Preparing for the NNAT Around Halloween

Many people think that preparing for the NNAT test is boring and tedious. And it certainly can be, if you use the same materials over and over and never inject any creativity into the process. But if you want your child to do well on the NNAT, you need to practice, so you might as well have fun with it.

One way to do this is to tailor the test prep to your child’s interest. If your daughter really likes dolls, do a role-play where you each hold a doll and one doll “quizzes” the other. If your son likes superheroes, prepare your own practice questions that revolve around super heroes. For Halloween, you can have all sorts of fun practicing for the test while working in the core concepts that your child will need to know to succeed.

For instance, for questions that stress visual spatial skills, carve a pumpkin and show your child how the pieces you carve out could fit back in. This is essentially a real-life “puzzle” that mimics many of the visual questions your child may see on the NNAT test.

And build fun Halloween characters into your NNAT practice questions. You can buy Halloween-themed stickers to place onto workbooks and printouts, or even read questions in a witch voice! To practice math skills, bake pumpkin-shaped cookies and perform simple arithmetic problems.

Of course, the key is to keep test prep fun no matter what time of the year it is. Having your child practice the same workbooks and worksheets over and over will not only provide a diminishing return, but it will burn your child out and get them to disengage. Be sure to use materials like online games and even board games to get your child into a test prep groove that isn’t only useful, but that’s fun!

Teaching Your NNAT Child to Swim

The NNAT is a test that no one should take for granted. The stakes are high, and make no mistake about it: the odds are stacked against your child. One way I always explain the situation to parents is, would you throw your child into the pool without first teaching them how to swim?

That’s the same choice you face as your child gets ready to take the NNAT test. If you throw your child into the test without any preparation, there’s a good chance that they’ll flail around and that they may even panic and freeze up in the testing room. In the best case, your child will remain calm but they’ll be blindsided by the format and the content on the test. The last thing you want is for the testing environment to feel completely foreign to your little one.

That’s why it’s highly advised that your child gets at least some exposure to the materials that will be on the NNAT test. Whether it’s through workbooks, online games, or other materials that reflect what your child is likely to face on exam day, your child deserves to be academically, mentally, and emotionally prepared for the NNAT long before they walk into the testing room.

While a lot of people insist that the NNAT test is only valid if the child has no experience whatsoever in the concepts that it measures, this is the worst possible scenario for your child receiving a top score. It’s true that you don’t want to expose your child to the actual test – this is highly unethical and may even be illegal. But getting your child familiarized with the format of the NNAT and the skills that it measures is the very least you can do to ensure that your child does his or her best on the test – and has a fighting chance to make it into a competitive Gifted program.

Are Other Parents Preparing for the NNAT Test?

Many parents are reluctant to prepare their child for a G&T entrance test that requires the NNAT test. There are many reasons for this reluctance – and trust me, I’ve heard them all. Some parents aren’t sure that their child is up to the challenge of making it into an advanced curriculum. Other parents become overwhelmed by the admissions process in their school district, and throw up their hands in despair. Still others believe that the NNAT test should be taken cold, without any preparation on their child’s part.

But the reason that I hear much too often – the one that makes me want to scream and tear my hair out – is, “I spoke to other parents and none of them is preparing.”

I’m here to tell you right now: no matter what other parents tell you, they are probably preparing their children for the NNAT test. Many of them started months or even years ago, and will only raise their game as test day approaches.

There are a number of reasons that parents don’t like to let on that they’re using test prep materials to get their children ready for the big day. But believe it or not many parents simply don’t want your child to have the same advantages that theirs does. And in a way, this makes sense: in some school districts, getting into a competitive Gifted & Talented program is more difficult than getting into Harvard or other Ivy League schools! Why would a parent want to give their secret away to the competition?

Over the years, I’ve heard from a number of parents who didn’t prepare their children for the NNAT test after hearing from other parents that they wouldn’t prepare their own kids. Every time, these parents have been devastated as their child doesn’t make the cut. Most of the time, the other parents who swore up and down that they would never prepare their own children for the test ended up doing exactly that – and many times their kids ended up making it into the program.

That’s why it’s imperative that, at the very least, you familiarize yourself with what will be on the NNAT test and what your child will need to do to be successful. Looking at workbooks and other practice materials will go a long way toward achieving that goal.

