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Matric exams are upon us, how is your household preparing?? · Anele and the Club on 947

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Wake up with a bang.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Hey, wake up!
• 0:03
  Speaker 3: Anele and the club on 947.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Class of 2026 tomorrow at 9am. Exams start and then
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: for the next six weeks, sometimes writing.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Two papers a day. That would stress me out. Do
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: they still do that?
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: I can't think of the top of my head, but
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: I don't think so. Maybe life science, but I'm not sure.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's speak to an expert, Cindy. Cindy was like,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: He know here, he know here, he know here. We've
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: got Zakira Muhammad. She's an education psychologist and therapist, qualified
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: educator with more than 10 years of experience.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Zakira, welcome to Unalien The Club.
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, there are many methods, right, to making sure
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: that you are successful in your exams. 12 years of
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: work all culminates tomorrow when those matrics open that paper
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: and they put pen to paper and hopefully do well
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: for the.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Next six weeks.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Immediately now, what do you want to say to a
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: matriculant who is preparing for this journey?
• 1:03
  Speaker 5: The first thing I want to say is honestly what
• 1:05
  Speaker 5: every psychologist would probably say, breathe.
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: And I know that makes somebody go, oh, how's that
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: going to help, right? But the fact is there's this
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: logic behind it.
• 1:15
  Speaker 5: Remember now the cortisol levels are very high.
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: Anxiety says it's.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Peak, right?
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  Speaker 5: It's the breeding ground for doubts, for insecurity, for anxiety.
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  Speaker 5: So we got to look at ways of managing that.
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: And how do we look at ways of managing that?
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: We look at first, first, very, very, very, very important
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: is taking care of oneself before anything else. So, I mean,
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: I know you've got experts that are going to come
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: on later talking about diet.
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: Yes, important. Sleep, important.
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: And also being kind to yourself. And what I'm meaning
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: by this is The biggest part is if you're using
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: harsh language, I'm not going to make it, I'm going
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  Speaker 5: to fail, right? That immediately puts you on a negative mindset.
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: So positive talk is very, very, very important.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Let's say I haven't been performing well this year in
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: my trick and tomorrow the exams start and we're on
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: a course of writing for six weeks.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Is it possible to change things now?
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: Definitely. I mean, if you haven't been.
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: performing well but you've put in the effort towards this
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: exams right so first thing is ask yourself what have
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: I done you can't control the outcome you can control
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: what you are doing right now your thoughts your reactions
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: your behavior so if you are thinking you know I've
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: put in enough effort I've studied I've done the most
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: I could I've um I've done enough past papers All
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: of those is what you're going to say. I've done
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  Speaker 5: the best that I can and I'm going to give
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: it my best and let it be.
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: Whatever the outcome is, we'll deal with it then.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: So, Zakira, what happens exactly that when a child goes, well,
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: it's been 12 years and I'm just going to let
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: it be and I'm over it and I want to study.
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  Speaker 3: I'll be fine. I got through prelims. I don't need
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: to study. So you've got the complete answer. opposite child
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: because there's generally two types of children going into these exams.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Those that are working themselves into the ground and are
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: literally like freaking out and those that are like, well,
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: throw their hands up in the air. Whatever happens, happens.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: So if you're one of those parents who feels like
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: their child is just not, you know, stepping up, what
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: do you do?
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  Speaker 6: Oh gosh, I was one of those parents.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 5: So as much as I'm a psychologist, I'm a mother.
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: And you do get that. You know, the thing is,
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  Speaker 5: you know, you've got to trust the process. So nagging them,
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: hovering over them is not going to help. They shut
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  Speaker 5: down or they withdraw even more.
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  Speaker 7: Right.
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  Speaker 2: It's.
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  Speaker 4: Being there for them, reminding them.
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  Speaker 5: That, yes, these exams are important, but as long as
• 3:54
  Speaker 5: they try, that's what's important. The effort is what counts.
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: The outcome will manage together. When you're saying that, sorry,
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: when you're saying that, yes, they're going, you know, you
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  Speaker 5: can encourage them, you can support them, you can do
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  Speaker 5: things like, for example, making them a snack. asking them
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  Speaker 5: if they need anything, asking them if you can help
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  Speaker 5: them in certain things. All of these things are showing
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  Speaker 5: that you are interested. Asking them if they would like
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  Speaker 5: to talk, don't force talking. But the more you nag,
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  Speaker 5: the more you hover. I know the teenagers always say,
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  Speaker 5: my parents nagging, right?
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  Speaker 1: The more they shut down.
