How to Improve NNAT Scores with 7 Abilities

Your child may be going through the NNAT practice questions and learning the skills needed to ace the NNAT, yet still not reaching the goal of scoring in the 99^th percentile. The best way to prepare your child for the NNAT, or any standardized test, is to vary your preparation techniques. You should not just be focusing on practice questions, especially not with very young children.  There are 7 abilities that you can use to foster those NNAT skills in your child.

• Language: You can focus on both receptive and expressive language. For receptive language make sure they comprehensively understand what they are hearing. For expressive language make sure they understand the words that they are using. This is a great ability to support NNAT skills.
• Knowledge/Comprehension: This is an ability that relates to the general knowledge your child be tested on for the NNAT.
• Memory: This is another ability that is tested in the NNAT. You can foster this ability in your child through story time! Read your child a story and then after ask them about different parts of the story and see how well they remember them.
• Math: While your child won’t be asked high-level math questions on the NNAT, they will need to know how to add and subtract. The best way to foster this ability is to teach your child to count. They can’t do math before they know how to count!
• Visual-Spatial Reasoning: This ability means any skill that is not verbal that you child will be asked about on the NNAT. Work with building blocks in order to foster this ability.
• Cognitive Reasoning: This means your child’s ability to think though problems, and their ability to reason. You can help your child in this ability by not solving their problems for them. This will only help them on the NNAT test.
• Fine-motor skills: While this is not exactly tested on the NNAT, its important for their kindergarten year. Help your child by teaching them to tie their shoes or cut out patterns.

You can learn more about these 7 abilities on this site. Good luck on the NNAT!

Reading Tips for NNAT Kids

While children taking the NNAT at 4 years old will not have to read anything, they will have to start reading in Kindergarten in gifted and talented programs. Many childhood development experts do not encourage parents to teach reading to their children, they want the children to develop those skills organically much like skills needed fro the NNAT. The more organic your child’s reading skills are acquired, the deeper the skills are. Some children learn to read simply through memorization, but that will not benefit them later in their education. However here are some tips to encourage your NNAT child to read.

• Start with the basics: The best way to have your child reading early is to read to them and talk to them A LOT while they are growing up. Your child should have a large working vocabulary by the time they start to read. This will also help them on the NNAT with verbal reasoning. You can encourage this by using varied sentence structure and large words around your children. Ask them to explain the meanings if they start using new words to make sure they understand them.
• Emphasize phonics: Before your child can read they should be able to develop their phonemic awareness. This will allow your child to be able to sound out words that they have never experienced before.  Being able to sound out words will also help with their NNAT tests. This contributes to a well-rounded understanding of language.
• Sing the alphabet: Make sure that your child knows their alphabet! These are the building blocks of knowledge so make sure they know their letters. This can only help improve their score on the NNAT as well.
• Teach letters: This is one of the best ways that you can “teach” your child to read. In order to understand the words on a page you need to make sure they know what the different letters are! This is connected to them knowing the alphabet, but also has to do with their fine motor skills.

The NNAT does not have reading skills tested for 4 year olds, however your child might be so bright that they are reading already! Good luck on the NNAT!

 

Tips on Improving Testing Stamina for the NNAT

Testing stamina for the NNAT can be harder to instill in your child than the skills themselves! For most kindergarten testing situations, when you child would take the NNAT, your 4 year old will have to sit still for 45 minutes to an hour. A proctor gives the test, and you are not allowed in the room with them during their NNAT test. So you child will have to be well behaved and pay attention with a stranger taking the NNAT for 45 minutes. For many parents that sounds scary. However, with these tips, you can improve your child’s NNAT testing stamina!

