How to teach test prep?

[Wabi Sabi]

As s homeschooler, I've not really given many tests or grades. Last year my son, who is a reasonably bright student, took one graded outside class and this year he's taking a couple more. He would like to go to public middle school next year. 

In the last two days he has taken two multiple choice tests, one for an online class and another at the school district office for placement into honors courses, and has done poorly on both. He thought the history test was easy, but missed half of the questions despite having excellent grades in everything else he's done for the class. He also thought that the placement test for the school district was easy and even fun, but his scores were below average. 

I think it is a test taking issue: he's just not practiced at taking them. Obviously, there is definitely a strategy to taking tests, otherwise school wouldn't spend so much time to test prep. If he goes to middle school next year, he's going to need better test taking skills. Even if he ends up staying home, he's still going to need to take tests at some point in his life, whether it be the ACT/SAT, a multiple choice test of the driver's manual to get his license on day, college, or whatever. 

Where do you even start? Up until now, the only tests I've ever given and graded on a regular basis were end of chapter math tests just to make sure we had mastered the material before moving on. Are those Spectrum style test prep booklets generally decent? Other suggestions?

 

 

 

[Arcadia]

When we switched DS12 to a public charter in 2nd grade and asked for subject acceleration in math, he was given pages after pages of math tests (not multiple choice) until he finally could not get 100%. It took longer than 2hrs for math and about 1hr for reading comprehension. Their teacher went over the placement tests with me for both my kids. I didn't get to keep their placement tests but I was given time to look them over after the teacher has graded them.

 

From 2nd grade to 5th grade, my kids spent two afternoons on test prep. We used past year exam questions from the old California state testing exams which was before common core. The aim was just to get my kids to be careful, silent and not too tired coloring bubbles in the actual state testing. Link is the free state exams that we used. We did the language arts and math exams and we tried the 5th grade science exam too http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp

 

For end of 5th to 6th grade, my DS11 prep for the ACT and SAT for talent search purposes. He spent 4 afternoons per exam. My DS12 is a seasoned test taker and spent an afternoon test prep time per exam, he just needs much less test prep compared to DS11.

 

For SAT, DS11 used these six free practice tests https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests

For ACT, he used the free practice tests linked in this webpage http://blog.prepscholar.com/printable-act-practice-tests-5-free

[redsquirrel]

I use old regents exams

 

http://www.nysedregents.org/

 

They have test going back years.  And they also have exams for kids as young as 3.  I like to use them on as a weekly thing. On a day that we have an outside activity and can't fit in a lot of school I have him do like 10 science questions, 10 math questions and a reading comprehension section.  I usually go a grade above if possible, but not always.

[redsquirrel]

Oh, and FWIW, I have tested my kids using either the PASS test or the CAP.  I think we switched to CAP a couple years ago.  In my state we either have to write an end of year assessment or test, with testing being mandatory every other year from grades 4-8, and then every year in high school.  I had a good friend who told me not to shy away from the testing b/c homeschool kids get so few chances to be tested. I found she was right. It has turned out to be a really good decision for my kids. Just doing it at the end of the year really took away some of the test fear they had.  And it also made them MUCH more cooperative when it came to doing test prep, lol.

 

 

[Lilaclady]

You can also print out scantron paper online and have him practice bubbling. Some kids don't know how to do that well and that affects their scores. Let him practice pacing himself with a wristwatch so he can get used to doing it himself and take breaks in between so he is not fatigued near the end.

[nansk]

... there is definitely a strategy to taking tests, ...

 

There are two parts to test taking; one is the practice of filling in bubble tests. The second is knowing how to pace yourself, how much time to devote to each question, etc. That depends on the type of test, the number and complexity of questions, and the time allotted. You can go through the sample test with him beforehand and discuss how he should pace himself, at what time he should be done with each section, etc.

 

ETA: Look at the articles under the Taking Tests section of this web site.

Edited January 19, 2017 by nansk

[Ali in OR]

In Oregon homeschoolers have to do standardized testing at the end of 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th grades. When my kiddos were in 3rd grade, we did one of those spectrum workbooks together spring semester. Together is good so that you can show them the "tricks" to question styles. We also always added Horizons math to our regular Singapore Math program just because it did continual review. That helped keep their math skills sharp. Both girls always did very well on those standardized tests.

 

School placement tests would bother me more because the content they've covered doesn't necessarily match what we've covered, but I know what my kids' skills are and where they should be placed (I used to teach high school math). We put our kids in public school for high school. I registered older dd in spring of her 8th grade year and picked her classes, placing her in geometry because we were completing algebra 1 in 8th. When they called in August just before school started to arrange to give her a math placement test, I kind of threw a fit. If they had wanted to test her in spring when it was all fresh that would be fine, but they don't test all of the public school kids after 3 months off from school. Anyway, they agreed to put her in geometry and she has been just fine.

[Julie of KY]

There's a big difference between prepping him for test taking skills going into middle school and prepping him for college entrance exams.

 

At this age, I'd pick something that's not too easy or too hard. Do a few questions at a time and go over them together. Are the missed questions due to not knowing the material or not knowing how to test. Talk through how to read the questions and answers and how the tests sometimes try to trick you. Don't do too much at a time.

 

When it comes to learning how to take timed tests, I give the test to my kids with unlimited time. I also record how long it took to take the test. I first want a baseline of what is possible with no time limit. Also a big factor in improving speed is being familiar with the test style. As you learn what to expect and how to approach the test, your time will improve. Eventually I do some with actual time limits, but my focus is on teaching the material and how to approach the test - not how to improve the time.

 

Don't spend too much time on test prep. Do it for awhile and then set it aside.