SAT Prep books...

[TXMary2]

Any experience with SAT Prep books? Which is better......The Princeton Review books or the College Board books?

 

Also, do you start practicing in 9th grade or the year of the test?

[AngieW in Texas]

On the hs2coll email loop, the College Board book is the one that gets the most recommendations. It doesn't really have much in the way of teaching strategies for the test. It is primarily lots of practice actually taking tests.

 

My two older girls have used Kaplan SAT prep online through homeschool buyer's co-op. It was a good program, but my oldest really needs human interaction for stuff like that. She's taking a local SAT class.

 

I think 10th grade is a great time to start practicing. My middle dd gets very upset when she has too much screen time for school (because then she doesn't feel like she should do any screen time for fun). So I'm not going to have her use it again. I will probably have her take the same course my oldest is taking right now the summer between 10th and 11th grades. It will work nicely for PSAT prep as well.

[RENEEinVA]

I recently purchased the Rocket Review Revolution for my kids, based on a recommendation by Gwen in VA, and it looks pretty thorough. You might want to check it out on Amazon.com.

[Grace is Sufficient]

In addition to the college board book, we used a book specifically for essay prep. (Link)

 

Between reading (parts of) it and daily practice using past SAT prompts for a couple of weeks before the test, it improved his essay tremendously.

[Georgia On My Mind]

Thanks Grace. That link looks like a great addition to the others mentioned. I also use a Stobaugh SAT Prep beginning in 9th Grade with a vocab builder. The Stobaugh has a devotional format with math problem of the day and some other tips and strategies. We like this as a daily warm up. We also have a Word Smart vocab program we use to reinforce vocab on a regular basis.