Did you come across this blog, as you were looking to decipher the test results letter from your school?   If not, let me tell you – there is no better motivation to get started with test preparation than receiving a “bad” test result for your elementary school aged child.  This test might be over, but there’s always the next and the next, until well, … after college.

I have been in this situation exactly twice with my eldest child.  The first letter,  opened my eyes to the hidden world of standardized tests that the school system uses to place my child in a group of peers.  This was back when she was a 2nd grader.  She took the Inview Test, and failed miserably on 2 sections out of 5.  As a parent, reading the IQ test results, something doesn’t sit well when your child gets a 90 percentile in some sections and 45 % in 2 others.  After talking to my child, I realized that the format and directions in a stressful test environment can make or break your child.

I set out on a crusade to find out more information about the Inview test, and how it is used in our school system to separate highly gifted children for placement in more rigorous math and English classes.

Thus the idea for Smarty Buddy App was born…  I sat down with my kids and created  a  framework for a fun app that would be a nice alternative to worksheet test preparation.  We worked very hard to get the art work done in warm and inviting graphics; then we worked on programming the app , testing and releasing it to the public.

Since then, we released about 5 test preparation books and 4 more apps to help with basic multiplication, division and math facts.  The kids love being part of the app development process and get to test out our products before they are released to the public.

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In the midst of working on products for other kids, my daughter geared up to take the CoGAT test in 5th grade.  We have worked very hard to try out different types of test questions and develop test preparation workbooks for other kids.

But on my daughter’s test day I realized that I did not stress the test taking tips enough!

So on test day, my daughter comes back saying that the test was easy, but she had to skip a few questions.

“You skipped questions?”

So we went through a long discussion that on standardized test we NEVER, NEVER, EVER skip answering a question!  We can make an EDUCATED guess, and come back to the question if time allows. But never skip a question!

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The test results came back, and lo and behold – we get 95% on all sections, except 64% on the section where a quarter of the questions was skipped.

I will try to get a copy my daughter’s test results to help you visualize the effect this little test taking tip can have on your child’s score.  Come back soon to get a glimpse of what CoGAT test results look like!

I hope you get a chance to browse through our blog and try out our apps and books.  We look forward to your feedback.  And as always “Good Luck” to you and yours!