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  Speaker 2: So as a parent in the household of a child
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  Speaker 2: who is writing metric exams, What should we be doing
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: differently as well? Because I find that if I work
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: in the dining room and I'm doing now my work,
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  Speaker 2: it kind of encourages the kids in the house to
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  Speaker 2: also just sit around and lock.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: In, right?
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: So should you be working.
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  Speaker 2: In front of your kids more so that they can
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  Speaker 2: see that, okay, in this environment now, we're upping our game,
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  Speaker 2: we're working. What kind of atmosphere should we be setting
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: as parents inside the home?
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  Speaker 4: So I'm glad you asked that.
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  Speaker 5: The very first thing is creating a secure, stable, safe, quiet,
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  Speaker 5: calm atmosphere, right? And part of that is no distractions,
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  Speaker 5: making sure that they have water on hand, making sure
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  Speaker 5: that they have a clean, tidy space, right?
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  Speaker 4: And yes, as parents, we should model.
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  Speaker 5: One of the biggest things, Anneli, is you're saying that, yes,
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  Speaker 5: we should be working more to encourage them to work more.
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  Speaker 5: But I think the biggest thing for us as parents
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  Speaker 5: is to regulate our emotions, right? A dysregulated parent is
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: never going to help a child, right?
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  Speaker 4: They pick up on it, even if you don't say anything.
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  Speaker 4: They sense your emotions.
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  Speaker 5: So I think one of the biggest thing is for
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  Speaker 5: us to role model calming strategies, right? So when we're
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: working and we're getting over or we're finding that we
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: need little breaks, encourage those breaks. Stand up, take a
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  Speaker 5: walk yourself. Your child can see what you're doing. You know,
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  Speaker 5: do calming down strategies and then come back.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Think it's very important and I and I remember um
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: one of the guests my podcast saying exactly this it's
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: six weeks of your child's life but it's also your
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: life you have to step up and parent now is
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  Speaker 3: not the time for you to be hosting dinner parties
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: at your house all of that the whole family has
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  Speaker 3: to go into a six-week exam period you are all
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: writing exams you cannot be out and about and then
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: your child's got FOMO and missing out you are all
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  Speaker 3: in it and just Be a parent, be an adult.
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  Speaker 3: It's six weeks of your life.
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  Speaker 6: You won't die.
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  Speaker 1: If you expect them to lock in for six weeks,
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  Speaker 1: so should you.
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  Speaker 8: Just off the back of what Sinuji said, how important
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  Speaker 8: is not breaking the routine completely? Because if I go
• 6:43
  Speaker 8: back to when I was in matric, like on Saturdays,
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  Speaker 8: we do something specific with the family, like religiously. And
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  Speaker 8: then when it was exam season, it was like, we're
• 6:50
  Speaker 8: stopping everything. And just that pressure of saying, that pressure,
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  Speaker 8: I felt the pressure of breaking routines.
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  Speaker 1: Like, guys, can we at least still maintain the one
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: thing that we do? How do you keep....
• 7:00
  Speaker 8: Yeah, the routine without breaking it, but still maintaining just
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  Speaker 8: calm heads.
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  Speaker 4: So I think why that's so important. We cannot go
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: total isolation. You're going to let your child burn out.
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  Speaker 4: Before they get to the last paper, they're going to
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  Speaker 4: be burnt out, right?
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  Speaker 5: So when I'm saying with this, there's some parts that
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  Speaker 5: you have to keep. So same way how we plan
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  Speaker 5: for study, we need to plan for breaks, right? Planning
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  Speaker 5: for breaks is just as important. So if something is
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: important to the family, schedule that in the break. Schedule
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  Speaker 5: that as part of your planning, right? A child can't
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  Speaker 5: be totally excluded. They need to also have that element
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  Speaker 5: of connectivity, whether it's with friends, with family, doesn't matter.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, there's balance.
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  Speaker 5: It cannot be going out every weekend kind of thing
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  Speaker 5: during exams. But it can't be like you cannot talk
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: to friends. You cannot go out.
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  Speaker 4: You need to schedule a little bit of break times.
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  Speaker 4: It's as important as scheduling our studying time.
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  Speaker 1: And just to wrap it up, Zakira, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: What are students, pupils, learners entitled to mental wise in
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  Speaker 2: an exam? Let's say I sit down and I'm having
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  Speaker 2: a breakdown.
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  Speaker 1: I'm having an attack. I've gone blank. I'm stressed. I'm
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  Speaker 1: breaking down. I'm falling apart.
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  Speaker 2: What am I entitled to? How is the school supposed
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: to come to my aid? And for how long am
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: I allowed breaks? What help am I allowed?
