Many parents wonder – What are Olympiad exams? Are they really beneficial for my kids? How to prepare for Olympiads Exams? What the best tools and resources available for the online preparation of Olympiads?
Olympiads are competitive exams conducted at school level by various organizations at national and international levels. HBCSE Olympiads are considered the best Olympiads and the toughest one to crack. Then there are non-profit organizations like Science Olympiad Foundation, Unified council, Eduheal, and Silverline which also conduct Olympiads.
Olympiads conducted particularly by SOF have become very famous among students owing to their difficulty level and spread among the schools and students, these days. SOF conducts Maths (IMO), Science (NSO), English (IEO), Cyber (NCO) and General Knowledge Olympiads (IGKO).
Olympiad exams are the best way for one to assess one’s understanding of concepts. They give real exposure to the competitive world to students at a very young age. They not only help students in clearing their concepts but also help in building new concepts and also help them with their regular studies. Olympiads have become a trend among schools, parents, and students. So in a way, they are useful for students to hone their skills and build and reinforce their concepts.
Kids who prepare for Olympiads are generally ahead of the school curriculum and are able to understand the concepts being taught at school very well. Practicing Olympiad exam sample papers can help the kid in building the concepts.
Achieving excellence in Olympiad exams is no mean achievement and requires lots of hard work, planning, and execution.
One has to be very focused on achieving excellence in Olympiads.
Few quick tips for preparing these exams are:
Identify the syllabus
Before jumping to the preparation of an Olympiad Exam you must go through the syllabus of the exam. The syllabus of these exams generally adheres to the school syllabus. Identify all topics which are not there in current school syllabus. Generally, Olympiad exams are conducted much before the School syllabus is over so you have to start your preparation early on.
Understand the pattern
Syllabus of these exams adheres to the school syllabus but the standard of questions asked is aimed at assessing the advanced level understanding of these concepts. You should go through the previous year’s paper to understand the pattern of exams.
Ide notify the preparation material and resources
Olympiad exams require an advanced level understanding of concepts. You should be very careful while selecting your preparation material and resources. You should look for study material which covers the entire syllabus of Olympiads. You have to be a master of everything. You cannot leave any topic as your weak area.
There are a number of websites/tools available (like olympiad genius, helper, tester, etc) that can help you in Olympiad exam preparation online or offline like you can practice the IMO Olympiad sample papers for your math paper. Go for a site/tool with the proven track record and which provides feedback and improvement suggestions. Also, check if the site/tool supports printable tests. Hard copies of tests are really handy when one has to get exposure to the real-time exam.
Planning and Execution
You should plan your preparation. As Olympiad exams are conducted much before the school syllabus is over you have to start your preparation early on. Adhering and executing your plan is the key to success.
Assessment and Improvement
You have to assess your preparedness from time to time. You also have to improve upon your mistakes and build new concepts. To achieve excellence in Olympiads you have to be a master of everything. You cannot leave difficult topics and dream of achieving excellence.
Staying focused and motivated
This is the most important point for students and parents. This is a general tendency of students and parents that they start with full force initially but lose interest very soon after seeing no immediate results. Keep in mind that your efforts will show results eventually but not immediately. You have to keep practicing. You will start seeing results at least after one month of practice.
Once you start seeing results you will have momentum and motivation to proceed forward. Initial one month is the biggest hurdle and most of the students and parents give up after seeing no immediate results within the first month only. Always remember Rome was not built in a day and only continuous effort and hard work can take you to heights.
You should also remember that you are not competing against anyone but yourself and your aim is to achieve excellence in Olympiads and improve upon your concepts. Once you take out this idea of competition with your peers and you absorb the idea that you are competing against yourself, you will be more focused. You can easily identify your weak and lacking areas and can improve upon them.