NYC Gifted and Talented Test is Less Than 24 Hours Away!

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - January 6th, 2012

For those parents in NYC, many of your children will take the gifted and talented test this weekend or within the next few weeks. Tens of thousands of 4 to 7 year old New Yorkers will take the test that will determine their educational future for the next school year and beyond. For the all the New York City moms and dads, here are the 5 P’s for you to remember for the upcoming test.

1. Process – Know the process of gifted and talented testing and how the OLSAT and Bracken (BSRA) tests work. After you enroll your talented tot on the NYC department of education website for gifted and talented test make sure you know the district-wide school choices based upon where you live. Also, investigate the city-wide gifted and talented programs.
2. Practice – Continually practice with your “Jake” or “Jane” to make sure they are fully immersed with the concepts on the Otis-Lennon School Abilities test by incorporating these into your daily routine. This can be done by counting city blocks as you stroll to Central Park or shapes by all the wonderful buildings and structures in New York City.
3. Progress – Learning the concepts on the gifted and talented test takes time so make sure you monitor the progress of your child on a weekly basis. If your child struggles with analogies make sure you practice these until your child masters analogies for his or her level.
4. Play – Make it fun! Learning through play is a great way to make sure your child is engaged with the process and absorbs the concepts like a little sponge! You can also make preparing for testing a game and even have your little one ask you questions along the way.
5. Pray – Ok, if you’re not really sure how your child will perform on the gifted and talented test or you’ve waited until the last minute to prepare (or didn’t prepare at all), there’s always the last resort of prayer.