• Start slow: Start off with prepping your child for 5 minutes. This will allow your child to start off slow and not overwhelm them. You can spend the time with NNAT practice questions.
• Increase incrementally: Once your child is starting to get comfortable with their NNAT test prep, increase test prep by a couple of minutes. This is why you need to start test prep early.
• Lots of encouragement: Make sure to praise your child when they can do their NNAT test prep for 20 minutes or more. This will let them know that you are happy with them and they are doing a good job. This will increase their confidence and hopefully increase their scores!
• Back off encouragement: Once your child can sit still for 45 minutes for a NNAT test prep session, let them know that they are doing great! Then let them know that you are going to stop praising them so much. They learned everything they need to, and you are just going to reinforce those skills. Let them know when they go in with their proctor, the proctor wont respond with praise so they shouldn’t let that discourage them.

You can get NNAT test prep from this site. Good luck with the NNAT!

After School Activities for NNAT Kids

Now that kids are back in school it’s time to focus on more than just NNAT study. You want to get your children to get into their Gifted program and you need NNAT prep to get there. However, you also want your child to be well rounded. We all know that a key to a successful life is having a well rounded body of experience. Your child needs to know about picture matrices for the NNAT, but they also need to learn an instrument or a dance form to help them really succeed in life. These extra-curricular activities will give your children extra focus and determination to succeed in life.

• Dance Classes: Dance teaches children how they can express themselves. Take your children to a variety of dance classes, ballet, tap, jazz, etc and see which one they like the best.
• Sports: Sports are great for extra energetic children! They get to socialize with other children their own age and get to learn about healthy competition.
• Music lessons: One thing that music lessons can teach your child is discipline. If your children want to learn an instrument, take them to a concert of said instrument. If you can, ask the musician how long they had to practice to become that good. The answer will always be hours of daily practice. This is a good way to teach your child discipline and hard work.
• Art Classes: If your child is more creative, let their imaginations flow in an art class. They will learn how to express themselves and this may develop into a life long passion.
• Scouting: Scouting is great to teach children discipline, will allow them to socialize with children their own age, as well as younger and older children. They will get to go out into nature on hikes or backpacks.

There are many different after school activities that you can enroll your child in to help extend their school experience. Here is a video on Girl Scouting to help you in your decision: Good luck on your NNAT tests!

Fun weekend activities for NNAT Kids

Your child is back in school, and going to be taking the NNAT soon! They will be busy going to classes, doing their homework, and studying for the NNAT. But the wonderful thing about school time is that you get to spend time with your children on the weekends! Weekends are not only a great time for NNAT prep, but also for educational and fun outings! Here are a list of different activities that you can do with your child on the weekends, other than study for the NNAT!

• Museums: Museums are a great place to bring your children on the weekend. There are a large variety of museums types, Modern Art Museums, Science Museums, Natural History Museums, Children’s Museums. Ask your child which kind of a museum they want to go to. Check out the exhibits before you go to have an organized trip!
• Eat “exotic” foods: This is a great weekend activity because you can make it as educational as you want. Pick a kind of food that your child hasn’t tried before. Put together a lesson the country that the food is from, and while at the restaurant, ask you child about what they learned about the culture of the food!
• Collect nature samples: This is a great activity because you can include NNAT prep in it! Bring your child on a mini hike in the woods and have them gather different colors of leaves or different shapes of rocks. Once you are home you can create a special scrapbook with their nature collections!
• Volunteer at a community garden: Children of any age can help you volunteer at a local community garden. Youngsters can help you pull weeds or plant seeds while older children can do heavier landscaping.

With these suggestions you can really rock your weekends with your children. Weekends are not just great NNAT study times, but a great time to spend quality time with your children. Here is a video of a fun family activity to do on the weekends! Good luck on the NNAT

How to Respond to Temper Tantrums in your NNAT Child

With the end of summer and the beginning of the school year and NNAT testing season, children can become very stressed. This stress tends to manifest itself in younger children as temper tantrums. A screaming fit about the wrong flavor of applesauce is probably about much more than the applesauce tasting differently, and might even be NNAT prep. But many children lack the ability to communicate those feelings, such as stress over homework and NNAT study. This can cause them to lash out about other topics. Here are several tips on how to respond to your child’s temper tantrum:

