Prepare your student for the first section of the exam which is reading and multiple choice -- there are approximately five reading passages paired with 28 multiple choice questions. Create or look up reading passages between one and four paragraphs long and relatively challenging to your child's reading level. Pair each of the five passages with three to six multiple choice questions about content, meaning and point of view.
Read a short story or excerpt from a textbook and ask your child to answer questions in short-answer form to help practice listening and writing skills. This section of the test also asks students to write a composition -- they may choose their own topic or pick from two to three provided topics, depending on the version of the test. Instruct your child to write an essay that requires him to compare and contrast points of view (such as how two family members remember a recent vacation). Critique his writing for content, organization, grammar and spelling.
Practice for the third section of the exam, which is similar to the first but consists of a longer reading passage and written answers. Choose a short story that offers a clear moral or lesson and ask your child to answer two questions about the storyline in short-answer form, about a paragraph each. Then ask her to answer one long essay question about the meaning or moral of the story.
Take a practice exam -- set up the exam at home just as it will be at school. Find a practice test online or ask the school counselor if he has tests from previous years that you can have. Administer the test over three days and time the test exactly as the teachers will time it at school: 45 minutes for the first section, 30 minutes for each of the two parts in the second section, and 60 minutes for the last section.