How to Become a Grade Riser was included in our recent bundle from Oaka Books and I must admit as soon as I opened the bundle my daughter zoomed in on this and immediately took it away to read. It did surprise me that she immediately wanted to read this (and then sat and read it from cover to cover) but then that is why I think we have become such big fans of the Oaka products, they are just presented in such a visually pleasing manner that no matter what the subject is, it is always easy to read and interesting.

I will start by saying that when I first sat down to read this I did feel like it is more suited to schooled kids than to home educated kids. They do speak about lessons and how to organize yourself by reading the revising what you did in the last lesson before you attend the next one etc etc. But then I did also think about it and a lot of home educated kids opt to go to College for their A Levels, some do a form a online lessons and lots attend university. So these sections about lessons etc will apply to them at those stages even if they do not apply at the moment. What I am trying to say is at a first read it may seem a bit school orientated but I think it will apply to all kids at some stage in their life.

And for those wondering my daughter (who has never attended a day of school) did say she found it interesting to read and did say it gave her some ideas about the studying that she is busy doing. (And I will be giving it to my son at some stage to read too).

Okay so what exactly is included?

They stick with Oaka format and start with a glossary of words. This glossary of words is actually vital – they have taken the key words used in exam instructions and explained what exactly they mean (ie how does discuss, explore, identify differ). And I have to say I loved that they started the booklet with these words and I have actually asked my daughter to re-read this section a few times to make sure she understands the differences.

After the key word glossary they start by talking about your mindset and success behaviours. I loved that they included this because to me it is saying – “it is okay if you don’t get something the first or second time but you need to have the mindset that you are not going to give up and that you are going to keep trying.”

Then there are a few pages about what you should do before and after lessons. Again I know this may not apply to everyone at this stage but it is always a good thing to bear in mind for possible changes in the future. They also go on to talk about assignments and the forgetting curve (I thought the forgetting curve was interesting).

Then it focuses on preparing for the exam and revision techniques. I actually liked these pages because as a home educator there were a few things that I needed to be reminded about and I thought they included some good ideas under their revision methods.

Then it goes onto 8 pages of exam technique, which I think we all need to read at some stage. A lot of it was for me “of course this makes sense but I am not sure if I ever mentioned this to my daughter” – which made me really glad that she had the opportunity to read it for herself.

And the last few pages are a timetable and a copy of the Oaka Essay Planner template.

Okay so it is vital to read? No it is not vital.

Did it remind me of a few things that I had forgotten to tell me kid who is about to write some exams? Yes it did.

Was it a good thing for my home educated kid to read at least once? Yes.

The thing is I know that kids in school learn about revision techniques and exam techniques, and a lot of that may seem self explanatory so I possibly ignored it, but for a home educated kid who has never been to school she actually needed to read something like this so that she is aware of these things.

Both my daughter and I thought it was an interesting read and I feel like she did gain a few things by reading it and I am actually going to suggest she reads it again.

Admin – This booklet was given to use by Oaka Books. My kids and I have long been fans of the Oaka Books topic packs and games so from time to time they do kindly send us some of their goodies to review. It is always up to us to decide if we like their resources and if we choose to write reviews on them. We are not paid for these posts.