Parents should appreciate that the school uses different tests to ascertain the potential for a student, now and into the future. The results indicate how their child is progressing educationally and what potential they may have for the future too.
Due to the above reasons, it’s important that they actively prepare their child for these types of tests. Taking the approach that they should encourage their son or daughter and introduce new challenges regularly to develop appropriate skills relating to intelligence testing is worth doing.
Here are 4 things to know.
Verbal Reasoning is an Acquired Skill
The CAT, short for Cognitive Abilities Tests, includes three parts. One area that’s covered within the three is verbal reasoning.
The idea here is to assess how their child understands pieces of writing. This applies to a study textbook, a novel, and other written material.
The child will need to take in the information within the written passage and breakdown what it means (both individual points and as a complete document). They must use sound reasoning to think through the points covered to test them for validity and good logic.
Also, within this is the need to have a good grasp of vocabulary to avoid being confused when a piece of writing includes words that they’re not familiar with. As such, exposure to different written passages to continually expand their vocabulary over the years is necessary to see them advance.
Non-verbal Reasoning Requires Familiarity with Imagery
Some people are more visual communicators, whereas others are more verbal.
With non-verbal reasoning, this is included in one or more parts of the test to confirm how a child can look at diagrams, pictures, and other imagery and process what they are seeing.
Here, a child is being asked to notice relationships indicated through information conveyed in a diagram, chart, or image. Spotting what’s almost the same or identical, as well as what the differences are.
Parents can encourage this type of learning with their son or daughter by their readily identifying road signs, confirming how many differences they can spot between two images and other activities they can do together. Also, try remembering in what order things came, which is a skill that improves with practice too.
Solve Math Problems Together – Don’t Let Your Child Suffer Through Them Alone!
Depending on the child, they may be better or worse at dealing with mathematics and solving problems in their head. Many people are now addicted to their smartphones and will use a calculator app to answer simple math questions.
Much like with learning the times’ table with their parents on the walk to school, failing to perform maths calculations in their head (or written on paper) makes it impossible to do it another way without a calculator at the ready.
Using equations is also difficult, even for parents! Yet exposure to different maths problems and working them through together with mum or dad makes it a hurdle that can be overcome.
Practice Better Spatial Awareness to Ace This Part of a Test
Spatial awareness is an unusual thing to test. Nonetheless, it’s a highly valuable skill to have.
Kids must learn what’s around them to be aware of it, identify it, make space for it, and to change their action when something moves unexpectedly.
The practical applications for this are obvious, including crossing the road safely by looking for cars and other objects on the road and judging their approximate speed, including when they will arrive near to where the child is currently standing.
Only by introducing many situations where they can test out these life skills will they improve. Even things like playing a game of catch where the ball is thrown from different angles and at different speeds introduces many of these same elements. This skill is then readily transferrable into other situations, from team sports at school to moving around safely in the world.
Preparing for school testing is not just about the preparation necessary as the test date approaches. Varied skillsets are something that parents can actively develop in their child by participating in the life of their child in an intentional manner. This then prepares them for school tests and for life too.
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