• Speak their language: Often times when children are in the midst of a tantrum, they are not communicating on a higher level. In order to be understood in the midst of the yelling, try to speak their language. Use short and succinct phrases and repeat these phrases until your child acknowledges that thought. Accompany this with large facial expressions and a passionate tone of voice, but not screaming.
• Repeat what they are saying: Children in the midst of a temper tantrum continue their tantrum because they think they are not being listened to. To make sure your child knows you are listening, repeat their demand back to them. This will ensure that your child knows that you know why they are so upset. This can allow them to hear your solution to their problem.
• Isolate if the behavior continues: If you child will simply not listen to you or refuses to stop screaming, then you need to isolate them. Send them to a safe and quiet space for them to calm down in. Once they are calm, you can talk to them about why they were so upset and how you can come to a compromise. This will also tell your child that that behavior is not acceptable!

Temper tantrums are never fun to deal with, but you also need to think about why your child is having a temper tantrum, such as NNAT study. It is far easier to prevent a temper tantrum than stop one. Sometimes a correctly timed distraction can help prevent a temper tantrum. Here is an easy activity to help distract your little one:

Good luck on the NNAT!

Sign-up for Free Seminars for Testing Week in September

The language you hear around New York City testing sounds like a game of Scrabble – OLSAT®, City-wide, Stanford-Binet®, District-wide, NNAT-2®, Naglieri®, ERB, WPPSI-IV®, G&T programs, the list of acronyms goes on and on! Learn about all the tests given to our talented tots in New York City and how to prepare for theses tests. Now you can hear from the experts all things gifted and talented and private school admissions!

TestingMom.com is pleased to announce our first annual Testing Week from Sept. 22 to Sept. 27, 2013 in New York City!  These free community events are for New York City parents of toddlers through 2nd graders!

• Due to popular demand these seminars will fill up QUICKLY so please click on the link below for the free seminar you’d like to attend.

Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 1pm to 5pm – More details and registration
Prepare for Testing and Admissions Process for Gifted and Talented and Private School
Double Feature! 2 Sessions Back-to-back- Attend one or both sessions!
Session #1 from 1pm to 3pm: Prepare for Testing for Private School and G&T Testing
Session #2 from 3:30pm to 5pm: Admissions Process for New York City Gifted and Talented Program and Private Schools
Location: Midtown west near theater district.
Speakers: Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom;  Michael McCurdy, NYC G&T expert and co-founder of TestingMom.com; a NYC G&T Kindergarten teacher

Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at 6:30pm to 8:30pm – More details and registration
NYC Gifted and  Testing and Admissions
Location: Downtown in Battery Park City near the World Financial Center.
Note: The same material will be covered at the seminars on Wed., Sept. 25 and Friday, Sept. 27. No need to attend both.
Speakers: Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom;  Michael McCurdy, NYC G&T expert and co-founder of TestingMom.com; a NYC G&T Kindergarten teacher

 

Friday, September 27, 2013 at 6:30pm to 8:30pm – More Details and registration
NYC Gifted and Talented Testing and Admissions
Testing Mom Date Night! Both couples and singles welcome!
Location: Midtown west near theater district.
Note: The same material will be covered at the seminars on Wed., Sept. 25 and Friday, Sept. 27. No need to attend both.
Speakers: Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom;  Michael McCurdy, NYC G&T expert and co-founder of TestingMom.com;
Special Guest: a former student from Hunter Elementary and High School. She attended Hunter from Kindergarten through 12th grade and now is a successful business woman. Trust us, you’ll want to hear her story and find out what happened to her younger sister who didn’t make into Hunter.

Prepare NNAT Kids for Common Core Tests!

Children who have taken the NNAT, or who are going to take the NNAT, might still have to take a standardized test during the school year. You may have heard about common core tests, or state standards tests. These are tests that determine if your child has learned everything they need to learn up till that point in school. That means they will be tested on math, language, social sciences and sciences, amongst other subjects. Unfortunately, their NNAT study will not directly help them in their common core tests. Studying for the NNAT will help get them into the routine of extra studies for tests. NNAT prep will also help them in learning how to take a standardized test. Thankfully there are sites that can help you prepare your child for their common core tests!

