inspiration ... NOT.

You may have gathered from previous posts that I do not find parenthood the easiest of occupations. However ... GCSE revision mixed with a liberal sprinkling of hormones and general teenage bolshiness has taken the enjoyment factor to a whole new level.

My son was predicted mostly A's for his exams and he is more than capable of achieving these. I am most hopeful that come August we will indeed be handed a brown envelope full of hope and happiness. The road to achieving this, however, is paved with days full of differing levels of misery.

We have, as parents, tried various strategies to encourage revision. 

• We have trusted that our delightful offspring will work appropriately of his own volition.
• We have shouted and nagged.
• We have bribed him with promises of money/games if work is done.
• We have threatened with promises of privileges/games removed if work isn't done.
• We have demanded that he sit at the kitchen table each evening for an hour & a half.
• We have wheedled.
• We have reasoned.
• We have provided every revision aid known to Man.

All this to no avail.

My son tells me that he knows what he needs to do and that we should trust him.So we are.

This is hard to do.

He does not appear to be doing a great deal/any revision at home, although I know they are working on revision at school.

My whole being wants to help him, advise him... I have tried to show him how to study. I want him to do well. Obviously.

But there is only so much you can do. He is a clever boy and it is up to him to realise that you do well by working hard. I cannot revise for him so I have to accept that what will be will be. If he does well we will celebrate. If he does not do well we will deal with it ... or help him deal with it.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no point whatsoever in ruining our relationship by screaming and shouting at him. Of course I would love it if he was organised and dedicated to getting the best grades possible, but at least he is facing his exams with an attitude that is relaxed and confident. I would rather this than have him worried and crippled by nerves and fear.

At some stage he will do what needs to be done. I am not going to spend the next couple of months screaming and shouting and begging. What will be, will be. He is approaching adulthood and much as I try to lead my boy to the books I cannot make him study. He has to do that himself and he will either do well, or he won't. If he does well then fab. If he doesn't ... he will hopefully learn a lesson.

I believe in my boy. I know, that come August, he will deliver.

*crosses fingers*

Fat bird returns from rainy France with a 2:1 - hurrah!!

Well, I'm back. We have just spent two weeks in France, first at my cousin's house near Bordeaux and then near Sarlat in the Dordogne. Both these places are very beautiful, but please, if I ever mention to you that we are planning on driving down there for a two week summer holiday will you please just shoot me? Failing that maybe you could just remind me gently that 15 hours driving is really not a pleasant way to spend the first and last days of your hols ...

We succeeded in ending any drought that France may have been suffering, with our usual nack for bringing grey, dull, rainy weather with us. Luckily I had presence of mind enough to bring nice warm woolly socks with me and my cousin had a fantastic, deep bath with never ending hot water and a supply of bubble bath and wine. There is nothing quite like ending the day with a large glass of Pouilly Fume and a steaming bath that gently turns your skin from blue to lobster red.

The poor weather also meant that I have over indulged not only in the wine stakes, but also in any other type of food based greed. My tummy literally runneth over my jeans because of my complete lack of self control. You name it ... steak, frites, mousse de canard, creme brulee, baguettes, camembert ... the list goes on and on. I can now no longer turn my head without my double chins reverberating for at least two minutes and my backside has started to resemble that of an aged sow.

Still, the good news is that despite the after effects of all this gluttony I did enjoy myself. I also managed to read through 6 of my set books and JOY OF JOYS ... I passed my exam for the Open University!.I have been offered my degree having gained a 2:1, but I intend to keep studying for a year so that I can get my Honours.

So ... I may be fatter than I was, but I am also proven to be brainy beyond my wildest dreams!! Every cloud has a silver lining, as they say, and my French clouds have certainly proved to be lined with silver!

Exam misery, madness and mayhem!! What a lot of lovely alliteration!

Well... you know I wrote that I had done my exam and I was off to drink cider, tend my allotment and generally forget about the whole of my course - letting the knowledge trickle out gently? It seems that I am probably alone apart from one other lady! The AA316 forums are heaving with dissatisfied AA316 customers - seething at the injustice of yesterday's exam!

I couldn't quite believe my eyes as it unfolded before me. There are a lot of upset people out there. I did tentatively write that I enjoyed it, but the other lady went into slightly more detail and ended up in a massive debate. I typed a few replies to some of the points, but decided to delete them as passions seemed to be running high...

Eventually the lady asked whether there was anyone else out there who did not find the exam too awful and I had to answer. Poor girl, I thought. You are not alone, I wrote!

Its a sensitive subject to get involved with and when people are upset already the last thing they need is some smarta*** coming on to say that they loved the exam. I didn't want anyone to think I was belittling their efforts, but I also felt sorry for this woman who was being battered for saying what she thought. Anyway... we shall see if I have offended anyone! I hope not. I tried to explain that, as my family and friends realise, my enjoyment of exams does verge on the weird!!

But, seriously, what is the point of going on and on about how unfair an exam was, or how badly you did, or even just going over what you wrote? There is nothing you can do about it and all anyone can do is wait and see. I suppose that it is very upsetting to have worked hard and to be afraid that you have done badly after a year of study. And, of course, this exam was worth 50% of the course mark...

Let's hope that everyone did better than they fear and as well as they hope.... and now I promise not to mention the exam again. ITS OVER!!!

Another year, another exam ... done! Goodbye AA316!!!

I am just about to pour myself a lovely long, cold glass of cider. I have not been partaking of any such nonsense recently because I had my Final exam today for my Open University course - AA316.

