Did your 10th grader take the PSAT?

[Leonor]

If so, had he/she finished all the maths ALG1,2 and Geometry before taking it in the fall of 10th grade?

 

If the student has not finished Geometry and Alg 2, would you still have him take the PSAT now for practice or would you just wait for him to take it in his 11th grade when it counts?

 

I'm concerned that taking it now when he is obviously not ready might be discouraging, even if it is for practice.

 

I welcome all your comments.

 

Thanks.

[Orthodox6]

My reply will not "fit" your situation, so may well be purely useless for you. Still, it can go into the "feedback basket" !

 

My 10th grader, who attends an outside private school, will take the PSAT next month. He is COMPLETELY UNPREPARED in every possible respect to achieve even a minimally respectable score on this test. (This is, without question, the fault of the school.) Rather than fight with the school, we are letting ds take this test as a "practice experience." I am trying to block from my mind the testing scenario, the results, and the possible reactions from my son. (He has Aspergers and NVLD. No accommodations will be allowed when he takes the test.) (not just for him; there will be none allowed for any of the students at this school -- all of whom are special needs students)

 

Whether or not taking the PSAT when unprepared will discourage a student, depends upon the personality of the student. Some may feel "crushed" by a low score; others may feel "energized" to tackle and conquer whatever specific topics emerged as needing further work.

 

Were I homeschooling my son, I would wait until the 11th grade. (If I were homeschooling my son, he would be receiving a better academic education, anyway.) [sigh . . .]

[Maryalice]

My #1 took the PSAT only once in his next to last year and eventually was a NM Finalist. I heard of all of the great stories of scholarships, etc. After all of the work with the test and subsequent forms and finally getting to the "prize" of Finalist, he got a (drum roll...) Certificate. #2 took the PSAT also only once but did not do so well. She did much better on the SAT and ended up with great scholarships from Grove City College. #3...well, he is not the test taker like his older siblings. He has no chance of getting NM standing. I did not want him to be disillusioned by his score, so we are taking more time to review/prepare and then he will take the SAT multiple times, the first one for practice (the scores were not sent anywhere). Another advantage for skipping the PSAT and doing the SAT is that the SAT is completely handled online with no public school involvement. The PSAT requires that we deal with the local school district.

YMMV

[TravelingChris]

Both of my two older took it in 10th grade. My oldest improved quite a bit for the 11th grade test and would have been a finalist if we hadn't moved (he ended up as a commended since we had moved to the highest scoring area). My second took it last year and will do so again this year. Especially for her, even the 11th grade one is a preparation for SAT and ACT. I am not expecting her to even reach commended status although I think she will do signisifcantly better than in 10th grade partly because she has had more math and lots more writing (she scored very well on writing, well on reading and average on math). The tenth grade test doesn't count for anything but I think it is good preparation for the tests that do count/

[MomsintheGarden]

If so, had he/she finished all the maths ALG1,2 and Geometry before taking it in the fall of 10th grade?

 

If the student has not finished Geometry and Alg 2, would you still have him take the PSAT now for practice or would you just wait for him to take it in his 11th grade when it counts?

 

I'm concerned that taking it now when he is obviously not ready might be discouraging, even if it is for practice.

 

I welcome all your comments.

 

Thanks.

 

Dd took the PSAT only once in 11th grade. She had completed Alg. 1, Geometry, and Alg. 2. She did extremely well on the test, BUT she says that any student who has had Alg. 1 & Geometry has had all the math necessary for the test.

 

That said, she says that special training in the math area is critical to receive a good score. The math questions are tricky, but not necessarily Algebra or Geometry dependent. They are kind of like what you'd encounter on an intelligence-type test. For best preparation, use the official PSAT study guide available from the high school where you register for the test. Also, have your child study from a prep guide. Dd used and liked the one from McGraw Hill; others like Princeton Review or Barron's.

 

If your child has the opportunity to take the PSAT in 10th grade, I'd go for it. You will learn a lot from his scores, because detailed answers are given.

