Help Your NNAT Child’s Summer Reading

The NNAT test does not focus on reading itself, as it is a largely non-verbal exam, but improving your child’s reading skills will help them in their Gifted and Talented programs! The summer is the perfect time to perfect your child’s reading techniques, as well as do daily NNAT prep. Without school to guide your child’s days, it is tempting to let them bask in the freedom of summer. But it is actually the perfect time to instill good reading skills and NNAT test prep skills in your child. Here are some tips on how to improve reading skills and study for the NNAT!

• Read aloud everyday: This is a great tip because it shows your child the importance of doing something everyday to improve. This also applies to NNAT prep. If you do something for 10 to 20 minutes everyday, there will be improvement but will not overwhelm your child.
• Set a good example: Children copy what they see around them, so if they see you reading, or if you read to them everyday, they will see that reading is important. You can do this with NNAT preparation too! While your child does their NNAT study, pull out your checkbook or pay bills.
• Read throughout the day, everyday: You can turn everything throughout the day into a reading activity. Grocery shopping becomes an exercise on how to pronounce different vegetables, cooking turns into a lesson on reading directions. You can do this with NNAT prep as well, focusing on pattern recognition while walking to the park.
• Encourage your child to write: Set up your child with a pen pal, either a cousin who lives far away or someone they met while at camp. This will encourage them to read and write, and will make them excited to read and write!

Reading skills, as well as NNAT prep, is incredibly important to keep up during the summer. School skills can be lost at an alarming rate during the summer and you can prevent that by following simple tips. Here is a good video on how to avoid the summer slump but not overwhelm your children! Good luck on the NNAT test!

Tips for a Safe Beach Trip with Your NNAT Child

A great summer activity that will distract your child from their NNAT preparation is heading to the beach. Going to the beach is one of the summer activities that your children will always remember, and will give them a good break from the NNAT. But you will want to make sure that you are properly prepared, to make sure it is a stress free day. Follow these tips and tricks to make sure that your child has the best non-NNAT prep day at the beach that they can.

• Remember the Sunscreen: Make sure to not only get a high SPF sunscreen, and don’t forget to reapply throughout the day. Also remember to get a sunscreen that is waterproof, so that your children are still protected after they go in the waves! Sunburn makes for disastrous NNAT study sessions.
• Stay near the Lifeguard: Even with a lifeguard in attendance on the beach, you will still want to keep an eye on your children. Make sure they don’t go into too deep of water or help them not get knocked over by big waves. However, just in case something very wrong happens, a lifeguard will be there to save the day. This will make sure there can be NNAT prep in the future.
• Stay Hydrated: It is easy to get distracted by the sand and the waves and the beach itself. But getting dehydrated is a great way to get cranky and tired, ruining a fun NNAT free day. Drink lots of water and make sure you eat too, or else you might not enjoy your fun day at the beach.
• Have a variety of things to play with: Not only should you bring shovels, buckets, a volleyball, or a Frisbee to the beach, you shouldn’t ignore nature’s toys. Children should play in the sand and shovels come in handy to bury children’s feet to turn them into mermaids! Even bring along some NNAT practice questions just in case they want to do some NNAT prep out there!

For a great day at the beach, remember to bring something to sit on, something to shade yourself with, snacks, drinks, and of course lots of sunscreen! Here is a good audio book about the beach! Good luck on the NNAT!

 

NNAT Practice Questions

An essential part of NNAT prep is doing NNAT practice questions. A good balance between these practice questions and daily “brain games” will ensure that your child is not overwhelmed by NNAT prep. Your children seeing NNAT practice questions will properly prepare them for the NNAT test. But doing too many practice questions or doing only NNAT practice questions can stress your child out and burn them out from further NNAT study. I suggest beginning NNAT prep at least 3 months in advance to prevent this burn out. This allows for 10 to 20 minutes of NNAT prep a day, so they will not be overwhelmed by daily practice but will still be prepared. I have included NNAT practice questions to help prepare your child for the NNAT.

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: “Look at the squares on top. They go together in a certain way. Choose the square among the answer choices that goes in the empty space because it belongs with the square on the bottom the same way the squares on top belong together”

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: “Look at the squares on top. They go together in a certain way. Choose the square among the answer choices that goes in the empty space because it belongs with the square on the bottom the same way the squares on top belong together”

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: “Look at the squares on top. They go together in a certain way. Choose the square among the answer choices that goes in the empty space because it belongs with the square on the bottom the same way the squares on top belong together”

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: “Look at the squares on top. They go together in a certain way. Choose the square among the answer choices that goes in the empty space because it belongs with the square on the bottom the same way the squares on top belong together”

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: “Look at the squares on top. They go together in a certain way. Choose the square among the answer choices that goes in the empty space because it belongs with the square on the bottom the same way the squares on top belong together”

You can find more NNAT practice questions on Pinterest! Here is a Pinterest that has boards of free NNAT test questions. Good luck on the NNAT!

