Tag Archives: test taking

Coding Curriculum

Simple Ways to Help Your Kids Prepare for a Standardized Test

No matter how you may feel about standardized tests, they are currently a part of school curriculums throughout California. While it may seem as though there’s no real way to prepare your children for taking them, CodeREV Kids actually has some tips. It all starts of course with bringing their Number 2 pencil, but there are other things they can do to increase their chances of doing well.

Teach them about the process of elimination

Any time your child doesn’t know the answer, they should simply flip it around and ask themselves what the wrong answers are. For example, if a question has four possible answers and they can see that two of them are definitely wrong, then they can choose from the remaining two and have a 50% chance of getting it right, compared to just a 25% chance if they guessed randomly.

Skip questions and go back to them

Depending on the test, there may be some questions mixed throughout the test that take longer to complete. Teach your child that if they come to one that is taking too much time, simply skip it and move on. If there’s time at the end, they can go back to them. The point is that it’s better to skip a few questions and keep moving than to get stuck on question 15 for 20 minutes and end up leaving the last 30 questions blank.

Make notes if possible

Some tests allow kids a piece of scratch paper. If the test your child is taking does allow this, then teach your kids to work out problems by writing them down and breaking them down to a smaller scale. Not only can this make it easier for children to better visualize the question, but studies have shown that it helps them concentrate and focus as well.

Teach them problem-solving and critical-thinking skills

In addition to specific test prep, you can also encourage your kids to boost their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. In fact, at CodeREV Kids, when we ask parents to show us how coding has helped their children, they generally have numerous answers for us, but improved problem-solving skills are typically among them.

No matter what the test is, no matter how important it is, your child can learn to perform better on it. The above tips are a great way to get started as you think of ways to improve their test taking.

Skills

5 Simple Tips to Help Your Kids Ace Their Next Test

Every parent wants their child to do well in school but not all of us know the best way to help them accomplish that goal. At CodeREV Kids, we’ve compiled five simple tips you can follow to help your kids be prepared for their next test.

1. Make a plan for studying well in advance

Deadlines have a way of sneaking up on all of us, regardless of age. Teach your children to make a study plan as soon as they know the date of their test. Then check with them daily or weekly to see that they’re on track. There’s simply no substitute for studying over time versus cramming in the day or two before the test.

2. Be ready for the format of the test

Many students concentrate so hard on learning the material on a test that they forget to work on the format of the test. For example, if your child isn’t used to essay tests, then you may need to help them learn how to organize them. If they don’t know the best strategies for multiple choice tests, then you may need to help them.

3. Remember that it’s not all about school

You do want to help them focus but you don’t want them so stressed about their tests that they end up worrying themselves out of a good grade. We recommend fun activities that help improve their critical thinking skills overall, like coding classes.

4. Attitude matters

A single test isn’t going to make or break your child’s entire educational career. You do want them to do well, but if they don’t, let them know that you can learn from that experience. You don’t want to pressure your child so much that they aren’t able to do their best on a test.

5. Overall health is important

Make sure your child gets a good breakfast the day of their test, and plenty of sleep the night before. Regular experience can help boost brain activity too. There are of course many reasons to try and ensure your child is healthy but improving their test scores should be one of them.

At CodeREV Kids we are in the business of helping kids succeed. As their parent, there are many things you can do to help them learn to excel, including the tips above. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to know more about how coding can be a part of this strategy.

Education

4 Tips to Improve Your Child’s Test Taking Skills

Is your child struggling with tests? While helping them to learn the material on the test itself is an important part of test prep, don’t forget to actually teach them how to take tests. CodeREV Kids is here with four tips that can help boost your child’s test taking skills.

1. Don’t wait until the last minute

This may seem like obvious advice, but remember that your child will do best if they don’t cram in the days before the test. Study after study has shown that spacing out study sessions is much more effective than a single, long study session. To teach your child to do this, encourage them to group topics into different sessions, show them how to take on smaller chunks of material, and make sure they’re covering each topic more than once.

2. Practice several test formats

Just ensuring that your student knows the material on the test won’t help if they don’t understand the format of the test. Teach your child strategies to eliminate wrong answers on multiple choice tests, have them practice essay questions, and practice allotting time so that your student doesn’t spend half their test-taking time on a single question.

3. Encourage the right attitude

Do you want your child to do well on their test? Of course you do. But this single test isn’t going to make or break their entire future. Make sure that they understand that preparing is what sets them up for future success. Studying, like learning to code, builds a child’s confidence – which improves all sorts of school performance factors. A child who’s too confident is likely to rush through a test, while a student who is under too pressure may have trouble focusing. Help your child understand a middle ground.

4. Remember that overall health will have an impact

Of course you want your child to be rested every day they go to school, and you recognize that a good breakfast is important, but it’s even more important on test days. If your child has the option of sleeping for an extra half hour or studying for that same time, remember that sleeping is going to be better for them.

At CodeREV Kids, we know how important studying is to a child’s future. We also know that our coding programs help children improve their critical thinking and problem solving skills – both of which can help them do better on tests. Reach out to us today to learn more about our numerous programs.