Scared silly...registered my oldest two for the ACT.

[LisaKinVA]

I don't know why I'm nervous.  They usually take tests very well.  My newly-minted 15yo needs to take it for practice (at least), the 12 yo needs the scores for an application.  I keep telling myself that they will do just fine.  But this is a big moment in our homeschooling journey (at least it feels that way).  Unlike the plethora of standardized tests they've taken in the past (ITBS, CAT, SOL), I feel like these really matter.  It's just me.  Everything will be fine...until they take the test on 10/25.  Meanwhile, we're going through test taking strategies (I'm not asking them to study like crazy...they both have had at least as much math, English and science as I did going into the ACT in high school my first time.  How bad could it be?  Right?

 

 

[creekland]

:grouphug:   I suspect all will be fine, but I definitely felt similarly when my guys took their first test.  One can't help but feel that all is on the line for us more than for them.  It honestly doesn't change after the first test - maybe it lessens a little bit - but until they moved into college and started doing well freshman year, my nerves stayed on edge, even with test results.

[mom31257]

It will be fine, but I understand how you feel. You said they test well on those standardized tests. My dd tested on the ACT in the same percentile range that she always did on the ITBS. I don't know if it's a true correlation or just her test-taking ability. She only used the Real ACT Prep book (the red one), and her score was the average of all the practice test scores. 

 

 

[cjzimmer1]

Will they be taking it with writing or without?  The writing is the only portion that has given mine grief since he is not a strong writer and trying to think and write in that short of a time period really stressed him out.  The rest wasn't a problem because he could always make an educated guess if he wasn't sure of the answer (make sure they know guessing is okay)

[LisaKinVA]

They are taking it without writing this year.  This year also marks the beginning of regular "high stakes" testing for us...subject exams, AP exams, CLEP exams.  

Such fun!

[KarenNC]

My daughter started with the SAT and ACT when she was 12 (Duke TIP), and it has been just fine. I did prepare her that there would be a lot of math she didn't know, since she was just finishing pre-algebra, and she was not bothered by that. It sounds as if that won't be an issue for your children. Better it be the first time for practice rather than when it's really high stakes. Have they done group testing before? That was the biggest change for us, as all previous testing had been one on one or at home. We did go through a couple of practice tests to make sure she was familiar with the specific test-taking strategies for each one.

 

FYI, if your 12 yo is taking the ACT for an application, I want to be sure you're aware of the Johns Hopkins SET program http://cty.jhu.edu/set/. You don't have to be registered with their talent search program to send in scores, but the SAT is the only qualifying test for it and it's best to try before the child turns 13, as that has the lowest cutoff. My daughter did the ACT originally through Duke because the ACT counted for our yearly testing, while the SAT didn't. I only found out about SET afterwards, so we squeezed in an SAT before her birthday to see if she would qualify. She didn't quite make it, but the experience was good.

[LisaKinVA]

My daughter started with the SAT and ACT when she was 12 (Duke TIP), and it has been just fine. I did prepare her that there would be a lot of math she didn't know, since she was just finishing pre-algebra, and she was not bothered by that. It sounds as if that won't be an issue for your children. Better it be the first time for practice rather than when it's really high stakes. Have they done group testing before? That was the biggest change for us, as all previous testing had been one on one or at home. We did go through a couple of practice tests to make sure she was familiar with the specific test-taking strategies for each one.

 

FYI, if your 12 yo is taking the ACT for an application, I want to be sure you're aware of the Johns Hopkins SET program http://cty.jhu.edu/set/. You don't have to be registered with their talent search program to send in scores, but the SAT is the only qualifying test for it and it's best to try before the child turns 13, as that has the lowest cutoff. My daughter did the ACT originally through Duke because the ACT counted for our yearly testing, while the SAT didn't. I only found out about SET afterwards, so we squeezed in an SAT before her birthday to see if she would qualify. She didn't quite make it, but the experience was good.

 

 

Thank you...yes the practice will be helpful.  Yes, they have done group testing before (VA SOL testing), but it's been awhile.  The application is for a STEM camp, not JHU/CTY or anything like that. The scores aren't required, but will probably be helpful.  We wanted DS to take it last year, but we missed the first date due to the move, and didn't learn about the 2nd date until it was too late to register (I've been much more on-the-ball with testing here this year).  We've been able to participate in JHU for 7 years now (oldest son), but haven't been able to afford any of the programming, so it's not really on our radar for younger dc.  While getting into SET would be nice...we probably wouldn't be able to do anything with it at this point.