Preparing Your Child for Test-taking

• Encourage your child to read. It's the most important thing that you can do to help your child succeed in school. Read with or to your child every day.
  
  
• Don’t get upset because of a single test score. Too much pressure can affect his test performance in the future.
  
  
• Encourage your child and provide praise for the things that he does well.
  
  
• Make sure that your child attends school regularly.
  
  
• Getting a good night's sleep before the day of the test is important.
  
  
• Plan ahead. Have your child start studying for the test well in advance to avoid "cramming" the night before.
  
  
• On the day of the test, instruct your child to read all directions carefully before beginning work.

Activities to Do With Your Child

PreKindergarten-Grade 3

• Ask your child to tell you about the pictures they draw; recognize attempts at writing letters, words and sentences.
  
  
• Cut food (such as pizza, celery, carrots, sandwiches) into halves, thirds, fourth, fifths, etc.
  
  
• Questions to ask your child: “What do you notice?” “What would happen if…?”

Grades 4-8

• Talk about words and their meanings; play word games; help your child use a dictionary and a thesaurus to look up word meanings and choices.
  
  
• Look for fractions and percents in games, cookbooks and newspapers; find them in the grocery store or when using measuring cups.
  
  
• Questions to ask your child: “What is your evidence for…?” “What else do you wonder about?”

Grades 9-12 and Beyond

• Ask questions each day about homework and school. Instead of asking “What happened at school today?” try asking: “What was the funniest thing that happened today at school?” “Which subject or class do you like best? Why?”
  
  
• Talk about going to college and career interests; discuss the courses and tests your child needs to complete to go to college.