Parent Tips to Help Prepare Your Student for Standardized Testing

 by Pete Garlinghouse

 All parents want to see their student(s) perform well in school. Parents play an important part in helping their children give their best performance on a test. The ideas presented below may serve as a guideline for parents when helping their student(s) prepare for testing. During the weeks leading up to the TEST begin to talk with your student about the importance of giving their best effort during testing. The following thoughts will help you in preparing your child for being ready to give the test his or her all.

A FEW WEEKS BEFORE: take the chance to go online and find a few sample questions or buy a test book and go over a few test problems from each section to help your child understand what the test will be like.

Help them to understand the testing taking environment. Keeping hands to self. Not talking to anyone. Raising their hand with questions but understanding the teachers cannot help you answer questions. Help them to understand they will get lots of breaks. Help them to understand that its supposed to be fun and helps us see what you are learning and things we might need to work on. Let them know the week is fun and exciting—a chance to catch up with friends during the breaks.

A FEW TIPS FOR THE ACTUAL TESTS: Don’t look at anyone’s paper. Just do your best to answer the question, and move to the next one. If you don’t know one, take your best guess and come back to it if you finish early. If you don’t—its better to guess and move on because if you get hung up on one, you could miss all the ones you don’t attempt after that one question. Don’t over think the questions or go back and change answers. Usually your first answer is your best answer.

THE NIGHT BEFORE:

· Help your child get to bed on time. Research shows that being well-rested helps students do better. · Help children resolve immediate arguments before going to bed. · Keep your routine as normal as possible. Upsetting natural routines may make children feel insecure. · Mention the test to show you’re interested, but don’t dwell on it. · Plan ahead to avoid conflicts on the morning of the test.

THE MORNING OF THE TEST:

 · Get up early to avoid rushing. Be sure to have your child at school on time. · Have your child eat a good breakfast, but not a heavy one. Research shows that students do better if they have breakfast before they take tests. · Be positive about the test. Acknowledge that tests can be hard and that they’re designed so that no one will know all the answers. Explain that doing your best is what counts. The important thing is to make your child comfortable and confident about the test.

AFTER THE TEST:

 · Talk to your child about his or her feelings about the test, making sure you acknowledge the effort such a task requires. · Discuss what was easy and what was hard; discuss what your child learned from the test. · Discuss what changes your child would make if he or she were to retake the test. · Explain that performance on a test is not a condition for you to love your child. Celebrate!! Do something fun!