The best type of exam preparation your teen can do — making Subject Maps
We believe that Subject Maps are one of the most valuable study tools out there when it comes to high school study and exam preparation.
Subject Maps help to eliminate all of the major problems teens struggle with during exam study.
- They save huge amounts of precious study time
- They give provide students with a 'study road map' to follow when studying so that their study remains focused and on track
- They ensure that students spend the majority of their study time on their subjects' key topics, to prevent wasting time on peripheral and possibly irrelevant topics.
The first obstacle the majority of teens face when they try to start studying is that they don’t know where to start.As a result, they often don’t start at all...We all know the feeling of sitting down with the intention of starting exam study and being completely overwhelmed by the volume of content to go over.A whole year's worth of content to revise and no clear indication of where to start! Not fun at all.Making Subject Maps will force your teen to nut out what are the important topics to study for each subject. In doing this is should become clear what to study first.
Studying without a Subject Map is like driving into unknown territory without a road map.
You’re setting yourself up to waste a lot of time and get very, very stressed.An all too common mistake among high school students is that they don’t use their time well during exam study.They might spend several hours studying a topic that their teacher only briefly mentioned one day in class, while neglecting to develop a deep understanding of a topic that is central to the subject.Making use of such a simple study tool will also prevent your teen from forgetting to study any major topics.This is really unfortunate, but can be easily avoided by the use of Subject Maps. Because by noting down all of the important topics for each subject, it becomes impossible to not study the right things.
So, what the heck is a Subject Map?
A Subject Map is really just a glorified list of all the topics your teen needs to know for their school exams.What it does is break down each subject down first into main topics and then into sub-topics then finally into main points.For example, in Biology, a main topic might be cells. Under this topic your teen might need to know about the sub-topic of cell division. Your teen should then list the main points they need to know about, say, Mitosis and Meiosis.It sounds so simple, and it is! But what it achieves is impressive considering it's simplicity.Your teen needs to make one Subject Map for every subject they have an exam in.Generally, your teen should studying first are the topics they were taught at the beginning of the year. So it’s really important they list the topics they need to study and in what order in a Subject Map.
Here’s one example of a Subject Map
Your teen can also use their Subject Map as a reliable checklist
A Subject Map really is just an organized list of all the topics your teen needs to know for their exams.They can (and should!) tick the topics off they feel they’ve revised sufficiently as they go along. This way can keep tabs easily on what is left to revise.Plus, it’s also very satisfying to be able to check off topics as you go along!And last but not least, having Subject Maps will make putting together a study timetable much easier than from starting from scratch. (We also strongly recommend your teen create a study timetable they start studying!)With Subject Maps on their side, your teen will quickly sort out what topics they need to revise. Then all they need to do is make sure they allocate enough time to each before the relevant exam!
The Final Word
We're not sure if we can claim to have invented Subject Maps. As you can see, they are more or less the most simple study tool in the world.But they are nonetheless our most beloved study tool because they simplify study and take a heap of stress out of the picture.It may take your teen half an hour or so to make each one thoroughly. But we can basically guarantee it will take them ten times as long to frisk through all of their notes and books trying to figure out what to study and in what order without their Subject Maps.There's no better time than now for your teen to start putting together their Subject Maps.It’s not something they want to rush — they can easily add to their Subject Maps if they’ve got more content to learn before their exams.And finally, an entire video, mini eBook and template PDF document in the Green Pack of our exam pack series is dedicated to Subject Maps, so your teen can make their own with confidence. Learn more about the Green Pack here.
Image Credit: Dreamstime