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  Speaker 5: You know, this is very difficult because, I mean, there's
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  Speaker 5: something called concessions assessments and basically every board you can
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  Speaker 5: apply to it for. And if a child has some
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: sort of difficulty, they can't, but that would have had
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: to apply.
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  Speaker 4: Well before grade 12, right?
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  Speaker 5: Right now, I mean, if you haven't gotten rest breaks,
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: all of that, which has been granted.
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  Speaker 4: To you by those boards, there will be.
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  Speaker 5: Probably an informal thing that you can pick up your
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  Speaker 5: hand and they'll and ask the teacher. But I mean, obviously,
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  Speaker 5: they could bring you a glass of water, whatever it is.
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  Speaker 5: I think the most important is learning self-regulation. So I'm
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: going to give you a few quick techniques, right? So
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  Speaker 5: one of it, like as I mentioned, I didn't mention
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  Speaker 5: how to breathe.
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  Speaker 4: You breathe in through the.
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  Speaker 5: Nose, you hold it, and you take a deep breath
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  Speaker 5: out through your mouth. If you are breathing in for two,
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  Speaker 5: you need to breathe out for four, right?
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  Speaker 4: So those are regulated breaths.
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  Speaker 5: You breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth,
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  Speaker 5: double that of breathing in. You start with your stomach
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  Speaker 5: and you imagine you have a balloon in your stomach
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  Speaker 5: and it's contracting and expanding, right? And you're aware of
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: that movement. So that's what we need to do. Another
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  Speaker 5: thing is a quick grounding technique. It's five senses.
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  Speaker 4: So look around the room.
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  Speaker 5: Five things you can see. Touch four things around you.
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  Speaker 5: What three things can you hear? What two things can
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: you smell? Take your tongue, put it around your mouth,
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: and what one thing can you taste, even if it's
• 9:54
  Speaker 5: just saliva. These are grounding techniques, which means what is grounding?
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  Speaker 5: We are not sitting on ore. I'm going to fail
• 10:01
  Speaker 5: or I don't know if I know my work. It
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: just pauses you for that moment. And when you pause,
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: you are able to think clearly. What happens after you're grounded?
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  Speaker 5: You then say, okay, what am I stressing about? I
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: don't know this question. Let's leave it and let's go
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: to the next one and come back to it. Please,
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  Speaker 5: after the paper's finished, the worst thing you could.
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  Speaker 1: Do is do a post-mortem.
• 10:24
  Speaker 8: Right.
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  Speaker 6: Let it be. I'm so relaxed now.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: My kids always, whenever they get into the car and
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: I say to them, how did it go? My daughter
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: always says to me, we'll only know when I get
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: the exam.
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  Speaker 6: And it's so right. I'm like, well, was it good
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: or bad?
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: She'll answer and she'll say, but we'll only truly know
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: once I get the mark.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: And you're right.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: You're right.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: I think the worst thing to do is to dissect
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: an exam as a parent or even with your friends.
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: It's the worst thing to do. Even before you go
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: into an exam, please don't go, do you know your work?
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Do you know your work?
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  Speaker 4: How much have you learned? Are you prepared?
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: No, by then it's finished. Just encourage, you've got this.
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: I know you're going to try your best. That's all
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: that can be said.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Her name is Zakira Muhammad, education psychologist and therapist. We've
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: attacked the mental side of how to attack this. On
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: the way, we've got Mbali Mapoli who is a registered
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: dietitian because believe it or not, there are foods that
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: you should be avoiding when you are in exam time.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: And I think this is very important because as parents,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: you want to make them a snack.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: And, you know, you want to be supportive and you
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: want to be in the room all the time. Like,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: here's a toast to Chisami. Because you just want to
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: reward the work that they're doing.
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  Speaker 2: But sometimes it's quite detrimental. Like, even going into the exam.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Do I go in with a full English breakfast? You
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: know what I'm saying? Should I just have cereal? Should
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I be drinking anything specific? So this is why it's
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: so important. This is going to be interesting as well.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Zahira Muhammad. On the way, we've got a dietitian.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Your metrics are writing tomorrow, people.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Let's get behind them.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Now, let's tackle what they should be eating. And to
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: come and help us with that, she's called the Urban
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: Dietitian on Instagram. Her name is Mbali Mapoli. Mbali, thank
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: you so much for your time.
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: Thank you for having me this morning.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Pretty dress, by the way. I'm like so obsessed with
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: her dress. I'm just like, girl, you look so good.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I had to dress up for you this morning. Oh
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: my word, I am so jealous of your dress. Mbali,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: 15 years in the game. Yes. You've seen them come,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: you've seen them go. Yes.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Matrix are writing exams tomorrow.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Diet-wise, what should we be focusing on?
