Study tips and test taking strategies would be of great help in excelling in your studies or academics and in passing your examinations as well. As quoted in the famous movie, Three Idiots, “Follow excellence and success will chase you”. This is a way of saying, excel in your study habits and test taking strategies as it will make your dreams come true.

In doing so, you have to work on some tips to avoid procrastination. In the succeeding paragraphs, you will be able to check out the tips which could help you in developing a study method and study habits that would be helpful throughout your years of studying.

The first tip is the identification of the place where you will be studying. You should look for a place in your home that has good lighting conditions and enough space in order to cater to your needs. Make sure to maintain the place as organized as possible. Well, most of the students are using their bedroom as the study area. But make sure that you do not lie down while studying as you will only fall asleep.

The second tip is to concentrate in the lecture hall or when you are inside the classroom. Enhance your concentration by taking down notes. There are students who have an auditory learning style. They are the ones good in recalling what the teachers have told them. Jotting down notes is a great way of studying your lessons as it reinforces the points made. With this, you will always be ready for exams and recitations.

The third tip is finding good ways of memorizing and retaining the work covered. The most popular technique that is widely used is the SQ3R method which stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. Make sure that you follow these steps as these will take you to a more organized way of studying.

The fourth tip is sticking to a certain study method. Most experts say that high school students as well as college students are spending about 40 hours every week on their studies. Look at your weekly schedule and do not spend too much time on things that you do not really need to do. At just one look, you can see the number of hours you can allot for studying.

The fifth tip is to remember that you have to take care of yourself and to feed your brain in order for your study ability to be optimized. You have to eat well, and that includes eating vegetables as well as fresh fruits. You also have to sleep well. If you are tired physically and even emotionally, your brain will not function properly. There is also a need for you to exercise regularly as it provides the brain with enough oxygen. Bear in mind that losing oxygen is one of the reasons why a person cannot think as well as they should do.

Where do our children spend six hours a day, five days a week and 35 weeks a year between the ages of three or four and eleven – that’s about 8000 hours? At their primary school!

What happens in this school matters. The adults they meet play a significant role in their lives. If our children are in the wrong school, there is unhappiness, poor achievement, worry and even bad feeling. We blame the school, ourselves or our children. They are unhappy – not just in the school but also in the evening worrying about tomorrow and feeling wretched on the journey to school. This is not the recipe for the best learning and growing into a confident, healthy person. We waste precious time visiting the school in unhappy circumstances instead of feeling proud and pleased.

With a bit of care you can set the scene to avoid this and help to give your child a good school career.

Plan of action

Think: what do you want for your child? The more detailed you can be the better. Consider your own values. Yes you want the best – but what does that mean? There are three key areas you might consider:

1. you want your child to be happy

2. you want a good education for your child

3. you want to be able to trust the school

Happiness

Happy children learn quickly and grow confidently. They are happier to participate and get the most out of the educational and social opportunities in a school. Children are happy if they feel purposeful and appreciated; praised for their successes; encouraged through their mistakes; and treated fairly along with their school-mates.

Visit the school and watch the children. Do they look busy, interested and happy? Is there an air of purposefulness? Watch them at playtime. Are children playing happily together in groups? Watch the oldest children – the ones who have been in the school the longest. How well behaved are they? How many isolated children can you see? Is there a sufficient number of adults supervising and are they engaged in conversation or activities with the children? You know your child. Consider how your child will fit into this.

Education

Check the school’s test and assessment results. Are they average or better than average? Are the results improving over time?

The subjects that are tested or assessed at the age of seven are reading, writing and maths; English, maths and science at age eleven. These are vital to success in schools – but does the school promote good learning in the other subjects? Is your child going to be able to enjoy physical activity through organised games, dance and gymnastics? How important does the school consider creative activities such as art and music? Will your child learn about the world and what happened in the past? What about a foreign language?

Will your child be taught effectively and treated fairly? How well does the school support those pupils with special educational, physical or emotional needs? Do pupils have the chance to achieve to their fullest ability?

Read the most recent inspection report. It will tell you about standards and whether the pupils make good progress. Read the most recent governors’ report which should include test results as well as tell you something about the school’s broader activities and recent improvements. Read the prospectus. What does it tell you about its character and values?