• Study Island:  Study Island has programs that are explicitly designed to help students master the content specified in state and common core standards. Study Island provides rigorous content for math and ELA in grades K-8. There are lessons on what those core standards are for all 50 states. This is a great resource to help prepare your child.
• Show What You Know: This is a program that focuses on Common Core State Standards for Third through 6^th grade. There are online assessments, lessons and games that are designed to help educators and parents measure and improve student understanding of the concepts covered by the common core state standards. This product was designed to help parents and teachers improve their children’s abilities in the common core subjects.

Not every state has decided to opt into the Common Core State Testing, and some have opted to adopt it in 2014. That means that your child might not be tested this spring for the Common Core, but they will definitely be tested in 2014. You can learn more about Study Island here and Show What You Know here.

Public or Private School for NNAT Kids

The NNAT is offered for entrance to both public and private school. How do you decide whether your child should go to a public or private school? Not only do you need to ensure that the academics of the school are rigorous enough, you need to ensure that the atmosphere of the school will be beneficial to your child. Your child will be taking time to study for the NNAT and after will be spending the majority of their time at school, you need to make sure that it is the correct school for their success. With the rising cost of private school and the increasing competition for G&T programs in public schools, the decision is difficult. We have gathered tips on how to begin to make such an important decision for your child. How much should your child be involved and how do you know when you have found the perfect school?

First, gather all of the information that you can! Get the names of all of the schools your child could attend in your area. Figure out what else is included for admission than taking the NNAT. Next, ask about their academics, how well rounded their curriculum is, the level of parental involvement, class size, teacher qualifications and extra-curricular activities. Get this information from as many sources as possible. Ask the school itself, but also ask parents of children currently enrolled in the school, ask the children themselves if you can! Children attending the schools can give you information from a child’s perspective but can also illuminate if the school is a good fit for your child.

Next, determine your child’s needs. You will already have adapted their NNAT study sessions for their learning style. You should know what style of learning your child benefits from the most. Are they an auditory or visual learner? Do they benefit from group work or do they work better alone? What are their weak points, such as a short attention span or need for lots of physical activity? Once you have your child’s needs laid out, it will be easier to determine which school will fit all of your child’s needs.

Tour the schools! Try and go tour the school when school is in session. Your child should be there to ensure that they enjoy the school as much as you do. Have them sit in on a class and chat with some of the students. Once the school tour is complete, ask your child detailed questions. Do not leave the questions at if the school was good or if your child had fun. Ask them how they liked the teacher and what they thought of the facilities, did they like the art room or the gym.

Once you finish gathering information, comparing it to your child’s needs, and tour the school, you should have enough information to make an informed decision. What school your child attends can affect them for the rest of their lives, so make sure that you make the right decision for your child.

NNAT Test Taking Tips!

It is NNAT season and that can create a lot of anxiety in children, and adults! Testing anxiety is very prevalent in children, and there are many different ways to alleviate those anxieties. You have been studying and preparing your child for the past couple months and that is one of the best ways to alleviate NNAT test anxiety. Reassure your child that all of this study will help them prepare for the NNAT test. They know everything they possibly can about the NNAT test and that will help them during the NNAT test. Here are some other NNAT test taking tips to help alleviate the stress:

• Get there early: One of the best ways to alleviate stress in your child the day of the NNAT test is to get there early. Show your child the classroom that they will be tested in, see if you can have your child meet the proctor before the test.
• Teach them to breath: This may seem like something everyone knows how to do. But there is a special deep breathing technique that can help alleviate stress. When your child says their chest gets tight or their stomach hurts, teach them to breath deeply for at least 5 seconds.
• Pack them a healthy snack and water: Your child may get hungry throughout the NNAT test, and hunger can be very distracting. Make sure to pack them a snack, like almonds or pretzels that they will enjoy and water. That way they wont be hungry or thirsty during the test.
• Plan a fun activity for afterwards: That way your child will have a positive association for the NNAT test. Let them know, for better or for worse, they will get to have a fun time after the test is over.

Here is a good site for more test taking tips: http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/article10.html. Good luck on the NNAT test!