Make good use of your holidays- Get Prepare for your HSC
Author: Tis Amit
The Christmas / summer holidays are the longest holiday period in your HSC year. You have about 6 weeks to relax and refresh yourself before the 2010 school year starts. However, students often use these holiday periods to gain a competitive advantage over their peers by reading ahead in their textbooks, or reading all of their English texts in advance. One of our students finished her entire English Extension 2 major work in these holidays! Of course, the advantage with working harder in the holidays, is that it lightens the load later on in the HSC year. Given that you have 6 weeks of holidays in the summer, it is probably wise to spend 3 or so weeks preparing for your HSC. Every bit of extra preparation translates to results in the HSC, since you only have a year. Once school starts, you may find the pace very fast, and everything examinable is taught once only before the teacher moves on. So how can you prepare for the year ahead? Study ahead, of course. This is one of the examples of how successful students study differently from average students. By learning ahead, you gain familiarity of the topics and content that would be taught to your peers for the very first time later in the HSC year. Shortly after this event, the exam comes. So who would do better? The student who has seen the same material before, has experienced and overcome the common pitfalls and challenges, and has had plenty of opportunity to ask their teacher relevant questions before the exam? Or the student who let it all go during the holidays, and had a great time, then learnt the content for the first time at a rush-pace prior to the exams? Of course, it is perfectly OK to relax during the Holidays after all, its holidays! But now is early January, youve already had a couple of weeks to enjoy the Christmas and New Year festivities. Youre now well-rested, relaxed and refreshed. Its time to get seriously serious! What can I do in my holidays, on my own? During the holidays, youre all on your own. Most likely, your friends are still partying, and probably your teachers too. Tutoring colleges are closed, (except those few running holiday courses), and everyones still on holidays. So whatever self-study you do, it would have to be something you can do by yourself. Luckily, for most students, teachers and tutoring helps most AFTER youve done some self-reading. With some self-discipline and solid effort, core content can be learned on your own. For science subjects Read a GOOD textbook. For Chemistry, pick up a copy of Conquering Chemistry, or Chemistry in Contexts, and read as much as you can. For Physics, you cant go wrong with Jacaranda, or Macquarie. As a guideline, completely revise the first module (you would have done this at school in term 4, 2009) and read the entire second module. If you have our notes from term 4, re-read all of them too! Avoid the Excel ones as they are a bit superficial in depth. Dont worry about practice questions yet, but make sure you UNDERSTAND concepts At this early stage, dont get too caught up with practice questions. Do one or two per section to test your knowledge, then move on. Remember, you have other subjects to study for! The most important thing is to UNDERSTAND the concepts. For example, make sure you KNOW how Lenzs law works, how those right-hand push/palm/grip rules work, etc. Read the syllabus and reconcile it with what youve read in textbooks After youve read the textbooks, read through the syllabus for the modules you studied, and make sure every dot-point in those modules have been covered by what youve read. Its a good idea to do this after you read the textbooks, as textbooks often give you richer background information necessary to understand the full picture of certain concepts. However you can choose to read the syllabus before you start reading textbooks. For mathematics Do exercises off a good textbook Mathematics is really a practice game. The more practice you get, the more experienced you become. There are only so many ways a maths question can be designed for any topic area, and the more experience you have, the less likely you will be caught unaware in the exam. Simple, really, but success in maths requires dedication, which is easier said than done. Good textbooks are Fitzpatrick (for 2U and 3U), Cambridge, and dont forget the forgotten classics like Coroneos (excellent for 4 unit harder questions). For English Read your texts in advance Find how what novels you need to read, and read through them these holidays. This subject is probably the easiest to study ahead for, as it involves a leisure activity (for some) reading! Just be aware of the thematic considerations that are relevant to your module as you read through your texts.About the Author:
Dux College is a Sydney based HSC Learning Center specializing in HSC tutoring. Our staff are experts in frequently asked topics like HSC Scaling so feel free to ask any question you may have. Our Physics, Chemistry and Maths tuition programs are intensive and results driven, aimed at giving our students the skills to achieve Band 6, and their highest potential UAI. Villas at Moraira, Spain Forex Trading Tip - Simple Tips for Triple Digit Annual Gains! Make Your Next Holiday Party More Flavorful And Robust With Espresso Cartridges Choose Peru Holidays For Adventure Dalyan- Ultimate destination for Turkish Holiday A Fantastic Summer Holiday Without Leaving The Country Relax And Revitalise In The Cotswolds Holiday Payday Loans- Loan for Enjoy Holiday Classic Holiday Recipes For Your Family David Archuleta Tickets - A Dose Of Christmas Spirit Straight From The Heart How To Plan The Absolute Best Cheap Ski Vacation The Palace on Wheels travel package Rhodes National Theatre - Rhodes Holidays