Tutoring and test prep classes can help your child do better on standardized tests, but there are simpler things that can be done for free at home to improve your child’s test scores without ever doing a single math problem or grammar exercise! These tips are written with high school students in mind, based on my experience helping high school juniors and seniors raise their SAT and ACT scores since 2000, but most of them would also apply to younger students and to general academic success as well.
In the year 2000, this page wasn’t necessary, but as screen time has come to dominate home and school life, I’ve seen the percentage of my students who need help with focus and test endurance increase from about 10% to nearly 100%. Even my straight-A students from the top private and public schools in Houston have trouble working uninterrupted for a single hour. The SAT and ACT are both paper-based tests, and no matter how you slice them, they take about 3-4 consecutive hours of focus.
The trouble is, your child is not going to come to you and say “Mom, I have low test endurance,” or “Dad, I can’t focus when I’m reading on paper instead of on a screen.” He or she will say things like:
- this test is boring (true!)
- this test is too hard (not true!)
- I’m anxious/stressed out about the test
- I never have enough time
- I’m not good at tests
As an experienced tutor, I can easily spot the difference between a skill deficiency and a focus or endurance deficiency…the trouble is that, while I can cure a skill deficiency for life in as little as a single tutoring session, it takes dedicated, independent practice to build focus and endurance…they same thing that was lacking to begin with! And while I assign homework to be done in certain ways, the fact is that most of my students ignore my directions and finish their work in the same way that they do the rest of their homework.
Before you start envisioning me riding off on my horse and buggy, I’m not at all saying that schools or parents are in the wrong for promoting or allowing so much screen time – that’s just how life is for now! I am saying that your child probably needs help building focus and endurance in order to achieve his or her top score, and these are some simple things you can encourage for free at home, starting as early as elementary school or as late as the summer before senior year, to help!
1. Help find a non-screen hobby.
There’s no soccer section on the SAT, but having a habit of building skills outside of a screen – playing an instrument, participating in a team or solo sport, babysitting, painting, washing the car (I tried!), volunteering – will greatly reduce your child’s frustration when taking standardized tests. Kill two birds with one stone and have your child volunteer to tutor a younger sibling, neighbor, or other available kiddo – they will get service hours, leadership skills, AND good math and reading practice for their test (even if they’re tutoring a first grader!).
2. Make them read (preferably from a paper book).
Since 2014, a large percentage of the students I’ve worked with have been functionally illiterate. In plain English, that means that they actually practice their reading and writing so infrequently and at such a low skill level that, while they can read and write, they are not doing so at a level that will allow them to function in their social group. (Read more if you’re interested!)
Before you accept the diagnosis that your child has a “processing disorder”, spend some time reading with him from a variety of sources (have him read out loud to you) and make your own assessment. While you likely aren’t a clinician, you might be surprised to find out that your child’s brain may be working just fine but he isn’t used to looking at information on a piece of paper!
Reading skill is built through practice, and all sections of every standardized test rely on reading ability. Your child is probably not reading her assigned books for homework, so don’t count on those to boost her reading ability; there’s also not a lot of reading time in the classroom. There are lots of ideas on how to bring reading back into your home, but here are a few starters:
- Get a book that is tied to a popular movie (like a Harry Potter novel or The Hunger Games) and have your child compare and contrast between the two after finishing the book
- Encourage your child to read one of your favorite YA books and talk about the characters, plot, or themes with him
- Set aside a 30-minute family read-a-thon once a week – even magazines count!
- Read! Even if your teenager is “all grown up”, he still looks to you as a role model…if he sees you reading, it will be a great reminder and encouragement to follow suit.
3. Meddle in their homework habits.
How’s her homework hygiene? Is her ratio of Instagram likes to algebra problems 200:1?
Help your child learn to work uninterrupted as early in her life as you can. Some ideas:
- Set a timer for 5-20 minutes (depending on age and focus level) and encourage your child to work uninterrupted until it goes off OR to race against it and complete their assignment before it rings
- Offer a reward (the return of his phone, powering the router back on…) for work finished on schedule.
4. Schedule fun activities away from screens.
Better yet, make them learn something new without a screen! Things like…
- hip hop dance classes
- kayaking
- the symphony orchestra or a play
- sports games
…are all available in Houston for free or under $15, and they can even make for good family outings.
5. Offer encouragement.
Too many of my recent students have had no patience with themselves while learning. The problem? Learning takes practice, and no one gets everything right on the first try! Set your child up to succeed and praise them for their attempts and effort.
You might try doing something brand new as a family (planting a container garden, cooking a meal from a subscription service, painting a room) so that your child can see you learning, too – and that it’s normal to need a few tries at anything before we succeed.
Or, you might just boost them up every now and then about what they perceive to be their weak points, academic or not. Even tough guy teenagers like affirmation and compliments.
Does it sound like helping your toddler learn to sleep all over again? It’s almost the same! Our big kids need patience, focus, confidence, and endurance more than ever, and they need help at home to develop and polish those skills. With these tips and the free practice tests available online, you might not even need a tutor to help your child raise her test scores.