Test Prep Strategies For A Busy Parent

Holding down a job, caring for young children, and attending college classes may initially feel overwhelming. You may wonder how you will perform on each scheduled unit test or be concerned about not having enough time to dedicate to the furthering of your education. Consider using the following strategies to aid you with retaining information that you will be tested on.

Use Recorded Materials

If you typically jot down notes rapidly while an instructor is giving a lecture, you may miss out on visual aids, facial expressions, and connotation details that will help you truly grasp particular concepts. Many instructors will allow their students to record lectures and may even provide pre-recorded content that pertains to a particular lesson. You will need to ask permission from your instructor prior to recording audio.

If you are granted consent, you can spend future lectures focusing on what your instructor is saying and save note taking for when you are at home. A recorded lecture can be replayed as often as you prefer and can be stopped at random intervals. If your instructors offer pre-recorded content, purchase a pair of headphones to use while listening and watching the material.

Adjust Your Homework And Study Schedule

Attempting to do homework or study while on a work break or while communicating with your children will not allow you to fully focus on your college courses. If your children go down for a nap at a particular time, this could be one of the prime times in which you make headway with your assignments and studies. It can be tempting to coincide a nap with your children's, but this could sacrifice the amount of quality time that you can dedicate to your coursework.

Set up a schedule that involves sleeping, working, caring for your children, and handling household duties. Calculate the amount of time that is left over. There may be some blocks of time that you can use for coursework purposes that you did not initially consider. For instance, if your children tend to play in one particular area of your home or are interested in watching a specific television program, you can set up a study area that is within earshot, but that will not be directly tied into the activity that your children are participating in.

If your children are not old enough to be left unsupervised, set up a gated area for your children to play in. Provide your kids with soft blocks, coloring books, or another quiet activity. Set up a desk nearby that can be used for homework and studying.

For more help with test prep, contact an education provider, such as High Performance Tutoring.