Does your child panic at the thought of Friday's big test? Does he have trouble focusing during study time? There's no denying that test-time can cause stress in your kids. Take a look at these 7 steps that should ease the test-prep process and have your student feeling confident about that next exam.
- Map out a study schedule — say, 15 to 30 minutes a night depending on the child's age, how much material there is to cover, and how much other homework has to be done.
- Find out if the teacher has explained whether the test is short-answer, multiple-choice, essay, or a combination of the three. For the first two kinds of tests, kids will need to know lots of facts and details; for essay tests, thinking about the big picture is more important.
- Review class notes, textbook chapters, study questions, and other materials together, and ask your child what she thinks is the most important info.
- Help your child write down answers and key pieces of information so she can review them later.
- Review the basics, like who, what, when, where, and why.
- On test day, remind your child to read the questions all the way through and answer easy ones first.
- Follow up: if the results are not what you and your child hoped for, talk to the teacher to find out what was missing in your child's preparation.