I have been snuggled away revising Nineteenth Century novels, critics and more critics from the 20th century. So today was the big day. I had to do a 3 hour exam - 2 analytical questions, one on a passage from a novel and another from a critical essay passage. Then there were 2 essay questions to write, an hour each.

As I confessed last year when I did my exam for A210, I actually quite enjoy exams. Luckily I have a good memory for facts and figures and can think on my feet when it comes to quirky exam questions. Today I got lucky and everything went to plan. Well... at least I hope it did! I could be writing this in blissful ignorance of a paper failed!!

There are always those people afterwards though who want to deconstruct the paper, chat about where and how they went wrong. I tend to make a hasty retreat so I don't have to talk to anyone. My philosophy is 'What will be will be.' There is no point going into details as you leave the exam - what on earth can you do to change anything?

I did get stopped by a couple of people who asked what I thought of it and I remained neutral, but they seemed quite upset which is a shame. I would hate to have worked so hard and yet be faced with a paper that I couldn't do. I hope they are ok...

For me though the war is over for this year - well, until October anyway. I can while away the hours at my allotment!! I will get my results in August and they will offer me my degree. I can't quite believe it!! I am not going to take it yet though as I want to add on the Honours bit.

From October I will be studying Children's Literature which sounds lovely. The reading list includes some real classics like - Little Women, Harry Potter, Treasure Island and The Tale of Peter Rabbit!! Can't wait!!

AA316 revision ... now that's a post title that smacks of fun and interest!!

When I have written this I am going to revise. I have an exam in 2 weeks and really ought to be revising now instead of trolling around Facebook, Twitter and various other websites. I seem to have a built in timing system. Without actually working out how much time I need to complete something I just seem to know when to start.

Its as if my inner clock is working everything out in my subconscious and then, when the time is right, I begin. It was like that with my long essay and it worked out well.With my A levels , years ago, it worked out ok too. So I am hoping this exam will be ok too.

Having attended an Exam Revision Day School last week I now know what I need to revise and I spent a few hours downloading info. All I need to do now is force myself to sit and learn it!! 

Exam Results are in & Secret Housewife is smiling!!!

This is just a short post, but I wanted to let you know that my exam results are in!! They were due on Friday of this week, but I had heard rumours that they would be posted on the web site so I went to look.And... I got a Grade 2 pass which I am thrilled with!!!

My exam result was on a par with my essay results so I ended up with an average of 76%.Who would have thought only a little while ago that I would have got through this course?? When I first looked at the essay titles I didn't even understand them!

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement through my doubting times.I have an enormous smile on my face and a renewed determination to do well with AA316 The Nineteenth Century Novel.xx

Am I weird - I loved my exam??!!

Well... my exam is done and dusted.A whole year of work completed.According to my husband and two friends I am, officially, a weirdo..... because I really enjoyed the exam.I arrived nice and early and read through my poems, then went in to find the loos.

It was a nice clean building with good parking and I felt pretty relaxed! I do admit that my heart was beating a little faster than usual, but I was excited and eager to begin rather than scared. I met my fellow students from my tutor group and then we were off.

I had practised timed questions in the week before and I wrote down my plan for each question - which, I am pleased to say, I stuck to.The first question was a passage from Henry V which I had to comment on - discussing theme, language and performance. The next question was about how men are represented in two of our Literature and Gender works - I chose The Color Purple and A Jury of her Peers.And finally I had to say whether I agreed that 'confinement' was a major theme in women's poetry, drawing from a range of poems.I wrote about 5 poems and finished with 5 minutes to spare.

I left the examination hall with a feeling of exhilaration and satisfaction that was just lovely.Various other students wanted to dissect and discuss the paper, but I avoided them and walked out to the sunshine.I learned a long time ago that there is absolutely no point in even thinking about an exam after - never mind discussing it. What will be, will be.You have done what you can and you could as well forget it until the results arrive.

So - that will be in August. Who knows how I have done! For now I am having a week off and then I will start on my next courses reading list. I will be studying The Nineteenth Century Novel - course AA316 - and I can't wait!!

Normal Service will be resumed... after my exam.xx

This is just a short post to say that normal service will be resumed the day after tomorrow. On Thursday I have my 'end of year' exam - 3 hours in a hall, answering 3 questions - one on Shakespeare, one on poetry and one on The Color Purple & 2 short stories...

I think perhaps I should be revising rather than blogging!! After Thursday I plan to spring clean my house, draw, paint and garden... oh, and run... a bit.

See you Friday!!!

Exam nightmare avoided thanks to fellow student advice ... do a dry run!!!

Next Thursday I have my end of year exam. Its 3 hours and counts for half my year's mark - quite important. At a recent day school I attended one of the other students suggested that I do a dry run to find the exam centre - he said he always did this to avoid added worries on the day of the exam.What a good idea, I thought.

I duly looked up the address on Google Maps and downloaded instructions. It was half an hour from my house, so yesterday afternoon I set off to find it. I travelled for 20 minutes and thought, rather smugly, that I was now within 10 minutes of my destination...

An hour and twenty minutes later I eventually found the bloody place. Good Grief!!! Even then it was only by accident that I drove past the road and did a quick u-turn.Thank goodness. THANK GOODNESS!!! I cannot thank that fellow student enough for suggesting the dry run.

Can you imagine, next Thursday, driving around like a lunatic, trying to find the exam centre?? I would have missed the start time and probably have been crying hysterically. All my year's hard work would have gone down the drain. It simply does not bear thinking about.

I tried again today, having gone through the satellite map with a fine toothed comb and made it there in 25 minutes.

My advice to anyone taking exams at an unfamiliar destination this Summer.... do a dry run... find out exactly where it is.... check parking .... don't fail by getting lost. Good Luck!!!