Is your child ready for the test?

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I am often asked about test prep.  While I am quick to point out that I am not in the business of test preparation or tutoring, I do have an opinion born from my own experience.  My oldest daughter’s first standardized test (ERB), in third grade, taught me that in our current educational climate I must take a fairly aggressive, proactive role in getting her ready. 

Why is this?  Well, my own opinion is that most schools are not set up for the repeated rehearsal required for broad-based standardized test success.  They try to get the students ready without infringing too much on instructional time.  A noble goal, but a skewed view.   The brain doesn’t really get it and hold on to it unless it is practiced over time.  So…believing that the week or two before the exam is sufficient test-taking practice is just wrong. 

But there is one place that gets it right…

The Sugar Land Independent School District, just outside of Houston, realized that repeated rehearsal was necessary and they did something about it…using volunteers!  Their online Beestar program provides a way for students to practice at home for standardized tests 10 minutes at a time, and it’s available to every child across the country, not just Sugar Land students. 

I love it!  No death-by-four-inch-thick-test-prep-workbook here!  No cutting into class time.  No additional burden for the teachers.  The parents are the ones who make it happen.  Sugar Land has an army of parents making the difference in their test scores…and they’re probably doing it in their PJs!

I learned about Beestar just six weeks before my daughter’s fourth grade round of the ERB.  I signed her up for the math and language arts exercises, and we dutifully sat down at the computer together for 10 minutes each evening.  (P.S.  The math program is free and the other subjects are just $20-$30 each.)  I sat beside her as she worked through each question and quickly saw opportunities to show her how test questions try to trip you up.  I also saw where there were gaps in her learning.  For example, she hadn’t been taught cubic volume yet and I didn’t know it until I saw her try to do it on Beestar.  

So what were my results?

After just six weeks of these 10-minute online exercises, I saw marked improvement in my daughter’s scores.  She gained in EVERY area of the ERB, in one area jumping up more than 15 percentile points!  Imagine how amazing our results might have been if we’d had this routine for the whole school year!  Needless to say, Beestar is now a routine in our household.

So why on earth am I writing about test prep at a time when buying school clothes and backpacks is topmost in your mind?  Because routines are what will make a difference in your student’s life.  Now is the time to sign up for Beestar and decide with your child when you will sit together and do the exercises each week.  (We take Sundays off.) 

Great news…   As of this school year, Beestar is available through 8th grade.  (Previously, it stopped at 7th grade.) 

And, last but not least, a word of warning…

You will find occasional errors in the Beestar practices.  There are sometimes mistakes of grammar, etc.  For my type-A personality, I found this a bit maddening at first.  But the website has a procedure for reporting errors when you find them.  Don’t be shy about doing so.  In spite of the occasional mistake, I think Beestar is great.  I know first hand that it gets results.