Teaching the Test

If your child brings home a test with a lower grade than you would like, take some time to review the test. First of all, find out what sort of mistakes were made. Did your child simply not have a grasp of the material? Were the wrong things studied? Were the mistakes careless? Were there transposing errors - especially in math - where numbers were reversed? If the test was multiple choice, did your child get the right answer on the scratch sheet, but circled or bubbled the wrong answer?

Then find out which type of answers are hardest for your child. Multiple choice often require your child to choose between two or three possible answers. Short answers demand that your child have certain names or vocabulary memorized. True/False answers are always tricky. The dreaded essay questions can be horrors for our kids. And sometimes there are other little things that teachers count off for - incorrect spelling and punctuation, for example. (Or not writing a name on the paper...or messiness...not that our kids would ever have problems with that...)

Explain your findings to your child, and help her bone up on her weak areas. Ask the teacher for help as well; he may have practice tests or ideas that will be of great benefit.