Trust

How can you recognise a good school that you can trust? Visit the school; be friendly and open. Many teachers can be very sensitive so do your probing in a non-confrontational way otherwise you’ll learn nothing.

Do you feel welcomed by the secretary and the headteacher? Has the school made an effort to look bright and cheerful? Are there attractive displays showing off the pupils’ work?

As they show you round the school, ask if you can look in the toilets. You can often see how much the school values its children by the quality and cleanliness of the toilets.

What do the classrooms look like? How do they feel? Is there a nice working buzz? How do the teachers talk to the pupils? Are there after school activities?

Does the school have a clear policy on responding with parental complaints? Is the school a safe place for children to be in? What does the school do about bullying?

Are children given responsibilities around the school? The best schools get pupils involved thoroughly. Some have a “school council”. Others have different ways of knowing how the children are feeling.

Talk to as many other parents as possible – especially those whose children have been there a long time. Ten minutes before the end of school is a good time. How do they feel about the school? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Don’t forget practical issues

Is the distance from home convenient? What will the daily journey to and from school be like? Will it create difficult strains in the family?

Make sure you have all the information you need from the local authority so you can make your application to the school before the deadline – otherwise you may be disappointed. The school you have your eye on may be over-subscribed.

Taking this care will give your child the best opportunities. It will then be up to him to make the most of them … with your continuing encouragement and support. But that is another story.

With the high cost of a college education, no one wants to pay more than they must. Yet thousands of families pay too much for college every year because they don’t understand the basics of financial aid and don’t know the right questions to ask. So let’s learn the basics and then what questions to ask.

Basics Part I

There are three types of financial aid for college: grants or scholarships, loans and work-study.

Grants and scholarships are free money that you do not need to pay back.

Most grants and scholarships come from the federal and state government or from the individual college.

Loans need to be paid back after college.

There are many loan programs available from the federal and state government. Most of these loans have fairly low interest rates. There are also private loans available although these generally have a higher interest rate.

Work-study is a job offered on the campus of the college.

Basics Part II

Need based aid vs Merit based aid

Need based aid is given by all colleges to students who have need. Anyone who can’t pay the full cost of the college has need.

A form called the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA) determines the amount of need for federal grants and scholarships. Many highly selective colleges also require a form known as the Profile form The FAFSA form is filled out after January 1 of the year the student will first attend college.

The FAFSA and Profile forms ask questions about the income of the parents and student using information that you gave on your tax returns. These forms also ask questions about the amount of money you have in savings or investments. The Profile form is more detailed than the FAFSA form. Once these forms are completed the government uses the FAFSA form to determine how much your family can pay for college. This is your expected family contribution or your EFC. Your EFC is the same regardless of the cost of the college. Similarly the individual colleges who use the Profile use that form to determine what your family can pay for college.

Your need is the cost of the college you are looking at minus your EFC. For example, if you are looking at a college that costs $20,000 a year and your EFC is $5,000, your need at that college is $15,000. If you are looking at a college that costs $40,000 a year your EFC is still $5,000. Your need at this college is $35,000.

Merit-based aid includes scholarships typically for students who have good grades or have some other special talent such as athletic or musical talent. Most highly selective colleges offer little or no merit-based aid.

Finally, in looking at colleges you should ignore the cost of the college. Yes, you read that right. Ignore the stated cost of the college when you are first deciding which colleges to investigate further. You will see why later in this article.

So now you know the basics. Now comes the fun part: How to save money by asking the right questions.

Questions to ask the colleges

Question 1- What percent of my need do you meet?

Remember that EFC, or expected family contribution that the FAFSA determined? Some colleges will meet 100% of your need. Need again is defined as the cost of the college minus your EFC. So what does it mean if a college says they will meet 100% of your need? It means that once the FAFSA or Profile form has determined how much you can pay for college, the college will pay 100% of the rest of the bill.

Colleges will typically meet the need you have using a combination of grants, loans and work study. Most colleges will award work study and loans first and if there is a need after that, the remaining need will be supplied by grants. The colleges will typically have a standard loan and work study amount that they award and you should ask about what these numbers are when investigating the college.

