How to Prepare for the Achievement Test

Homeschooling gives you the advantage of being able to have a flexible schedule, which is great for every day, but not so great for achievement testing. Children who are not accustomed to sitting still and being quiet for a certain amount of time find it difficult to test. Here are some easy solutions for prepping your little ones:
​

Grades 1-2

Grade 3

Designate Quiet and Still Time

During achievement testing, students will need to sit still, be quiet, and focus on a test for a maximum of one hour at a time. Begin by having your child sit and read for at least ten minutes. During this time, they should not be allowed to speak or get up. At the end of the time frame, ask them to tell you about what they read. Try doing this every day for a week, then increasing the time by five minutes. After about ten weeks, your child should be able to sit quietly and focus on a task for an hour. If you don’t have ten weeks, you can accelerate the process by adding ten minutes each week, instead of five.​

Practice Verbal Instructions

Because much of the testing material will be dictated, this age group must learn to listen carefully without interrupting. Children this age generally love to tell stories, and feel the need to speak as soon as an idea crosses their mind. This is usually fine at home, but during testing they need to be aware that speaking out of turn can distract the other students. Spend some time reading instructions or questions aloud to them. Make it clear that they are not allowed to speak while you are speaking. Also practice them writing down the answer to a question that you read aloud only once. During testing, certain portions of the material cannot be repeated, and the proctor will not be able to answer any questions. Be sure your child is trained to listen carefully the first time.

Encourage Using the Restroom When the Option is Offered

After each test, your child will be offered the opportunity to go use the restroom and get a drink of water. Please encourage using the restroom when they are asked if they need to go. With so much of the test being dictated at this age, letting them leave while testing delays the entire group.

Encourage Working Alone

By third grade, students will be required to read well on their own. Very little of the test will be dictated in this grade level; the proctor will be unable to provide assistance with deciding the answer to problems and even with certain areas of reading. If your student is accustomed to working on their own, this should not be an issue.​

---

Grades 4-12

Practice Using a Separate Page for Answers

In the fourth grade, students begin filling in bubbles on an answer document, which is separate from their work book. A lot of children have trouble finding the corresponding question on the answer document. If possible, create a list of multiple choice instructions and have the student practice filling in the correct bubble on a separate sheet of paper. We have provided a sample “answer doc” here that you can print out and use for practice.

Discourage Use of Calculators Prior
​to 7th Grade

​Although many schools are now allowing students to use calculators as early as 4th grade, the achievement test instructions are very strict about when students may use a calculator. Learning multiplication tables, borrowing, long division, and other basic mathematic skills will help immensely during testing.