• 12:23
  Speaker 9: The main focus, firstly, I think is to remember we
• 12:25
  Speaker 9: are feeding the actual organ, the brain of this child.
• 12:28
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 12:28
  Speaker 9: But also we are feeding what we can see, the
• 12:30
  Speaker 9: cognitive function, concentration, focus, emotions, and all of that. So
• 12:34
  Speaker 9: in terms of the actual brain, the brain needs energy
• 12:37
  Speaker 9: and the preferred source of energy or fuel is carbohydrates,
• 12:41
  Speaker 9: but complex carbohydrates or the ones that are higher fiber.
• 12:44
  Speaker 9: so that they can sustain or like the glucose sort
• 12:47
  Speaker 9: of production can be slower and that keeps that energy,
• 12:51
  Speaker 9: you know, it's sustained longer in a way. The second
• 12:54
  Speaker 9: thing is protein and protein sources like your eggs have
• 12:58
  Speaker 9: nutrients like choline, which is a direct source sort of
• 13:01
  Speaker 9: like focused nutrient that they need. So eating enough protein, eggs, dairy, chicken, fish,
• 13:08
  Speaker 9: all of those. Speaking of fish, we need omega-3s. So
• 13:11
  Speaker 9: your sardines and your pilchards and your salmon, if we
• 13:15
  Speaker 9: can afford it in the household. I mean, as you're saying,
• 13:17
  Speaker 9: we are locking in. So if there's money to spare
• 13:19
  Speaker 9: to make sure that there is those omega-3 sources, those
• 13:22
  Speaker 9: then feed the actual brain matter, but also they feed
• 13:25
  Speaker 9: what we can see, the focus and the concentration as well.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: You gave us examples of proteins, but you just said
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: complex carbs and then you didn't.
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
• 13:32
  Speaker 9: So complex carbohydrates will be a higher fiber bread. So
• 13:35
  Speaker 9: a seeded bread or just a whole wheat bread. It
• 13:38
  Speaker 9: would be your oats. It would be your sorghum. It
• 13:40
  Speaker 9: would be corn or mealy. Those are complex carbohydrates because
• 13:44
  Speaker 9: the absorption of the glucose is not as quick as
• 13:46
  Speaker 9: your refined carbohydrates.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: If I'm writing at nine, what time should I be
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: eating to maximize my body reacting to what I ate today?
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: and peaking at the right time to help me in
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: an exam.
• 13:57
  Speaker 9: So if you're writing at nine by half past six,
• 13:59
  Speaker 9: seven in the morning, we should be having breakfast. That
• 14:02
  Speaker 9: gives you enough time for your body to start packing
• 14:04
  Speaker 9: those nutrients where they need to go. So that by
• 14:06
  Speaker 9: the time you sit down for that exam, you are
• 14:09
  Speaker 9: energized and you're ready to go. But at the same time,
• 14:11
  Speaker 9: you're not too sluggish, you know, having that feeling of like,
• 14:14
  Speaker 9: you just want to fall asleep. So the portions are important,
• 14:16
  Speaker 9: but also the timing, at least an hour and a
• 14:19
  Speaker 9: half to two hours, you should be feeding, yeah, to
• 14:22
  Speaker 9: allow enough time by the time you sit for that exam.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: And I don't know, Ndabe, if this was your experience
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: when you were writing, but I remember when I wrote
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Matric in 2001, the Matrics were big on energy drinks, eh? Yeah.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: They were huge on energy.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: It almost felt like it's going to help you lock in.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: It's going to help you zone in.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Liquids-wise, what should we be upping intake-wise when you're studying
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: and when you're about to write?
• 14:46
  Speaker 9: The best liquid is water. I know I'm going to
• 14:48
  Speaker 9: sound like a cliche. And this is from the hydration
• 14:50
  Speaker 9: point of view. As you can imagine, the brain is
• 14:52
  Speaker 9: made out of 80% water. And just by even a 1%
• 14:57
  Speaker 9: to 2% drop in hydration, it affects concentration. It affects
• 15:01
  Speaker 9: the sharpness of the brain. It affects that you find
• 15:03
  Speaker 9: that even the reaction, a child reads an exam paper
• 15:07
  Speaker 9: and they don't just understand fully, but there's something they
• 15:10
  Speaker 9: know it's because of dehydration. So the first thing is
• 15:12
  Speaker 9: to make sure that you are well hydrated, at least
• 15:15
  Speaker 9: two liters of water. So wherever we're going for the
• 15:18
  Speaker 9: next six weeks matriculant, you have.
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: That big bottle of water. And at home.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: This is.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: Where support comes in.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: Make sure there's ice.