Let’s see an example of a financial aid award from a college that provides 100% of need with a student who has an EFC of $5,000.

Total cost of college $40,000

Expected family contribution $ 5,000

Need $35,000

Financial aid award

Work study $ 2,000

Loans $ 4,000

Grants $29,000

At a college that meets 100% of your need you pay $5,000.

But what happens if the college doesn’t meet 100% of need? Many less selective colleges don’t pay the total amount of need that their students have. Let’s use the example of our imaginary college from above only this time assume that the school only provides 90% of need.

Total cost of college $40,000

Families expected contribution $ 5,000

Need $35,000

This college only provides 90% of the $35,000 need or $31,500. Thus, your out of pocket expenses are the $5,000 EFC plus an additional $3,500 for a total cost of $8,500.

This example makes it easy to see why a school that meets 100% of need is often a better financial aid deal than a school who doesn’t meet all of the families need.

Many of the most expensive private colleges meet 100% of the students need while cheaper public colleges usually meet less than 100% of the need. This means that for many students it can be cheaper to go to an expensive private college than to attend a cheaper state school. Until you know what percent of need the college meets, don’t eliminate a college from consideration just because it is expensive.

Question 2- Do you have merit based aid?

Many colleges that don’t meet 100% of a students need do offer scholarships for some students. If your student is near the top of the application pool for a less selective college they may get some money if they qualify for merit based aid. Thus, in some cases, if the student is willing to look at a less selective college, they may get a better financial aid package. Here are some questions you should ask if the college provides merit aid.

How many merit awards are available?

What is the value of the merit awards available?

What are the qualifications to receive one of these merit awards?

This works even for families that don’t qualify for need based aid at all. If your student can qualify for a merit based award you won’t need to pay the full stated cost of the college.

Question 3- How is financial aid determined after the first year?

Some colleges have a policy of providing good financial aid for the first year and then substantially reducing the grant aid in the following years while increasing the loans. You should ask the college in which you are interested how they determine financial aid after the first year and what the average loan is after the first year. While it is typical that the amount of loans will increase each year if the increase is substantial you will want to take that into consideration.

Question 4- What is the average loan amount at graduation of those students who have loans? This question will give you the best indication of the amount of loans that this college requires compared to other colleges in which you may be interested. Although most students will have some loans when they graduate, you don’t want this amount to be any more than necessary.

Question 5- What is your policy regarding outside scholarships?

Most colleges will subtract money earned in outside scholarships from your financial aid package. Some colleges will reduce the loan burden by the amount of the scholarship, but other colleges will reduce your grant money. If the college reduces the amount of loans you have to take out that is a benefit to you. There is no benefit to you if the college reduces the grant aid.

Question 6- What is your packaging policy?

Most colleges give a financial aid package that includes grant money, loans and work study. But each college combines this money differently. Specifically you want to know:

What percentage of an aid package from your college is grant vs. self-help (loans, work study)?

The greater amount of grants versus loans and work study the better for the student.

Do you have a preferential packaging policy?

Preferential packaging occurs when a college gives a better financial aid package to a student with a stronger academic profile than to another student with the same financial need but with less academic credentials.

Question 7- What is your four year graduation rate?

What difference does a college’s four year graduation rate make? This is an important question that many people never consider. Another way to phrase this is, How many years of college am I going to have to pay for? If the college has a high four year graduation rate, you will most likely only have to pay for four years of college. However, if the college graduates most students in six years then you can plan on paying for six years of college, not four.

Conclusion

Now that you know something about financial aid, including the questions to ask each college you are considering, you can make an informed decision in paying for a college education and hopefully also save some money.

Story telling is an art, and a wonderful art. A good story teller can enthrall  the audience and transport them to a different world. Who can forget the fairy tales we heard in our childhood days, when we would be cast into a different world, an entirely different world of fairies and witches, of bears that could talk and houses one could eat, a world where good was all good and bad all bad. Many of the the kindergarten stories we heard are the stories our children still hear today. So many of those precious tales have survived for generations.