 

GardenMom

[creekland]

I missed the PSAT with my oldest - thinking it wasn't a big deal for homeschoolers - and wish I had had him take it for the practice (though he did well on the SAT anyway).

 

My middle son could very likely be a NM contender next year as a Jr. Since the test is only $15, I do plan to have him take it this year for practice. He's a slow (but accurate) test taker, so the practice should help him for next year when it counts. Yes, he has already finished Alg and Geometry so our situation isn't quite like yours.

 

My thoughts for your situation would be to pick up a practice book at the library or elsewhere and try a practice test at home (less stress). Then see (or think) about what you feel would be best.

[merylvdm]

I had my oldest one take it in 10th and 11th - she improved a lot and was a NM finalist (got $1000 from her school for it).

I started my son in 9th grade as the umbrella school we use requires testing each year and I figured it would be better prep for PSAT later and SAT to do it as a 9th grader - instead of the STanford tests which he would otherwise have to do.

Taking it a year or 2 early shows you what they are doing wrong as you get their answers back and that was a big reason why my oldest improved so much. I sat wit hher and went over all the ones she'd missed and made sure she understood what she had done wrong

Meryl

[LizzyBee]

At my 10th graders school, all 10th graders plus any 9th grader who has finished Alg 1 takes the PSAT.

[coopers5]

I believe Alg. I & some work in Alg. II is sufficient - especially if they've had Saxon and had geometry integrated through the years. But it would be best if by taking it in 11th (when it counts) they've had more. And before taking it even in 10th, they should practice with SAT/PSAT prep materials.

 

NM is a good award/honor to be able to list on a high school resume for a child, even if it turns out that your student receives scholarship presumably based on SAT results.

We homeschoolers have few ways we can *legitimately* award our children - NM provides such an award.

In some schools, yes, semifinalists and/or finalists can receive sizeable funds, just for having made it that far.

It all depends on the institution.

 

HTH.

 

Jo

[Leonor]

Thanks for all your posts.

[Blessedwithboys]

My oldest son is a 10th grader this year. He is scheduled to take the PSAT next month. He is learning Algebra II with Trig. this year and generally tests well, so I'm not really worried. We are just using the test to gauge where he is and figure out what he still needs to work on. I like the idea that he gets to have the experience of taking the test without the pressure of the outcome.

[Kareni]

Did your 10th grader take the PSAT?

 

 

 

In the fall of 10th grade, my eldest had finished Algebra I and Geometry and had just begun Algebra II. She did not take the PSAT that year. However, I did have her take a practice SAT at home at the beginning of the year to get a feel for what areas she needed to concentrate on before taking the PSAT and SAT in Junior year.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kendall]

My 9th grader took it last year and surprised us by doing very well (not finalist well, but way better than I thought - top 20% maybe?) He had not even finished Algebra I and had had a little Geometry.

 

My oldest took it in 10th and did great. He had not had much Geometry and had just started Alg 2 Foersters, he had done much of NEM 1,2,3 but we had skipped the Geometry sections.

 

I think taking it in 10th is a good idea. It is inexpensive, good practice, and sometimes a parent can be surprised and find that they have a student that is in a range to achieve finalist status, when you weren't expecting it.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My dd took it in what we called her 8th and 11th grade years (though 11th was her last high school year). She did have all her math before each.

 

However, all 10th graders at my public school took it. Most 10th graders have only Algebra and two months of Geometry under their belts. So generally I think it's a good idea to take it then. My daughter didn't because she had kidney disease. She got out of the hospital before the test, but was still on medication that made her crazy and wasn't in remission. No reason to bother with a test, IMO.

[Leonor]

Thanks for posting.

[amlee]

my son took the psat in both 9th and 10th

(and will take it next month as a current junior)

 

he had tested out of algebra I and was taking geometry in 9th grade

he took algebra II/trig his sophomore year

and he did very well on the test both years

 

i think it was terrific practice/prep for him

and i would highly encourage your son to take the psat this year

Edited September 20, 2009 by amlee