• 15:24
  Speaker 9: If your child likes their water with ice or herbs
• 15:28
  Speaker 9: like your mint or even fresh fruit into the water
• 15:30
  Speaker 9: to make the water quite nice. You were speaking about
• 15:33
  Speaker 9: energy drinks, Anele. And this is a thing because they
• 15:36
  Speaker 9: contain actives like guarana and caffeine. Those are not tested
• 15:40
  Speaker 9: for children under the age of 18. So we don't
• 15:43
  Speaker 9: know what's a safe limit. Another child can drink energy
• 15:46
  Speaker 9: drinks and they're fine.
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: As you're saying, we're fine.
• 15:48
  Speaker 9: But another child can actually die from complications of high
• 15:53
  Speaker 9: consumption of those actives like caffeine and guarana. So I
• 15:56
  Speaker 9: think that's something we must be mindful of, that parents
• 15:58
  Speaker 9: must monitor. There are sort of like acceptable limits to
• 16:02
  Speaker 9: say for caffeine, one regular cup of coffee can be
• 16:06
  Speaker 9: OK for children between the ages of 16 and 18.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: But again, there's no limit.
• 16:11
  Speaker 9: Like actual to say we can confidently say this is
• 16:14
  Speaker 9: how much a child can safely consume of the energy
• 16:16
  Speaker 9: drinks or of caffeine or coffee products like that.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: If you just joined us, we're chatting to Mbali Mapoli,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: who's the urban dietitian on Instagram. We're speaking the diets
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: that you should be following and should be helping your
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: kids follow when they're writing exams.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Tomorrow, Matrix start writing exams.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: And we just want to hit every single corner to
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: make sure that they.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Are as best prepared as possible.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: If my family is tight on a budget, the economy
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: is not treating us well, what are the easiest things
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: and low-cost things that I should have in the house
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: to make sure that my child can perform properly in
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: the exams?
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: First and foremost, eggs.
• 16:50
  Speaker 9: As I said, those are a powerhouse with all the
• 16:52
  Speaker 9: nutrients like you're calling, protein that we need for brain function.
• 16:55
  Speaker 6: Secondly, eggs.
• 16:57
  Speaker 9: Sorghum, you know, if we can afford the higher fiber
• 17:00
  Speaker 9: starch like sorghum, it's gluten free, yes. But at the
• 17:02
  Speaker 9: same time, it helps support the gut health. Remember, there's
• 17:05
  Speaker 9: that gut and mental connection as well. So those are
• 17:07
  Speaker 9: the things. The other thing is canned fish. I spoke
• 17:10
  Speaker 9: about pilchards, but also sardines and tuna can be part
• 17:13
  Speaker 9: of that canned fish group. legumes like your beans. So
• 17:17
  Speaker 9: we can just boil a good old red kidney beans
• 17:21
  Speaker 9: and make sure that for dinner, a child will have
• 17:23
  Speaker 9: such a complex, higher protein, higher carbohydrate meal. Think of
• 17:27
  Speaker 9: it like as preparing the brain for the following day.
• 17:30
  Speaker 9: So those are the foods that they can have. But
• 17:32
  Speaker 9: also peanut butter. Peanut butter is fantastic. We can do
• 17:35
  Speaker 9: the no sugar, no salt peanut butter, good source of
• 17:38
  Speaker 9: healthy fats or monounsaturated fats for the brain, but also
• 17:42
  Speaker 9: good source of protein.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Even ground nuts.
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: Like you know the boiled nuts.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: That you just get on the streets.
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: Fantastic.
• 17:48
  Speaker 9: Good source of health effects that the child needs.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: And just fruits and vegetables.
• 17:52
  Speaker 9: You know, if you've got friends in the north, avocados
• 17:55
  Speaker 9: can be sent down for the family. And avocados also,
• 17:59
  Speaker 9: if you can afford, like availability-wise, I think they are
• 18:03
  Speaker 9: still in season, getting out of season now. But yes,
• 18:05
  Speaker 9: good sources of health effects for the child.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: And during exam time, true or false, this question? During
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: exam time, is that a good time for somebody to
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: be on a diet?
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: No, false, false.
• 18:17
  Speaker 9: We don't need this time because remember, we have to
• 18:20
  Speaker 9: make sure we're getting all those vitamins, minerals and macronutrients.
• 18:24
  Speaker 9: If you are on any specific diet, chances are you
• 18:27
  Speaker 9: are eating less of certain foods and that can cause
• 18:29
  Speaker 9: nutrient deficiencies. So if anything, you need to eat more.
