NAPLAN Testing in Schools this Week

- tips to help prepare your children

This week in all Australian schools, Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will be sitting the NAPLAN tests. NAPLAN stands for the National Assessment program in Literacy and Numeracy.

Not all students cope well with tests and I thought it would be good to give you some tips for helping your children cope on Tuesday through to Thursday.

My eldest is in Year 5 this year and after bombing his Year 3 test due to nerves and anxiety I really think as parents we can help our children get prepared.

Make sure they get a great night's sleep. If they tend to be a thinker, possibly make the lead up to bed a happy, enjoyable time.

Make sure you give your children a good breakfast before school.

Reassure your child that all they need to do is their best. Do not put any additional pressure on them.

Remind your children that the best thing to do is read the questions and choose the best answer, if they are not sure choose the answer they think is the best and move on to the next question. Don't get stuck on one question. Even a guess is better than nothing.

Allow your children to share their worries with you and reassure them that it is okay and all they need to do is their best.

Only talk about it if your children bring it up, don't create unnecessary stress.

My son is a stressor and gets very anxious about anything to do with school. He has had learning difficulties from an early age and tests create that highly anxious state. When he was in grade 3, he froze over spelling. He knew the words weren't right when he wrote them and spent the whole time trying to fix them. In doing this he missed the whole grammar section where he could have got some correct answers.

I have spent more time this year preparing him with respect to how he will approach the test, not at all with the content. I am a teacher and a mother and have seen my own child and many others suffer under test anxiety. I am not a fan of NAPLAN or standardised testing and have told my son that it really isn't all that important and he just needs to do his best. Read the question, if you are not sure of an answer just mark the one you think is right and move on.

These tests don't rely on what children know but what they want them to know and often teachers have to change their whole plans just to teach children certain test content. This isn't right and can really affect children's learning development of certain concepts.

So bottom line is don't let your children stress, it isn't the end of the world if they don't get it all right. All that is important is that they have done their best and remained calm.