Being Prepared for the NNAT Shouldn’t be Controversial

Sending your child into the NNAT testing room prepared shouldn’t be a controversial subject. What parent wouldn’t want their child to feel comfortable and confident when facing the NNAT test, which is arguably one of the most important tests of their life?

Believe it or not, there are people out there who think that giving your child the tools they need to succeed is among the most offensive things you can do. Lots of people think that preparing your child for a test that may well determine their educational future “invalidates” the test and renders the results null and void.

Never mind the fact that passing the NNAT test increases your child’s chances of getting into a competitive Gifted and Talented program and, later on, a top college – or the fact that making it into one of these coveted programs will open up career opportunities that your child might otherwise have never had. No, to these individuals, the only thing that matters is the “validity” of the test – whatever that means – which apparently requires you to send your child in blind, and leave their entire future up to chance.

Well, I’m urging you to listen to your heart – not to these so-called “experts.” The reality of the situation is that more and more parents are preparing for the NNAT test every year, and so it’s imperative that you join the club before it’s too late. Do some research and find out exactly what your child will face on the test. Then get busy finding practice materials and other resources that your child can use to get a top score on the test. Start as early as you can, because believe me, other parents start months or even years in advance – I’ve seen pregnant women asking what they can do to get their pre-natal child ready for the NNAT!

Telling Your Child About the NNAT Test

What’s the best way to tell your kid that they’ll be taking the NNAT test? This is a question that lots of parents have as test day approaches. The dichotomy that parents face is that they don’t’ want to tell their children they’ll be taking a “test,” as this makes many children nervous and could actually do more harm than good, since the child may freeze up during the NNAT test.

On the other hand, parents want their child to take the NNAT seriously, and they are afraid that if they try to downplay the fact that their child is taking an exam, their child will essentially blow off the exam and not take it seriously.

The trick is to find a way to drive home the importance of the exam without making your child panic. A good way to do this is to tell your child that they’ll be spending time with an adult who wants to find out what kids their age know. Tell your child that it’s important for them to take the process seriously, since the adult is counting on them to show them what kids in their grade have learned in school.

This method makes your child feel like they’re doing important work while also taking off some of the pressure of telling them they’ll be taking a “test.”

Additionally, it’s a good idea to drive your child by the testing site a day or two before the test so that they know where they’ll be going on the day of the NNAT. Many children get nervous going to a new place, especially if it’s a school or other institutional building. Getting your child comfortable with the place they’ll be taking the exam goes a long way toward easing the pressure.

Of course, it’s also important to prepare your child for the NNAT, and there are a lot of sites that offer online practice questions and workbooks where you can find great materials to get your child ready for the test.

What Other Parents Say About the NNAT

Long before they’ve ever heard of the NNAT, lots of parents know they want to apply their children to their local gifted and talented program. In many cases, these programsa provide a far superior education than their regular public school. These parents may even be obsessive about learning what it takes to get into the program – so much so that they talk to their child’s teacher, counselor, principal – anyone who will listen! – all in an effort to find out what it would take to get their child into the program.

 

That said, many parents struggle with whether they want to prepare their child for the entrance exam. Many parents feel that the whole point of test like the NNAT is to highlight the children who are truly gifted – and that preparing for the exam skews the results.

 

Plus, lots of parents know how smart their kids are, and have no doubt that their child will have no problem handling even a tough test like the NNAT.

 

Finally, lots of parents are easil;y convinced that no other parents are preparing their child for the NNAT test. This often comes right from the mouths of the other parents, who may swear that they would never prepare their child for a gifted and talented test!

 

Of course, often these parents are not being entirely truthful. A lot of parents refuse to acknowledge they are preparing their child for a test like the NNAT, for a number of reasons: they want other parents to think their child is smart enough to make the cut on their own; they’re afraid that people will judge them for preparing their child for a G&T test; or, very often, they don’t want other parents to prepare, so that the path will be easier for their own child.

 

But believe it or not, many parents who swear up and down that they would never even dream of preparing their child for the test are busily doing so at this very moment. Don’t always believe what other people say, and most importantly, trust your gut.