• 18:33
  Speaker 9: But again, good quality, then we're choosing higher fiber. We're
• 18:36
  Speaker 9: choosing leaner protein, removing visible fat, removing the skin of
• 18:39
  Speaker 9: the chicken. We're choosing more fruits and vegetables so that
• 18:42
  Speaker 9: we can support a child during this time.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Mbali Mapoli, you are absolutely amazing. Is she not fantastic?
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: The best.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: Guys.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: You know, you can say metrics are writing exams. No,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: we are writing exams.
• 18:54
  Speaker 9: All of us.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: The country is writing exams.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Let's lock in.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: Let's make sure that when the education minister stands there
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: in January and gives those results, we as a country
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: have done everything to make sure that they are successful.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Those people are going to run your country one day.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: And this is where we start supporting them. On the way,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: we've got Professor Linda Mayer. She's an education expert. If
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: you've got any questions around the best methods to retain information,
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: what you should be doing, is it cue cards?
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: Is it essays? How often should kids be studying?
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Right now, moms, dads, teachers, aunts, uncles, everybody lock in.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Send us a voicemail 084-0000947. The experts are here for
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: us and you today. The country's metrics start writing exams.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: And like we said, it means we are all writing exams.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: We need to make sure that the environment between now
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: and the 26th of November in this year country.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Is conducive so that metrics can do well. Instructions. to
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: wrap this conversation up Dr.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Linda Mayer she's the managing director at IIE Rosebank College
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: she holds a doctor philosophy Doctor of Business Administration, Master
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: of Business Administration, Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, BCom Law,
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: BBA and several other diplomas, higher certificates and professional certifications.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: And this is why I read everything that she holds.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Because if somebody knows how to study, it is her. Doctor.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Is it Doctor Linda? Is it Prof? Which one is it?
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: It's Prof, but please call me Linda.
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: Oh, Linda.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: Linda.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Between now and 26th of November, we're going to have
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: a lot of stressed 18-year-olds, 17-year-olds who are writing their
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: metric exams.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: What is the best study method that you know?
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: I know we've all got different methods, but there must
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: be one way as an expert you're like, trust me,
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: this is the one that works.
• 20:43
  Speaker 6: Absolutely.
• 20:43
  Speaker 7: So certainly the biggest, you know, the best advice is
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: to sequence your studies.
• 20:50
  Speaker 6: Okay, which means?
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: So what that means is that you... First of all,
• 20:54
  Speaker 7: that you plan your study time. You don't cram things.
• 20:58
  Speaker 7: So we have the Pomodoro method, right, which really you
• 21:01
  Speaker 7: select 25 minutes and a five-minute break or 50 minutes
• 21:05
  Speaker 7: and a 10-minute break.
• 21:06
  Speaker 6: You need to understand what is the best sequence for you.
• 21:10
  Speaker 7: However, in the environment where you're studying, in the house, Anil,
• 21:14
  Speaker 7: if you'll just allow me.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: Please.
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: The biggest thing is that parents mustn't be stressing their
• 21:18
  Speaker 7: kids out, right? So this is not about the child
• 21:20
  Speaker 7: writing the exam. It's about the parents managing their emotions.
• 21:23
  Speaker 7: So study techniques, absolutely. There are many study techniques that
• 21:27
  Speaker 7: we can follow, and certainly the best is to make
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: mind maps, right?
• 21:31
  Speaker 6: Get a page, put the key theme in the middle of.
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: What this is about, and then you have little branches
• 21:37
  Speaker 7: going out with sub-themes that are then on one page,
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: and you can see this visually, right? The other thing
• 21:44
  Speaker 7: is recall methods, right? So where you study something, you know,
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: two or three pages, don't do too much. Don't go
• 21:51
  Speaker 7: and read 20 pages. That's the worst thing you can do.
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: Read two or three pages, you close and you recall.
• 21:57
  Speaker 7: So you sit there and you say, what have I
• 21:59
  Speaker 7: just studied? And you write down exactly what it is
• 22:01
  Speaker 7: that you've studied. Another very important thing is there are
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: free past exam papers, both on the IAB website and
• 22:08
  Speaker 7: the Department of Basic Education's website. Go and download those exams.
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: And have practice exams because that is critical, right? But
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: parents must remember this is not the time to stress
• 22:20
  Speaker 7: your kids out. And for those writing the trick, this
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: is not the end of the world. You need to
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: sit down. Remember that you need to pass this exam, right?
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: You getting stressed out is not going to be helpful.