How to Diversify NNAT Study

NNAT preparation can get boring if you only focus on practice questions sets and reviewing the structure of the test. Even through practicing NNAT questions is important to a good score on the exam, this can wear out your child easily. You do not want to overwhelm them, or give them a negative impression of the NNAT. Thankfully, there are fun resources out there that can prepare your child for the NNAT, while entertaining them!

• Study Island: This educational resource focuses not on NNAT prep itself, but for the core standards for states across the country. This resource focuses more on ensuring that your child will be ready to join that Gifted program once they ace the NNAT. With fun quizzes and games in math, science, history, and social sciences, your children will forget that they are learning!
• Reading Eggs: This site is great for those children taking the NNAT to enter into Kindergarten. With fun, interactive games focused on phonics and spelling, it’s a great way to get a head start on your child’s reading abilities. With Reading Eggspress available for older children, with tons of chapter books for them to read, you can continue their education through till the 9^th grade!
• Manga High: Manga High is a great resource for building number and math skills. This not only prepares your child for the number questions on the NNAT but also for their first math lessons in school. The site has fun, interactive games and presents math lessons from numbers to trigonometry. This is a program that grows with your children.

These are great resources to prepare your child not just for the NNAT but also for their first days back in school. You can get all of these resources with a membership from Testing Mom! Check out the site here. Good luck on the NNAT!

 

Tips for Raising Polite NNAT Kids

Teaching your children good manners will not only help them on the NNAT, but also throughout their lives. The NNAT can be given in-group setting and can be proctored by a stranger. They will have to sit still, take their turn, and be polite to the proctor during the NNAT test. Once they take the NNAT and go to that special kindergarten, they will need to use the manners you instill in them. It is important to not just focus on NNAT prep, but to ensure their success once they get into your Kindergarten of choice. Here are tips to ensure their success once they pass the NNAT.

• Show them your manners. Just like you can’t just tell your children to study for the NNAT, you cannot expect your child to know good manners unless you yourself have good manners. Do you thank waiters when they bring you food? Do you apologize after you accidentally bump into someone? Children mirror everything they see, so if you have good manners than your children should follow suite.
• Teach your children to shake hands. Something that will really surprise your NNAT proctor will your child extending a handshake. While it won’t boost his NNAT score, it will impress the proctor. Teach your children from an early age to extend courtesies such as handshakes and eye contact when engaging in conversation to instill these values. These will help them after their NNAT test, when they are in kindergarten.
• Don’t let it go. It can be very tempting to not enforce daily NNAT prep, just like it can be tempting to ignore your child’s rude outbursts and explain them away as toddler tantrums. However, every time you let your child get away with a rude comment or mean act, they think it is ok. It is very tiring, but stay vigilant with the pleases and thank yous to raise a polite child.

Taking the NNAT can stress out any parent, but it is important to remember to instill good manners in your children as well. Here is a great video on table manners for children! Good luck with NNAT prep!

4th of July Activities for NNAT Kids

The 4^th of July is a great day to celebrate our independence with your children, and take a break from NNAT prep. You do not want your children to burn out from too much NNAT study, and the 4^th of July is a great day to do that. Allowing a day or two off from NNAT practice questions can allow your child to study for the NNAT even better the next day. However, just because you aren’t studying for the NNAT doesn’t mean you can’t slip some NNAT prep into fun 4^th of July activities. Here are some activities to do with your children this 4^th of July.

• Ice cube painting: Start by making ice cube paints by pouring water and food coloring, in Red, White and Blue, and freezing them. Then, in an outdoor area, set up a paper table clothe and let your kids go at it! This is a great way to improve your child’s fine-motor skills. A skill that will be helpful on the NNAT.
• Dodge Balloon: Much more friendly and fun than regular dodge ball. Simply fill up water balloons in different colors, divide into teams, and have at it! You can keep score or just have fun getting wet on a hot summer day. This is another great way to improve fine motor skills!
• Make 4^th of July fruit pops: This activity needs to be done before 4^th of July, so you can enjoy this healthy snack on the day itself! Make three different colors of fruit juice and add fresh fruit if you want. Then in muffin tins, pour the first layer of Blue juice, completely freeze, and repeat with the next two colors. This is great practice for NNAT children in numbers, colors, shapes, fractions, and fine-motor skills. Who knew making such a healthy snack would be good NNAT prep?

Listen to the National Anthem and have a good 4^th of July! Good luck on the NNAT!

 

Combine NNAT Study with Chores!

Chores and NNAT!? How can you combine chores and NNAT study without your children rebelling? It first starts with good chore routines with your children. First, do the chores with your children. This will show them that parents do chores, and will ensure that they do them right. This will also give you the opportunity to incorporate NNAT prep into your children’s chores. The best way for your child to prepare for the NNAT is when they do not even realize it. Since the NNAT is supposed to measure iNNATe abilities, this kind of NNAT prep works well. Here are some different ways to incorporate NNAT study into everyday chores.

