The best way for kids to study for a test

By James editorial team, Golan Europe S.L. · Published 1 November 2026 · 8 min read

The best way for kids to study for a test is to practise pulling answers out of memory, not to read notes again and again. Short quizzes, flashcards and "tell me what you know" work well. Spread study over several days instead of one long night. Mix topics, check answers, and let your child explain ideas in their own words.

Why reading notes again feels good but works poorly

Most children study by rereading. They read the chapter, highlight lines and feel ready. The trouble is that the words start to look familiar. Familiar is not the same as remembered.

A well-known review looked at ten common study methods. It rated rereading and highlighting as low value, because they do not reliably raise test scores^[1]. The authors suggested using practice tests in their place.

In a classic experiment, students read short passages. Some read them again. Others wrote down everything they could remember, with no help and no feedback^[2]. On a test five minutes later, the rereaders did a bit better. But on tests two days or one week later, the group who had practised recalling remembered much more. The rereaders also felt more confident, even though they forgot more.

This is useful to tell your child. "It feels harder" does not mean "it is working worse". Often it means the opposite.

Practice testing: the method with the strongest evidence

Pulling information out of your head makes it easier to find next time. Researchers call this retrieval practice. The same review gave practice testing its top rating, along with spacing study out over time^[1]. Both helped learners of different ages and abilities.

Practice testing does not mean a stressful mock exam. It can be light and quick:

• Flashcards. Question on one side, answer on the other. Your child says the answer out loud before turning the card over.
• Blank page. "Close the book. Write or draw everything you remember about the water cycle." Then open the book and add what was missing in a different colour.
• Teacher's questions. Many textbooks end each chapter with questions. Use them as a quiz, not as reading.
• Swap roles. Your child writes five questions for you. Making good questions is also practice.
• Old worksheets. Cover the answers and try again.

Always check the answers afterwards. Feedback matters a lot. A large review of feedback found that it can be one of the strongest influences on learning, but the type of feedback makes a big difference^[3]. The most useful feedback tells a child what to do next, not just "right" or "wrong".

Spread it out: little and often beats one big night

Cramming the night before can get a child through a test the next morning. Then much of it fades. If the topic comes back later in the year, they start almost from zero.

Spacing means studying the same material in several shorter sessions with gaps in between. A big analysis of hundreds of experiments found that spaced study leads to better memory than massed study^[4]. It also found that the best gap depends on how long you need to remember. In short: the longer you need to remember something, the longer the gaps between study sessions can be.

For a child, this means three or four short sessions across a week, rather than one long one. A short session on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is usually better than one long one on Thursday night.

Teachers use the same idea. One well-known summary of good teaching advises a short review of earlier learning at the start of lessons, plus weekly and monthly review^[5]. You can copy that at home.

Mix topics instead of doing one type at a time

Many homework sheets ask for twenty problems of the same kind. That builds speed, but a test mixes things up. Your child has to decide which method to use, not just repeat one.

Interleaving means mixing different types of questions in one session. For maths, that might be some fractions, then some area problems, then a word problem. The research review rated this method as promising, though with less evidence than testing and spacing^[1].

Try this at home:

• Shuffle flashcards from two or three topics together.
• For maths, make a short sheet with one question from each recent topic.
• For spelling, mix this week's words with words from earlier weeks.

Mixed practice can feel slower and messier. That is normal. Tell your child the mistakes are part of how it works.

Explain it out loud, in their own words

Children often know facts but cannot say why. Two related methods help here. One is asking "why is this true?" about each fact. The other is explaining each step of a problem to yourself. Both were rated moderately useful in the review^[1].

You do not need to know the topic to use this. Ask your child to teach you:

• "Pretend I'm seven years old. How would you explain photosynthesis to me?"
• "Why did you multiply there and not add?"
• "What would happen if that number were bigger?"

If they get stuck, that is good information. It shows exactly what to look at again. Resist giving the answer straight away. Our guide on helping with homework without giving the answer has more ways to do this.

Small steps, high success, and a calm voice

A child who gets most questions wrong in a practice session will feel defeated. The aim is to be right most of the time, with a bit of stretch.

Classroom research supports this. Effective teachers present new material in small steps and aim for a high success rate when students practise^[5]. At home, that means:

• Start with a few easy questions to build momentum.
• Break a big topic into small chunks. Learn one chunk, quiz it, then add the next.
• If more than a few answers are wrong, go back a step together.

How you talk about mistakes matters too. Praise the work they did, the strategy they tried and the fact that they kept going. "You tested yourself three times this week" is more helpful than "You're so clever". Our article on praising effort instead of intelligence explains why.

Sleep, breaks and the study space

A tired brain struggles to take in new things. Late-night cramming swaps sleep for study, and that is rarely a good trade. Keep normal bedtimes in test week.

A few practical habits help:

• Short sessions. Younger children often focus best in short bursts. Older ones can do longer, with breaks.
• Phones away. Put the phone in another room during study time. Quick checks break focus.
• Same place, same time. A regular spot and routine make it easier to start.
• Food and movement. A snack and a quick walk between sessions can reset attention.

A one-week study plan for a test

Here is a simple plan for a test on Friday. Adjust it to your child's age and the subject.

1. Monday. Gather what the test covers. Make flashcards or a list of questions together. Do one blank-page recall and check it.
2. Tuesday. Quiz with the flashcards. Put cards they got wrong in a separate pile. Spend extra time on that pile.
3. Wednesday. Mix in questions from all the topics. Ask your child to explain two ideas out loud, as if teaching you.
4. Thursday. Short final quiz on everything. Go over the "wrong" pile one more time. Stop early and go to bed on time.
5. Friday morning. A few easy questions on the way to school, just to warm up. No new material.

After the test, look at what went well and what did not. If they used the plan and still struggled, talk to the teacher. A teacher can often see a gap that home study cannot fix alone.

Some families let their child practise questions out loud with James. With children, he asks questions and helps them work things out instead of handing over answers, and he praises effort. He does not replace a teacher or a parent who checks the work.

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