Posted by In this article, we’ll be covering how you can prepare your child for when they sit the MAP test.
MAP or Measure of Academic Progress testing was introduced for students who are in the grades of three and five. MAP can be described as a computerized adaptive test that helps your child’s school to make informed decisions about how to promote your child’s academic growth.
There are two parts to this test that assesses your child’s faculties of both reading and mathematics. The difficulty of the questions asked changes depending on the performance of the student. Getting a series of questions answered correctly will make the subsequent questions more difficult, while answering the questions in incorrectly will decrease their difficulty.
The time that it takes a student to complete the MAP test is roughly one hour, and the MAP test is to be sat twice per year.
Because the MAP test is an important benchmark as to how your student is performing in their academic careers, it would be wise to help them prepare for the exam as best you can.
Below you’ll find some ideas that other parents have used to great success for their children taking the MAP test.
Meet with your child’s teacher
Your child’s teacher is likely to have a keen personal and professional insight as to how your child is doing at school. After all, they do spend hours and hours with your loved one in the classroom.
Meeting with your child’s teacher and getting their point of view about what you need to focus on could give you a valuable heads up of what to expect. The teacher could also provide you with a list of recommended textbooks and other valuable sources of information that you can go over together with your child.
Provide a dedicated space for studying
As a former student yourself, you know that households can be a crazy place sometimes. The distractions of TV, video games, and the everyday hustle and bustle of the family affair can make it hard to find some peace and quiet.
Although it may seem like a big ask to find that elusive nook or cranny in your family home that is free from distractions, having a peaceful area that is dedicated for studying is a necessity for preparing for the MAP test.
We’re sure you’d agree that children can have notoriously short (or non-existent) attention spans – yet by having a safe and comfortable spot that is used for studying only, your little one will hopefully learn that there is a time and a place for play, just as there is to sit down and review what they have learned in school.
Make sure your child is well-rested
A sleepy child can be cranky, petulant, and rebellious. And obviously none of these things are conducive to doing well in an exam. In addition to making sure your child has had plenty of sleep the night before, ensure that their little bellies are full with healthy food and prepare something to take with them on the day.
Provide your child with interesting books and magazines to read at home
50% of your child’s total score for the MAP test is determined by their reading comprehension and vocabulary. The trick is strike a balance between what’s easy for your child to read while still challenging them to pick up new words.
When you were a child, you probably loved your imagination being stretched and pulled in different directions. Children today are the same. Although the stories now are mostly told via the PC or TV screen, the innocence and curiosity of youth today is unchanged.
Aside from giving your child a helping hand with their studies, encouraging early reading habits will set them up with a love of words for the rest of their lives.
Your school should be able to provide you with a wealth of resources that bub can read prior to sitting the MAP test. PG glossy magazines can make for a good start, as the pictures and advertisements can capture the child’s curiosity to keep the pages turning over.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading our guide on how you can help your child prepare for the MAP test.
We hope that you found these ideas useful, and remember that you can always reach out to your school if you want to get a head start and begin studying right away.
For the savvy online shoppers, there are also some dedicated MAP study guides that have been published specifically for children. These books can remove the boring side to studying all together, as they were written from a child’s point of view.
These guides can be found on various shopping sites such as Amazon, as well as in most book stores and other retail outlets that supply books for school children.