6th Grade Study Guide and Test Prep Techniques

How Can I Help My Child Get Ready for Tests?

When 5th graders transition from elementary school to the 6th grade, many struggle to adjust. Increased academic expectations mean that your 6th grader will most likely have more tests in middle school than he or she had in elementary school. Here are a few methods that you can use to help your 6th grader become a better test-taker.

Create a Learning Environment

It's helpful if you maintain a positive at-home learning environment. Listen to your child and he or she will be more likely to listen to you. Mutual respect has a tendency to create an atmosphere conducive to concentration, focus and learning.

Think of ways to relate the subject matter that your child is learning in school to real-life examples. For instance, if your 6th grader is studying statistics in math class, track the average points per game of his or her favorite athlete. The more you're able to foster genuine interest, intrinsic motivation and a sense of self-esteem, the better your child's understanding of the material and test results will often be.

Demonstrate Test Preparation Techniques

The 6th grade is usually a solid time to begin to concentrate on note-taking skills and studying from notes. Show your child how to create headings and subheadings based on the lessons that he or she is learning in school. Write out a sample outline for your child using the table of contents of his or her textbook.

Go over the notes that your child took during class. Demonstrate how to use the sections and subsections to remember the information when it's testing time.

Make Study Guides

Help your child make study guides so he or she can be prepared and confident when it comes time to take tests. Study guides can take many forms, depending on the topic being tested. For example, if your child is being tested on vocabulary, spelling or dates in history, you might create a flashcard activity. Fill out one side of the flashcards with the vocabulary words and have your child fill out the other side with the definitions. Your child can then use the flash cards to study.

One way to organize a study guide is with the Cornell note-taking method. Divide the page into two columns. The left column has key words and the right column has extra information. You could fill in the key words and have your child fill in the extra information. Numerous resources for the Cornell note-taking system are available both online and in print.