Helping Your Child with Test-Taking part 4
After the Test
You and your child can learn a great deal from reviewing a graded exam paper. Reviewing will show him or her where they had difficulty and after some analysis, why. This is especially important for classes in which the material builds from one section to the next, as in math. Students who have not mastered the basics of math are not likely to be able to work with fractions, square roots, beginning algebra and so on.
Discuss the wrong answers with your child and find out why they chose the answers - i.e. what their thought process was. This will help to relate back to the question - did they understand the question? or misread a question? If they understood the question and knew the answer, did they fail to make the answer clear?
You and your child should read and discuss all comments that the teacher writes on a returned test. If any comments aren’t clear, tell your child to ask the teacher to explain them.
Reviewing the test paper is also has another benefit - it reinforces the understanding that the test was not difficult. It is important to nurture this thought process in your kids, and to link this to the revision and work they did before the test. By doing this, you are reinforcing the following thought processes:
- test or exam preparation is not difficult
- the best way is to revise the work as you are doing it
- a little discipline now goes a long long way to preparation for tests and exams
- doing the exam or test is not difficult, as long as you follow a strategy or a system
Remember, you are looking for small wins - where you see this, make you comment and praise them on it.
Finally, don’t get upset because of a single test score. Many things can influence how your child does on a test. She might not have felt well on test day or she might have been too nervous to concentrate. She might have had an argument with a friend before the test or she might have been late to school because of traffic. Remember, one test is simply one test. This needs to be balanced with the child’s overall well being - this may require some trial and error.
Lastly, enjoy the experience, and have faith that it will work out. It does not require a major change in your lifestyle, but this can reap major rewards in the long run.
