How to Prepare Your Child Study for a Test

One of the leading responsibilities as a parent starts at preparing your kid for a test. But more than a responsibility, it’s a tussle too. Your kid’s disdain at being forced to sit at lengths for something apparently ‘boring’ and ‘straining’ becomes a major conflict.

Still, as a parent, you can’t drop something that may as well be the most important factor for your children’s success in life. And out of all people, who’s going to teach your child important values like hard-work and diligence.

But right now, we will focus and shed light on some of the most efficient methods of getting your kid strapped and ready for acing that pending test, on Monday.

Do Sample Practice Tests

To start with, you should make it a priority that your kid has an idea of the format and flow of the test. If the test in question is a standardized one, then it is easy as a breeze to locate a sample paper, or you can also request the teacher to provide you one.

practice child study for a test

This practice isn’t just for narrowing and familiarizing your kid with the ‘hot’ questions that frequent the test. But also makes your kid informed and accustomed to the format and structure of the test.

If in case the coming test isn’t a standardized and common one, it might not be possible to use online resources. In such a situation, you could try to form an illustrative specimen yourself. It isn’t much trouble to peruse through your kid’s books and notebooks once in order to scan some viable questions. This can also work like a charm to familiarize your kid with some typical questions.

Schedule Study Times

It can be highly fruitful to prepare a timetable for preparation a few weeks before the exam day. Optimally, you can set a consistent timespan somewhere in the evening, say between 7 to 8. And in that zone, your child is to solely study for his tests, with no distractions and no multitasking etc.

study schedule

It also comes as a responsibility for you as a parent to make the environment as ambient as possible in that zone. You also need to refrain yourself from being distracting and/or troublesome to your kid. Don’t go handing around petty errands to him/her during this period.

Moving forward, you can cook up a planned agenda for your kids, so they stick to a well-measured and well-rounded form of study, covering all major concepts along the way. These study practices can be really beneficial.

Finally, these scheduled study times should also have room for uniform breaks. Like a cycle of 60 minutes study followed 10 minutes of break, with 60 mins. Break after 3 cycles. Moreover, instead of fixing the study periods according to time, you can form short goals, like completing 15 math problems, writing 1 essay, or practicing 1 section of a Physics chapter.

Take Study Aids

To supplement the scheduled study times, you can form some resources to easily obtain the most important concepts. It can help your kid out a ton if he can easily access the major formulas and facts, it can effectively cut off repetitively flipping pages for that same theorem when stuck solving a question.

child study aids

A daily use of such aids has been proven to effectively boost memory. Through this, you can also teach them the importance of highlighting core points, a vital value for the future.

Keeping flash cards can be a handy exercise. It can carry important historical dates, scientific facts, formulas etc. Subsequently, you can encourage the child to write down these important formulas & theorems on the margins of a test as soon as they receive it.

Practice Answering Before Test

Many times, a child could be as prepared as they go, but panic and/or mismanage time during exam day. The frequency of this phenomenon is more than expected. The best way is to simulate the test atmospheres beforehand in order to better equip your child to handle them.

practice makes you perfect

Practice makes you perfect, this proverb couldn’t be any truer in this case. You need to keep feeding your kid with full-length test-type questions, or maybe oral ones.

You should also try to fit in one or two full-length sample examinations, with a timer in hand. To give them a feel of the real exam atmosphere. The full-length test should be in accordance with the actual times fixed for the actual examinations. Don’t let the timer run for too-long or try challenging them for shorter times, it can through them off balance, ruining the whole point of this exercise.

Just Talk to Child

At the end of the day, it is your own child, not just some student under your purview. Your responsibility isn’t just their academic excellence, but also their emotional well-being. Don’t burden them with your own set of expectations and principles.

just talk with your child

Talk to them about what they feel. Whether it be any nervousness or anxiety that they are dealing with. It can be the most helpful way to help your child. Ask them about their feelings and try to empathize. Even if their answer is negatively unacceptable to you, try isolating their reluctance and headaches, boost their confidence, and then work to solve them one by one.

Also, discuss with them how a single paper doesn’t stand up for much in the long run. There emotional happiness and contentment however do. Furthermore, teach them how trying their best is what matters, not the number on the marksheet, which can be influenced by the smallest of things and can’t be controlled completely.

It is absolutely necessary to be accessible to your child. They should be trusting enough of you and your temperament, to disclose their feelings. Don’t create situations where your child hides vital information regarding any illnesses or discomforts they might be having, just out of fear of reprimand. Only after you get to know firsthand from your child about their health issues like insomnia, nausea, sweating etc. can you work on them for everyone’s good, health has to be the foremost priority any day, whether mental or physical.

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Also, try and fit some appreciative comments here and there. The correct amount of motivation and emotional upliftment is an absolute requirement, no excuses. Also, who doesn’t like to be complimented, there’s no better healer of sad or tired moods.

That was a succinct overview of some of the most effective and efficient ways to help ready your child for those dreaded exam days, maybe even turn them into a joyous experience.