• 22:33
  Speaker 7: You need to rest. You need to sleep well before
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: you write the exam. We heard from the, you know,
• 22:39
  Speaker 7: dietician that we need to eat well and we need
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: to be focused. There are other some practical things, Anneli,
• 22:45
  Speaker 7: you know, like arriving at the venue 10 to 15
• 22:48
  Speaker 7: minutes beforehand. Be well hydrated. If you are allowed to
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: take water in or a snack, obviously find that out before.
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: Take those things with because that is very helpful.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: A question coming in on Twitter. Should I start with
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: the questions I know or answer them in order?
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: No.
• 23:05
  Speaker 7: So the first thing you do when you open your
• 23:06
  Speaker 7: exam paper is you read through the exam paper, right?
• 23:10
  Speaker 7: And then you make little notes on the side. The
• 23:12
  Speaker 7: biggest thing is to determine the time because you need
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: to establish how much time you need for each question.
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: Of course, there are marks allocated, 10 marks, 20 marks,
• 23:21
  Speaker 7: and that will give you an indication. But there might
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: be an essay type question, a long question that you
• 23:26
  Speaker 7: know really, really well. And you then split your time
• 23:29
  Speaker 7: and say, I'm going to put an extra five minutes
• 23:31
  Speaker 7: into that because I'm going to get maximum marks for that, right?
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: And you've got to build your confidence through the paper, yeah.
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: And the things you don't know, you leave those to last, right?
• 23:40
  Speaker 7: Because we all know, we've all opened an exam paper
• 23:42
  Speaker 7: recently We've all spotted.
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: Let's admit. Let's be honest.
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: And those questions you leave for last. Don't go and
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: invest now and rack your brain and stress yourself out more.
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: Understand what you know well. Focus on those. Get them done.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: I study for hours, but when I get to the exam,
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: I can't remember anything.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: What am I doing wrong?
• 24:02
  Speaker 7: So the first thing that you're doing wrong is that
• 24:04
  Speaker 7: you're trying to study long, you're trying to study big
• 24:08
  Speaker 7: batches of work at a time. Like I said earlier,
• 24:11
  Speaker 7: you do one or two or three pages, then you
• 24:13
  Speaker 7: do the recall and you write and recall, right? That's
• 24:17
  Speaker 7: the important thing. So when we speak about sequencing, we
• 24:21
  Speaker 7: say you open a chapter, you scan through the chapter,
• 24:24
  Speaker 7: then you go and look for the major themes. You
• 24:26
  Speaker 7: do your mind map that we spoke about. So the
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: key theme in the middle and the branches that go
• 24:32
  Speaker 7: out with the most important points are And then you
• 24:35
  Speaker 7: go out and you read, recite and recollect, right? That
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: is the sequence that you need to remember. And it's
• 24:42
  Speaker 7: the most important methodology that works.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm loving these questions that are coming in. I
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: have math paper one and physics close together and I
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: haven't finished revising either one.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Which one do I focus on first?
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: So, of course, you need to focus on what you're
• 24:54
  Speaker 7: writing first, but you need to leave some time to
• 24:56
  Speaker 7: build up.
• 24:57
  Speaker 6: For the physics exam.
• 24:59
  Speaker 7: So, you know, whether you say I'm going to do
• 25:02
  Speaker 7: maths for four hours a day and physics for two
• 25:05
  Speaker 7: hours a day as I'm preparing, then do that. But
• 25:08
  Speaker 7: you need to focus on what's coming because your mind
• 25:10
  Speaker 7: needs to be freshly aligned with the information and the
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: context so that your recall is very, very well astute
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: for when you write the exam.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: Oh, the parents are coming through. My child studies with
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: music on. I don't agree with this, but he says
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: it helps him study.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: What do I do, prof?
• 25:27
  Speaker 7: No problem with that at all, right? So everyone has
• 25:31
  Speaker 7: a different brain context. And for some people, it calms
• 25:37
  Speaker 7: them down. It helps them focus. Some people we know
• 25:40
  Speaker 7: are neurodiverse, right? They can't go and sleep unless they're
• 25:42
  Speaker 7: listening to something because their brain simply just won't switch off.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: So don't.
• 25:47
  Speaker 7: If your child is able to recall and they're able
• 25:49
  Speaker 7: to absolutely get the marks that they need to.
• 25:52
  Speaker 6: Have, why are you stressed about their music? And this
• 25:55
  Speaker 6: goes back to what I said earlier. We're all parents.
• 25:57
  Speaker 7: We're all stressed out. Don't take it out on your child, right?
• 26:01
  Speaker 7: Be loving, be nurturing, make sure that they're in a
• 26:04
  Speaker 7: great environment so that they can perform optimally.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: I share a.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: House with three loud brothers. How should I find a
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: space to lock in to study?
