|
||
|
||
|
Nearly everyone can remember that overwhelming feeling of dread that washed over you upon hearing a teacher announce a “pop quiz.” Unannounced quizzes always will cause a few sweaty palms, but there are steps you can take to ease your child’s fears and increase her confidence when it comes to this stress-inducing school ritual. Discuss the concept of a pop quiz before the teacher actually gives one. Explain to your child that just as unexpected things happen in the real world, pop quizzes also will occur, but it is possible to survive them. Emphasize that it is normal to be nervous before taking a pop quiz. You may want to talk about situations that make you nervous and ways to overcome that feeling. Here are six more methods for mastering pop quizzes: Establish a study routine. Your child should be accustomed to doing homework every night and should have a study schedule to ensure that no subjects are neglected. If your child continually reviews what she learns in class, there is less of a chance that the pop quiz will catch her off guard. Practice good study skills. Help your child maximize his nightly studying by adopting beneficial study habits. Some suggestions include organizing notes, making flashcards or even coming up with practice quizzes at home. Making good use of study time will ensure that your child feels prepared when the pop quiz rolls around. Emphasize a healthy lifestyle. Getting enough sleep every night is one of the best ways to help your child do her best on a pop quiz. These quizzes demand quick, on-the-spot thinking, and if your child is sleepy, it’s likely to slow down her reasoning. Similarly, a balanced diet is imperative if your child is going to perform well. Avoid too much caffeine and sugar, which can cause your child to crash and burn at test time. Read the directions. Besides these pre-quiz preparations, there are things that your child can do during the quiz to improve the final result. The most important is reading (and re-reading) the directions. With adrenaline racing, children make mistakes that are not caused by a lack of knowledge, but by answering the question in the wrong manner. Children need to understand that it is okay to ask for clarification about instructions and questions that are confusing. Take your time. Due to the spur-of-the-moment nature of pop quizzes, many children rush through them and make careless errors. Let your child know that just as with any other assignment or test, he still needs to check his work before handing it in. Keep it in perspective. Don’t let one botched pop quiz grow out of proportion. Placing too much weight on any one test can lead to unnecessary test anxiety. Remember that one pop quiz does not determine an entire grade, nor is it a measure of your child’s overall academic performance. Just as with anything else, it will likely take some time and practice before your child can breeze through pop quizzes. By Heidi Neuzil |
||
|
|
||
|
||
