Help Your Kid Study for a Test

Spelling

Picture this. On the front of an index card, have your child draw a simple picture of each spelling word next to the first letter of the word as a clue. She should write the correct spelling on the back of the card. Then have your child check the picture, then spell the word aloud or write it on paper. If she spells the word wrong, have her write it twice on scratch paper or a dry-erase board and spell it aloud twice.

Let 'em eat their words. Give your child a cookie sheet with dry, flavored gelatin mix on it. Have her "write" her words with her finger, saying the letters aloud as she goes, suggests stephanie sturgeon, a Noblesville, IN, teacher and mom of two. If you'd rather avoid the sugar and stained fingers, rice or sand works, too.

Get it on tape. Show your child how to say each spelling word into a cassette player, iPhone, or digital audio device, leaving long pauses after each word. When he's done, have him replay the recording, write the words during the pauses, then check his work against his correct spelling list.

Study via stickies. Post tough spelling words throughout the house -- on the refrigerator, bathroom door, mirrors -- with colorful sticky notes, suggests Joan Rooney, a Boston mom and vice president of tutor management at Tutor.com. "Kids can also use funny drawings or symbols," she says.