• Folding Laundry: One of the skills tested in the NNAT is visual-spatial reasoning. That visual-spatial reasoning can easily be exercised through folding the clothing in different ways. Ask your child to fold a sheet into a triangle. Or if the clothing has a pattern on it, ask what the pattern will look like folded in half!
• Cooking: Having your children help you cook will not only teach them how to make delicious food, but else prepare them for the NNAT. Ask your children to read the numbers for the recipe. Point to the ingredient and ask your child to say aloud the number they see. Numbers are frequently used on the NNAT, as so this kind of simple prep will really pay off.
• Tidying Up: Children are very good at not putting their things away. You can multitask helping them study the NNAT and having them pick up after themselves! When a room is messy, have your children collect together everything of one “type”. Ask them to collect everything that is a rectangle, or everything that is red.  Pattern recognition is a big part of the NNAT and identifying when things go together is the first step towards pattern recognition.

Having your children help with chores is a good way to boost their self-confidence, and a good way to incorporate NNAT practice into daily life. Check out this site for some kid friendly recipes your child can make on their own! Good luck on the NNAT!

 

Ways to Disguise Learning and NNAT Study as Fun

Children should really learn, and study the NNAT, through play. This is a child’s natural language and the most natural way for them to experience the world. The best way to instill concepts from the NNAT in your child is through spending time together somewhere “fun”. Even a walk through the park can be a learning experience for the NNAT. Here are some places you and your child can go to have fun and learn basic NNAT concepts.

• The Park: Like I mentioned above, just the walk to the park can be used as learning experience for your child and prepare for the NNAT. At the park you can have your child look for patterns or compare sizes of various objects, and do some NNAT study!
• The Museum: Whether it is a fine art museum or a natural history museum, these locations are great just for exposing your child to art or history. For me, these early trips to the museum influenced me so much I studied Art History in college. But you can also have your child name all of the colors that they see, so they can start forming pattern recognition, integral for NNAT prep.
• The Beach: The beach is a great place to teach your child without them even realizing that they aren’t just having fun! Between size comparisons and pattern recognition, the beach is a great place for incognito NNAT test prep. Just remember to have a continuous dialogue going with your children. The more you speak with them, the more language they acquire and the better they do on the NNAT.

The 4^th of July is also a great day to have some fun and do some NNAT prep. Here is a great site for 4^th of July crafts, great for sneaky NNAT prep. Good luck on the NNAT!

 

Tips for Fostering Patience in your NNAT Child

Patience is a virtue that can only help your child as they prepare for the NNAT. Your child will have to wait before the NNAT test begins, during the NNAT test, and their ability to sit still be attentive will be noted. One of the ways to determine that a child is ready for kindergarten, other than the NNAT, is their ability to be patient. During their kindergarten days, they will have to wait patiently in lines, be patient while waiting for help from a teacher, and wait patiently till recess or lunch. Having a more patient child will make your parenting life easier, and will help with NNAT prep. Here are some tips to help your child taking the NNAT more patient:

• Don’t dote on your child: Do not come running in to help your child every time their toy needs a new battery or they have an issue. With the phrase “I can’t do that right now, ask me again in 10 minutes” they will learn to wait until you are available to help them. This will help them as they wait for the NNAT test to begin
• Gives them tools to help with waiting: Always carry a toy they like to play with or a book for them to read. This will show them that they can do fun things, or productive things, while waiting for something else. They can even do NNAT prep!
• Praise your child: When you child successfully waits those 10 minutes for you to help them, or stands patiently in a line, praise them! Let them know you appreciate their good behavior. This can also apply to NNAT prep, when they get a concept, let them know they did well!
• Use a sand timer: Children are very visual, so a physical depiction of time can help them become more patient. You can also use this during NNAT practice.

Patience can be a hard won virtue from young children, but you will see it pay off in the NNAT. Here is an article from the Huffington Post on raising patient children. Good luck on the NNAT!

NNAT Test Questions

The NNAT study process needs to be balanced between doing NNAT practice questions and doing daily “brain games”. Your child needs to see questions that are like the questions that will be on the NNAT test in order to be properly prepared. But doing too many NNAT practice questions can strain your child and burn them out from NNAT prep. You want to prepare your child for the NNAT, but not stress them out about it or overwhelm them with NNAT practice. This is why I suggest at least 3 months of study and prep before your child takes the NNAT. With 3 months of prep, they can do only 5 to 10 NNAT practice questions a day so they do not get overwhelmed but will still be prepared. I have included some NNAT practice questions below to help aid in your NNAT prep.

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: Look at the pattern on top. A piece has been taken out of it. Find the piece below the pattern that goes where the question mark is in order to complete the pattern.

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: Look at the pattern on top. A piece has been taken out of it. Find the piece below the pattern that goes where the question mark is in order to complete the pattern.

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: “Look at the squares on top. They go together in a certain way. Choose the square among the answer choices that goes in the empty space because it belongs with the square on the bottom the same way the squares on top belong together”

NNAT Pattern Completion. Parent, tell your child this: “Look at the squares on top. They go together in a certain way. Choose the square among the answer choices that goes in the empty space because it belongs with the square on the bottom the same way the squares on top belong together”

You can find more practice questions on Pinterest! There are some boards on Testing Mom’s Pinterest page with free NNAT questions. Good luck on the NNAT!