How to Help Your Kid Study for a Test

My daughter's first fourth-grade social studies test was a tough lesson in study skills -- for both of us. Sophie is a good student, so I let her prepare for what we thought would be a simple exam on her own. When she got the test back, though, she and I were devastated by her less-than-passing grade. I asked Sophie how she had studied. "Like everyone did, I think. I read the chapter again," she said. That was it? She hadn't asked a friend to quiz her? Written down key vocabulary words? She responded with The Blank Look.

Major "aha!" mom moment: Teachers often don't coach kids on how to study for tests. "I may show my students how to make flash cards or use visual tricks to remember facts, but I have to focus my time on teaching the actual subject matter," says 2008 National Teacher of the Year Michael Geisen, a science teacher in Prineville, OR. Don't worry: You don't have to become your child's constant study buddy (who has time for that?). But you can keep your own cheat sheet of study techniques to share with her. Try out a few of these tips before your child's next exam and she'll soon have A-level test-prep skills.

MATH

Talk it out. Have your child review the major math concepts he's studying and either say them aloud or write on index cards the general gist of each topic. For example: "Factors are two numbers you multiply together to get another number: 2 x 3 = 6, so 2 and 3 are factors of 6."

Work it out. "Do actual problems on paper or a dry-erase board," says John Bass, a dad of two daughters and an elementary school teacher in Lake Oswego, OR. Have your child use problems from his textbook or go online to the publisher's "extra resources" site. Other online practice sites to try: Coolmath.com, Funbrain.com, and Mathcats.com.

Add color. When he's doing long division or other problems that require multiple steps, have your child complete each line or section in a different-color pencil.

Play "beat the buzzer." Julie Murray of Cary, NC, prints out the same number of problems that will be on her son Jayden's timed test (search online for "free printable math worksheets"). Then the 9-year-old has five chances to "beat" a timer set for five minutes. If your child gets frustrated about his progress, remind him that it's just a game and he'll become faster and better the more he does it.

Draw it out. Encourage your child to draw simple pictures (such as a rectangle with the length of each side marked for figuring out area or perimeter) -- while studying and on scratch paper during a test -- particularly for story problems involving shapes, sizes, distances, or lengths.

SPELLING

Picture this. On the front of an index card, have your child draw a simple picture of each spelling word next to the first letter of the word as a clue. She should write the correct spelling on the back of the card. Then have your child check the picture, then spell the word aloud or write it on paper. If she spells the word wrong, have her write it twice on scratch paper or a dry-erase board and spell it aloud twice.

Let 'em eat their words. Give your child a cookie sheet with dry, flavored gelatin mix on it. Have her "write" her words with her finger, saying the letters aloud as she goes, suggests stephanie sturgeon, a Noblesville, IN, teacher and mom of two. If you'd rather avoid the sugar and stained fingers, rice or sand works, too.

Get it on tape. Show your child how to say each spelling word into a cassette player, iPhone, or digital audio device, leaving long pauses after each word. When he's done, have him replay the recording, write the words during the pauses, then check his work against his correct spelling list.

Study via stickies. Post tough spelling words throughout the house -- on the refrigerator, bathroom door, mirrors -- with colorful sticky notes, suggests Joan Rooney, a Boston mom and vice president of tutor management at Tutor.com. "Kids can also use funny drawings or symbols," she says.

READING & WRITING

Read and circle. Mom Julie Murray helped her kids improve their comprehension by previewing questions before reading a story. Have your child circle important words in the questions, like "Make a list" or "Who is the main character?" Then, when he reads the passage, he should circle the answers to the questions. Now your child is ready to respond.

Talk it out. If your child's an auditory learner, encourage him to whisper the reading section to himself or mouth the words, says Richard Bavaria, Ph.d., senior vice president of education outreach for Sylvan Learning Centers. "The information will stick in his memory more effectively," he says.

Play detective. Improve your child's focus by asking him to sleuth out the "five W's and one H" (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) in every reading passage. If your child finds these "main clues" and highlights or circles them, he should be able to easily "solve," or answer, important questions.

Ace the essays. Help your child make up essay questions to practice answering. Create a "mind map" or web. For example, if the question is "What can you do to help the environment?" your child would write that in a center circle. Around it, she can jot her ideas in additional circles, such as "Pick up litter." Once she's drafted all her options, she'll write them in a paragraph, from most important to least.

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