The holidays are right around the corner. It has been a very busy time for students this past fall. The holidays are truly a much-needed and rewarding time for students to reward themselves for their hard work and to soak in a much-needed break. For this holiday season, we have some tips and insights to share with you to help you both relax and enjoy your break, while also providing tips on how to stay productive and make the most of this period.

Above all, take the time to relax. Pat yourself on the back for finishing a busy Fall term. Take care of yourself, your body, and your mental health. These are important priorities to take care of! New Years is a great time to set yourself realistic, achievable goals for the new year. These could be both personal and academic goals that you know you can achieve by working towards, while also feeling confident to add additional goals that may be more aspirational, but you can still take steps towards.

The holidays can also provide extra days outside traveling, seeing family, and friends. Extra days are good times to engage in learning  (i.e. reading, writing). You can find interesting Holidays readings lists online. You can also working on school material (i.e. projects) that need to be delivered after the holidays. These may be assignments/papers/projects/presentations that are due after the break. It is also a good opportunity to get addition help or brush up by receiving private tutoring. In our program, we offer private, one-on-one in Toronto, Canada and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada.

For high school students (Grades 9 and up), the period after the holidays means exam time — exams begin a few weeks into January. The exam period can be a busy and sometimes stressful time for students. As such, we greatly encourage you, if you are in high school, to get a head start on some of your subjects which you will have exams for. In particular, this is the case for subjects which students may find to be more difficult. It would be worthwhile to start reviewing class notes and prior tests as a starting point. It would also be worthwhile to come up with a study timeline for classes in terms of exam preparation.

For Grade 12 students, university applications are due right after the holidays for many of the programs. The holidays are a great time to research university programs across Ontario and the rest of Canada, finalize selections, and work on the supplementary applications (i.e. essays and interviews) for programs that have such requirements.

Overall, balancing the holidays fun with being productive is important. Remember, above all, to take care of yourself and your well-being and reward yourself for all of your hard work!

Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season.

Till next time,

Prepsmart Tutoring Team