• 26:14
  Speaker 6: Okay, that's like stressful. That's off the charts.
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: But the important thing is, I think, respect. And this
• 26:21
  Speaker 7: is a critical part of your life. And I think
• 26:23
  Speaker 7: just to get together as a family and just have
• 26:25
  Speaker 7: some ground rules about what times noise will be allowed,
• 26:28
  Speaker 7: but what time, you know, noise will be elsewhere.
• 26:31
  Speaker 6: Go outside. Leave me alone. I need to study.
• 26:35
  Speaker 7: If parents are able to afford this, Please buy your
• 26:39
  Speaker 7: child noise-canceling earphones.
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: Please do that.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Okay. Okay.
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: 24 hours before they put that pen to paper. Linda,
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: what do you think every matric writer should be doing
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: right now for the next 24 hours?
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Breathe.
• 26:55
  Speaker 7: So remember this when you sit down. Take five deep breaths, right,
• 26:59
  Speaker 7: for five seconds and exhale so your cortisol levels can
• 27:03
  Speaker 7: just be neutralized. Sleep well tonight before this exam and
• 27:07
  Speaker 7: go through your work and don't forget to recall and
• 27:11
  Speaker 7: go and download those past exam papers.
• 27:14
  Speaker 6: Do not stress yourself out.
• 27:15
  Speaker 7: You getting two or three hours sleep tonight is not
• 27:18
  Speaker 7: going to help you at all. As a matter of fact,
• 27:20
  Speaker 7: it's going to be worse for you in the exam.
• 27:22
  Speaker 7: Your brain's going to be tired and you'll remember nothing.
• 27:25
  Speaker 7: So focus on what is important.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: You.
• 27:28
  Speaker 7: Getting through this, be well hydrated and focus on what
• 27:31
  Speaker 7: is important to you. When that paper, when you open
• 27:34
  Speaker 7: that paper, take a minute, read through it. Like we said,
• 27:38
  Speaker 7: write the time allocation down. No, and you know, nothing
• 27:42
  Speaker 7: wrong to say, I know this nine out of nine
• 27:45
  Speaker 7: out of 10.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Great.
• 27:46
  Speaker 7: I know this one out of 10. Focus, just focus.
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: You'll be fine. And remember, whatever happens, this is not
• 27:53
  Speaker 7: the end of the world. We don't want a situation
• 27:56
  Speaker 7: where people don't do one exam paper and that's your destiny.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: For the rest. Because that's the thing.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Like you can trip over a hurdle in the beginning
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: of the exam period and then that is the confidence
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: you take into everything.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: It knocks you for the entire thing.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: How do I bounce back from a paper that I
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: feel didn't go well?
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:15
  Speaker 6: And of course, you need to bounce back. So how
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: do you bounce back?
• 28:18
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 28:19
  Speaker 7: You put the time in, right? You focus, do your
• 28:22
  Speaker 7: mind maps, study for the next thing. One exam paper
• 28:25
  Speaker 7: is not going to define the rest of your life.
• 28:27
  Speaker 7: And it's difficult when you've put a lot of effort
• 28:29
  Speaker 7: in and you think, yeah, I just didn't do well.
• 28:32
  Speaker 7: But refocus, recalibrate, and just move on to the next
• 28:37
  Speaker 7: thing where you can do great.
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: And this can just be a bad memory. As an invigilator,
• 28:44
  Speaker 6: I work at a college.
• 28:45
  Speaker 9: And one thing I'd love to advise to the students is,
• 28:49
  Speaker 9: please make sure you, before you enter the exam, please
• 28:52
  Speaker 9: go to the loo.
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: Thanks.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Is that something you see a lot, Linda? Absolutely.
• 29:00
  Speaker 7: Kids get stressed out, right, when they're writing. And then
• 29:02
  Speaker 7: they're taking time to go to the toilet, and it
• 29:05
  Speaker 7: takes 10 minutes out of your exam time. So go before,
• 29:09
  Speaker 7: as a rule. As they say, when you're over 50,
• 29:11
  Speaker 7: you never pass a toilet. When you go and write
• 29:13
  Speaker 7: an exam, you never pass a toilet.
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: Prof.
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: Linda Mayer, MD at Rosebank International and Visiting Professor at.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Nelson Mandela University. Thank you so much. You have been
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: so great. And I'm pretty sure you.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Just want to say good luck to all the kids.
• 29:26
  Speaker 6: Writing the trick. Guys, this is your time to shine. Focus, rest,
• 29:31
  Speaker 6: and be ready, and do great.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Focus, rest, prep, do great. Thank you, doctor.
• 29:36
  Speaker 6: Say goodbye now.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Back to making your morning.