The standard homeschool classroom does not pay much attention to formal tests. However your state regulations may require your homeschool student to undergo standardized testing. In order for them to handle the tests with ease it is a good idea to give them a bit of practice on the stressful situation so that they can be mentally prepared for what’s to come.
Deep Breathing Exercise
Think about how relaxed you feel when doing the deep breathing exercise during yoga session? Well that works just as well to remove stress from a test. Have your homeschool student learn the technique and practice it beforehand so that when they are in an actual stressful situation they can use this tool to get back on track.
Don’t Study on the Day of the Test
As long as your homeschool student has studied consistently through the days leading up to the exam, he will not require to study on the actual morning of the test. Whatever has been stored in the child’s memory is what he will be able to recall during the test. Opening the book and studying the material on the morning of the test is not really going to help.
Good Worry and Bad Worry
Let your homeschool student understand the difference between them. Good worry makes them focus on what needs to be done and motivates them to do it. Bad worry on the other hand, simply makes them panic. It wastes energy and provides them with no value. Make your homeschool student discard the bad worry and pick up on what needs to be done from the good worry.
Shift Attention and Double Check Your Answers
Sometimes the brain gets so focused on whatever question you are solving at the time, that it doesn’t pick up errors. In order to get more questions right, you should encourage your homeschool student to finish answering the question paper then start double checking them starting from the beginning. This gives the brain fresh focus on those answers to catch errors previously made.
The most important thing you can tell your child before a test is to simply give it their best shot and then let it go.