Reading out stories to kindergarten children can be very educative for them. There are an enormous number of illustrated picture books, that you can read out to,  and read along with your children. Apart from spending quality time with them, you can use the opportunity to teach them so many things. A kindergarten story book can be well used to re-inforce many of the kindergarten concepts learned. You can ask the child to point out to different letters of the alphabet, count out numbers (for example, count seven bears in the picture), ask which is bigger or smaller etc. However, bear in mind that it does not become like work, for the best learning takes place when you do not think you are learning.

In addition to this, perhaps one of the best gifts you can give your child is the love of reading and a love for books. One who has this love will never be lonely, for books are man’s best friends.

There was a time not that long ago that when a child turned a certain age, they simply went to kindergarten, whether they had any preschool behind them or not. There were no tests, and the only requirement was that the child was a certain age. That seems to have changed in many parts of the country, especially if you are interested in getting your child into an advanced program or a private school. You may now find that they need to take a kindergarten test.

A kindergarten test is meant to determine a student’s “readiness” to be in kindergarten and is not necessarily a measure of his or her intellectual capabilities. It is simply a gauge as to where children are in relation to what will be expected when they enter the classroom. No one wants to put young students through the stress of not being ready in school, so for many, taking a kindergarten test first is a very good thing and can help parents decide if their child is ready for elementary education.

The types of skills that are measured by these tests are not quite as cut and dry as you might think. This is not a test of whether your child can count to 100 or add numbers together. They are more related to social skills, communication skills, and motor skills. For instance:

• Can your child identify numbers and letters (in both capital and lower case)?
• Can your child give his full name when asked?
• Can your child identify various shapes (square, triangle, and circle)?
• Does your child have the ability to stay still and listen to a story for 10 minutes or more?
• Can your child speak in full, complete sentences?
• Can your child catch a ball (most of the time)?
• Can your child hop, skip, and jump?
• Can your child use utensils in the proper manner?
• Will your child follow directions if asked by an authority figure (teacher or parent)?
• Can your child finish one activity before starting another?

Being able to do the majority of these is usually enough to “pass” most kindergarten tests because they show a certain level of maturity. They also show that you have put in the time to ensure they have the fundamental communication skills, appropriate motor skills, and necessary mathematical ability to excel in a structured learning environment with other children.

Often more important than intellectual ability, social skills play a large part in determining whether a child is ready for school. Because socialization is one of the primary goals of kindergarten, it is important that children are properly prepared to play and learn with other children. Parents are generally able to gauge many of the areas in need of development, however a simple online kindergarten test may shed light on specific learning topics that will help best prepare children for a successful start in school.

What Can You Learn From a Kindergarten Readiness Test?

In preparing your young child for kindergarten, you know how important a good start in early elementary education is. You want the transition to school to be as effortless and enjoyable as possible for your child. Having these factors in place on day one of elementary school can play a big part in ensuring that your child is one of those who just loves to go to school. One of the best ways you can get your preschooler ready for school is to take a free readiness test for kindergarten.

So what exactly is a kindergarten readiness test? This test is short and easy, and it is designed for you as a parent to take on your own. There are no questions for your child to answer, but instead the questions will be answered by you based upon your own observations of what skills your child has mastered. There are not “yes” and “no” questions but rather answers like Not Yet, Sometimes, Most of the Time, and Always. Children progress through development and learning in stages, and this assessment recognizes these stages.

The kindergarten readiness test covers some of the basic self-help skills that your child likely has already mastered which will ensure that he or she can function in a classroom with minimal assistance from the teacher. These skills include the ability to use the bathroom unassisted, the ability to cut with scissors and hold a pencil, and so forth. If you find that your child is lacking in any of these areas, you will want to take time to work with him or her in these areas.

Other areas of the readiness test pertain to physical abilities such as the ability to walk up the stairs and the ability to hop on one foot. These questions are designed to assess various areas of physical development. As you might expect, there are also some other questions pertaining to letters, numbers, rhyming, reading readiness, and so forth.

If you are concerned about your child being ready for school and if you want to learn more about which areas your child may need to focus on before school starts, take some time to complete the free assessment. This test can be taken over and over again from around the age of three on in order to provide ideas and tips to help you guide your child in learning exercises that will help them prepare for elementary school.