Back from March Break: How to Get Your Child Ready for June Exams

March break is over. Your child probably had a solid week — skiing, screens, sleeping in, or some combination of all three. Nothing wrong with that.

But now reality hits: there are roughly 12 weeks left before end-of-year exams. For students in Grade 6, Secondary 4, and Secondary 5, Quebec’s ministerial exams arrive in June. And between now and those exams, the classroom pace doesn’t slow down — it speeds up.

If your child was already struggling a bit before the break, these 12 weeks will go by fast. Here’s how to get back on track, without panic and without all-nighters.

Take an Honest Look

Before talking about study plans, the first step is understanding where your child actually stands. Not where you think they are — where their grades say they are.

Log into the school portal. Most Quebec school service centres use Mozaïk or Google Classroom. Look at recent evaluation grades, submitted (or missing) assignments, and teacher comments.

A few questions to ask yourself:

• Are there assignments that were due before the break and never handed in?
• Were the most recent evaluation results stable, improving, or declining?
• Is there one subject that keeps causing problems?

If everything looks fine, March break probably didn’t do any harm. If warning signs existed before the break, they didn’t disappear during the week off.

The Actual Timeline to June

Here’s what students face between now and the end of the 2025-2026 school year:

March-April: Teachers tackle the final content blocks. This is often the densest period for new material — particularly in math and science. Third-term evaluations (SAÉs) are also being prepared during this stretch.

May: Review period begins. Most teachers dedicate the last two weeks of May to revision. School board exams typically arrive at the end of the month.

June: Ministerial exams. In 2026, the Grade 6 French exams (reading and writing) take place in early June. For Secondary 5, the French writing exam happened in December, but other exams (math, science, history) happen in June. The exact schedule varies by school service centre — check with the CSSDM, the CSS de Laval, or your local CSS.

A Week-by-Week Plan (That Actually Works)

Rather than a theoretical plan, here’s a realistic approach that accounts for the fact that your child also has daily homework, extracurriculars, and a life.

Weeks 1-2 (March): Fill the Gaps

The goal isn’t to review everything. It’s to identify shaky concepts and solidify them now, before new material gets stacked on top.

For elementary: focus on multiplication tables (if these aren’t solid, everything else in math becomes harder), French grammar agreements, and reading comprehension.

For high school: target prerequisite concepts. In Secondary 3-4 math, if linear functions aren’t clear, quadratic functions will be impossible. In French, if argumentative text structure isn’t understood, the May-June exam will be a wall.

Weeks 3-6 (Late March — Mid-April): Keep Pace + Catch Up

This is the critical period. Teachers are advancing through new material, and your child needs to both follow along and strengthen weak areas.

The key: 20 to 30 minutes of review each evening, on top of regular homework. No more. Consistency beats intensity every time.

A trick that works: at the end of each school day, ask your child to explain one thing they learned today. If they can’t explain it, that’s a concept to review.

Weeks 7-10 (Mid-April — Mid-May): Progressive Review Mode

Start incorporating more structured review sessions. The best tool at this stage: past exams. Ask the teacher or check the Quebec Ministry of Education website for previous years’ exams.

For ministerial exams specifically, the format doesn’t change much from year to year. Practising with 2024 and 2025 exams is the best possible preparation.

Weeks 11-12 (Late May — Early June): Final Stretch

At this point, all you can do is consolidate what’s already been learned. This isn’t the time to learn entirely new concepts. Review strengths (to keep confidence up) and do one final pass on weak areas.

Watch the sleep. A high school student who gets 7 hours of sleep per night (or 9-10 hours for elementary) performs better on an exam than one who studied until midnight.

When a Tutor Makes a Real Difference

Let’s be straightforward: not every student needs a tutor. If your child has stable grades, understands the material, and handles homework independently, a home review routine might be enough.

A tutor becomes relevant in these situations:

The gap is already established. If your child has been accumulating gaps since the first or second report card, 12 weeks of home review probably won’t be enough to catch up alone. A tutor can pinpoint exactly where the holes are and work on them in a targeted way.

A specific subject is blocking progress. In math especially, concepts are sequential. If the foundation isn’t solid, everything built on top is fragile. A math tutor can go back to the source of the problem — sometimes two levels back — and rebuild from there.

Exam stress is paralysing. Some students understand the material but freeze in exam situations. A tutor who knows the ministerial exam format can run practice exams under real conditions. That makes all the difference.

You can’t help anymore. Starting in Secondary 3, the content becomes specialized. Helping with Secondary 4 SN math or Secondary 5 chemistry goes beyond most parents’ school memories. That’s normal — and it’s fine to delegate.

What Doesn’t Work (Despite Good Intentions)

A few approaches parents often try that rarely deliver results:

The weekend blitz. Three hours of studying on a Saturday doesn’t replace 30 minutes every evening during the week. The brain needs spaced repetition to retain information long-term.

Buying workbooks without guidance. A Bescherelle grammar book or a math workbook is a tool. But if your child doesn’t understand the underlying concept, doing 50 exercises on a misunderstood topic just reinforces the error.

Comparing with other students. “My coworker’s daughter got 90% in math…” Comments like these create anxiety, not motivation. Compare your child to themselves — are they progressing compared to their last report card?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my child fell behind during March break?

Check with their teacher for missing assignments or shaky concepts from before the break. Log into the school portal (Mozaïk, Google Classroom) to review recent grades. If your child hesitates on exercises they used to handle confidently, a quick review session would help.

When should we start preparing for June exams in Quebec?

Ideally, right after March break. That gives you about 12 weeks before end-of-year exams and 14 weeks before the June ministerial exams. Starting early lets you study at a reasonable pace without cramming.

How long should a student study each day for exams?

For elementary students, 20 to 30 minutes of focused review per evening is enough. For high school students, aim for 45 to 60 minutes, alternating subjects. Consistency matters most — half an hour every evening is better than three hours the night before the exam.

Can a tutor help prepare for Quebec’s ministerial exams?

Yes. A good tutor knows the format of ministerial exams and can target exactly the skills being assessed. For Secondary 5 French, they can work on argumentative writing using the ministry’s exact criteria. For Secondary 4 math, they can focus on contextualized problem-solving, which makes up a large part of the grade.

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