October 2008 Newsletter Articles

Discuss successful test-taking strategies with your preteen

Tests for your middle school child are likely to be more frequent, challenging and abstract than they were when he was in elementary school. Your child may benefit from suggestions on how to study for such tests.

To help your child improve test performance, share these strategies:

• Schedule plenty of study time. Teachers usually provide advance notice, sometimes up to a week, of when they plan to give a test. Start studying the day the test is announced.
• Use learning styles when studying. If your child learns best through talking and listening, he may benefit from reading material aloud. Then ask him to explain it to you. If he learns best by seeing and doing, have him create a diagram, poster or model.
• Use note cards. Most students learn best when material is broken down or "chunked"into smaller pieces. Making note cards, with one relevant fact on each card, is an easy way to do this.
• Think like a teacher. What are the most important pieces of information in this unit? What are the concepts this unit is presenting? What parts of this unit will help me understand material that is coming up in the next unit and beyond? Practice looking for these keys to what your child needs to know. Hint: items in bold, or concepts the teacher refers to often, are almost always important.
• Form a list of the important facts and concepts. Use it to make up practice tests for yourself.
• Save the last day of studying for review. Trying to learn new concepts now is cramming and crammed material is typically forgotten as quickly as it is learned.

Reduce the amount of time your child spends in front of a screen

Screens--from TV sets to computer monitors--are here to stay. But that doesn't mean your middle schooler should be glued to one all day long. So make a point of getting him away from the screen and on the path to a healthful, active life. Here's how:

• Set limits. Decide on a reasonable amount of daily computer/TV time--say, two hours--and stick with it. If your middle schooler exceeds that amount, pull the plug on him.
• Talk to him. Explain to your middle schooler why you're limiting his screen time. Tell him it's important that he get exercise and fresh air instead of sitting in front of the TV or computer. Just don't expect him to agree with you!
• Banish the bedroom TV. Studies show that kids with televisions in their rooms watch an extra 90 minutes of television every day.
• Walk the walk. If you don't want your middle schooler to be a couch potato, don't be one yourself. Drop the clicker and grab a tennis racket or baseball mitt.
• Offer alternatives. Give your middle schooler other things to do besides sitting in front of a screen. Offer to go biking with him. Or shoot hoops together.
• Don't use screen time as a reward or punishment. It'll make the TV and computer seem even more important to your middle schooler.

Reprinted with permission from the October 2008 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (Middle School Edition) newsletter.