Every parent wants to see their child succeed. But, some parents begin to feel that this may be impossible because of their little one’s mischiefs and inability to manage studies. Here’s a fact: All children are not gifted. In fact, the only thing that sets gifted children apart from normal children is practice. As it’s said, practice makes a man perfect!
The child’s ability to solve problems, memorize, understand languages, reason determines whether he/she is gifted or not. Believe that your child is gifted too? Want to get him/her into the program for gifted children? You can do so by following the guidelines below.
Read about your state’s gifted program requirements. Check if your child has the skills required to get into the program and concentrate on boosting them.
Schools in the USA use the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) to discover their gifted students. The test takes place two times in a year, between September and November and again between January and April. Scoring well is essential because it decides about your child’s eligibility for the gifted children program.
The child attempting the CogAT must answer all the questions within a specified time period. Most schools have shifted to form 7 of the CogAT while Form 6 is still in use. The only difference between the two is that the primary level questions are now picture based and not word-based. The questions are designed in a multiple-choice format and the paper is divided into three major parts:
Verbal reasoning: This section gauges the child’s vocabulary, sentence completion and verbal analogies.
Non-Verbal reasoning: Comprising of figures, matrices and diagram this section compel your child to apply the facts that they have been taught. The questions in this section are mostly based on geometrical shapes and require no prior knowledge as such.
Quantitative reasoning: This section consists of a number of puzzles, matrices, and equation building. It isn’t just about math, but about thinking in a numerical way.
Wondering how you would prepare your child for the test? Don’t worry, just read on to find out. Here are some effective ways shared by Etutorworld:
Make Learning a game
All of us know how children love to play but not study. The reason why you need to add variety and prevent your child from getting bored. Try captivating your child in educational games that they haven’t played before. You can try a vocabulary based treasure hunt or a game of trivia. This will help your child would learn while he/she is in the belief that they are just playing a game. It’s a win-win for you!
Follow the SEN rule
Sleep, Exercise, and Nutrition are the three things essential for every human body, let alone the children. While the preparation goes on (and even after it gets over), ensure that your child eats enough of healthy nutritious home-cooked food (fruits, vegetables, and dry fruits). Also, make sure that your child is physically active and not busy in the modern electronic gadgets at home in their free time. Encourage your child to play outdoor games or exercise with you.
Most importantly, ensure that your child gets a sound sleep of at least 7-8 hours. Sacrificing sleep for studying will not only reduce your child’s brain efficiency but also affect his/her health negatively.
Hire a good tutor
A good tutor is always a smart choice. An able, well-informed tutor can prevent your child from falling behind and teach him/her better time management tricks. This would boost your child’s confidence and determination. Apart from that, the expertise and experience that a tutor carries with it, enables your child to gain that desired edge from others.
Don’t forget practice tests
Practice tests are the best way to make your child familiar with the question paper pattern. Every examination has its own unique structure. Though it is important not to pressurize students, especially at such a young age, it is essential for the child to learn to tackle the questions by taking up frequent practice tests. A primary 6 maths practice exam book will certainly increase your child’s ability to do well on the math section of the CogAT exam. You can also use CogAT workbooks that are available on the Internet.
Since CogAt is timed, the child won’t really have a lot of time to figure out what they are supposed to do. Practice tests would inculcate better time management skills in your child and enable quicker responses. Becoming familiar with the pattern and learning how to solve the questions with thorough experience is the only way to ace the test!
Now that you are aware of the tricks, what’s the wait worth for? Go ahead and start preparing your child. After all, your little one deserves the best!
