The ABC's of Test-Taking
Let's face it – no one looks forward to taking a test. Even the most studious children can experience anxiety and doubt before an exam. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to help your child feel prepared and ready to tackle those problems.
Make sure your child gets enough rest and a good breakfast.
Catching some Zzz's helps students stay alert and focused and retain more information. A good night's sleep and a good breakfast will also help calm pre-test anxiety. How many hours of rest does this entail? Children ages five to nine need 10 to 11 hours of sleep per night, while tweens and teens 11 to 15 require about nine to 10 hours. Once children turn 15, this decreases to eight to nine hours a night.
Review your child's class notes and discuss recurring themes.
What ideas keep coming up throughout your child's curriculum? Ask your child what he thinks will be on the test, and then focus on this material. Some students find that making charts or simply rewriting their notes is a great test preparation technique.
Space out study sessions.
Children can begin studying one to two weeks before a test, depending upon their grade level and difficulty of the material. Teach them that cramming is not effective test preparation; studying every day for a shorter amount of time is more efficient than waiting until the night before the exam.
Teach your child to grasp concepts, not memorize.
Test preparation should entail understanding theories and ideas, not memorizing facts. Help your child retain more information by asking her to explain concepts to you. If she isn't able to give enough details, go over the basic principles she is studying again. This will help when she is taking her test.
Advise your child to answer easier questions first.
The key to successful test taking is to do what you can first. This will ease anxiety about the difficult sections, and allow your child to best manage his time. After he has answered the questions he feels confident about, he will have an easier time answering harder questions.
A tutor can help alleviate test anxiety.
At Sylvan Learning, our tutors are trained to help your child achieve more than a good test grade. We focus on helping students thoroughly understand the test material and apply different techniques during a test. Sylvan students are taught how to study more effectively and efficiently.
Don't emphasize the grade alone.
Although you want your child to do well, remind him that the ultimate goal of studying is for him to learn. This will remove some of the pressure he feels during test preparation. When students feel more at ease during a test, they are more likely to do better.