PREPPERONI: Confidence-Building Exercises and Mindset Tips for Test Day Success

1. Practice Positive Self-Talk

• Replace Negative Thoughts: Help your child replace any negative thoughts (e.g., “I’m going to fail” or “I don’t know enough”) with positive affirmations like, “I am prepared,” “I can handle this,” or “I’ve studied hard and I’m ready.”

• Daily Affirmations: Encourage your child to repeat positive affirmations daily in the lead-up to the test. This will help rewire their thinking to focus on their strengths and readiness.

2. Visualize Success

• Guided Visualization: Walk your child through a visualization exercise where they imagine themselves walking into the exam room calm and confident, completing the test efficiently, and feeling proud of their effort afterward. Visualization helps reduce fear and build a sense of control over the test day.

• Use Visual Cues: Create visual reminders of their goals—whether it’s a picture of the high school they want to attend or a motivational quote on their desk. These cues help reinforce the positive outcomes they are working toward.

3. Focus on Preparation, Not Perfection

• Celebrate Progress: Remind your child that perfect scores aren’t necessary—what matters most is doing their best. Emphasize their hard work and dedication leading up to the test, and celebrate the progress they’ve made.

• Focus on Effort: Reinforce the idea that effort is more important than outcome. Let them know that it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as they continue to try their best.

4. Develop a Growth Mindset

• Embrace Challenges: Teach your child that challenges and difficult questions are opportunities for growth, not something to fear. Encourage them to approach tricky problems with curiosity rather than frustration.

• Use the Power of “Yet”: If your child struggles with a particular concept, remind them to say, “I don’t know this yet,” instead of “I can’t do this.” This small shift in language encourages them to keep learning and growing.

5. Break the Test into Manageable Steps

• Small Wins First: Encourage your child to start with the questions they know best. Completing easier questions first builds momentum and confidence, making it easier to tackle harder ones.

• Take it One Step at a Time: Remind your child to take the test one section, one question at a time. Focusing on small, manageable tasks reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed.

6. Practice Full-Length Tests

• Simulate Test Day: Completing full-length practice tests under realistic conditions helps build familiarity with the test format, pacing, and environment. The more comfortable your child is with the test experience, the more confident they will feel on the actual day.

• Review Mistakes Positively: After each practice test, review mistakes together with a focus on improvement rather than criticism. Encourage your child to view mistakes as learning opportunities.

7. Build a Calm Pre-Test Routine

• Create a Test-Day Ritual: Help your child develop a calming test-day routine. This could include a healthy breakfast, some light exercise, and a few minutes of deep breathing or visualization. Having a familiar routine helps reduce anxiety and builds confidence.

• Prepare the Night Before: Ensure everything your child needs for the test—like pencils, erasers, and their admission ticket—is ready the night before. Feeling organized and prepared eliminates last-minute stress and sets a confident tone for test day.

8. Encourage a Healthy Lifestyle

• Prioritize Sleep: Ensure your child gets a good night’s sleep in the days leading up to the test. Being well-rested is crucial for mental clarity and focus, which boosts confidence.

• Balanced Diet: A healthy breakfast on test day, including whole grains, fruits, and protein, provides the energy your child needs to concentrate and perform well.

• Physical Activity: Encourage regular physical activity, which helps reduce stress and boost mood. Even a short walk or stretch before the test can help ease tension and improve focus.

9. Teach Relaxation Techniques for Test Day

• Deep Breathing: Teach your child simple deep breathing exercises they can use during the test to calm their nerves. A few slow, deep breaths can help lower anxiety and refocus their mind.

• Grounding Techniques: If your child feels overwhelmed, encourage them to use a grounding technique, like focusing on the physical sensations of their feet on the ground or the feeling of their pencil in their hand. This brings them back to the present moment and reduces stress.

10. Prepare for Test Day Situations

• What If... Scenarios: Talk through common test-day concerns, such as “What if I don’t know the answer to a question?” or “What if I run out of time?” Discuss strategies for handling these situations calmly and confidently, such as moving on to the next question and returning later or using the process of elimination.

• Encourage Flexibility: Let your child know that it’s okay if things don’t go perfectly. Teach them to be flexible and adapt to unexpected situations without panicking.

11. Focus on the Process, Not the Outcome

• Remove Pressure from Results: Help reduce test anxiety by focusing more on the process than the outcome. Remind your child that this test is just one step in their academic journey, and no matter the result, they have worked hard and made progress.

• Encourage Reflection: After the test, rather than immediately asking about how they think they performed, ask how they felt during the test. This emphasizes the experience rather than fixating on the score, helping them build a more positive relationship with testing.

12. Post-Test Celebrations

• Celebrate the Effort: Regardless of how the test went, celebrate your child’s hard work and dedication. Acknowledging the effort they put into preparing reinforces confidence and a sense of accomplishment.

• Plan Something Fun: Have something fun planned after the test, such as a family outing or a special meal. This gives your child something to look forward to, and it reinforces the idea that test day is just one part of life, not the whole picture.

Final Thoughts:

Confidence comes from preparation, a positive mindset, and the ability to manage stress. By encouraging these confidence-building exercises and mindset tips, you can help your child feel empowered and ready to succeed on test day.