choirfarm Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I just had my oldest take a practice PSAT. Last year for 10th he scored a 58 on writing, 65 in math and 66 in reading. Well, after a year of learning, he scored a 64 in writing, 65 in math, and a 74 in reading. This is my math/science guy.... Yet no improvement after one more year of math including AP stats. We own the Chalkdust SAT math review and I was going to have him go through parts of that and the math parts of the two prep books I have. I'll have to look and see what he missed. He wasn't sure what types he missed. Just weird that he had a big jump in his 2 English sections and nothing in math. My goal is to get math and writing to 70 or above. We'll see. The good thing is that he always seems to do much better on the actual test than he does on the practice ones. He scored 170 or so last year when he practiced before the one in 10th but then scored 189. Same thing happened with the THEA to enter CC this year. I was scared he wasn't going to pass, but he topped out the test scoring 296 out of 300 on 2 out of 3 sections. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Plus One Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Is AP Stats the only math course your son took this year or did he take something else alongside it? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Is AP Stats the only math course your son took this year or did he take something else alongside it? :) Since he did TT Alg I and II in 8th, he did a Chalkdust Elementary and Intermediate Algebra combined course to get ready for Chalkdust Precalc this year. He also did Apologia Physics ( did Chemistry the year before). He's doing AP Chemistry this year and will do AP Physics and Calculus his senior year. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigid in NC Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Perhaps as your son has moved into more advanced math, he is rusty on what he hasn't practiced for a while. In our case, geometry was the culprit. As you said, looking at what was missed is a great idea. When it comes to the PSAT, it is such a short test, every missed question has a big impact on the score. Best of luck! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Plus One Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I'm familiar with the SAT but not the programs so bear with me. :D Does Chalkdust or TT include Geometry with Algebra then? As an aside, my daughter's now looking at Chalkdust for math as you mentioned it! Geometry is also very often the culprit when my daughter struggles in math too so Linda's son isn't alone! I would agree that it could simply be your son getting rusty but if he's done Chalkdust this year too, I'm not sure what's going on. I will say that going through a SAT practice test and using Khan Academy's solution videos for every question he gets wrong could help him significantly. It'll limit the topics he needs to go over as it's only those he's struggling with and that might motivate him a bit more. If there's less to work through, I think everyone's a little more motivated. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 I'm familiar with the SAT but not the programs so bear with me. :D Does Chalkdust or TT include Geometry with Algebra then? . :D No, he did Chalkdust Geometry in 9th grade. That might indeed be the culprit, but I'll have to look at his pretest later today. I also need to look up the ones he missed from last year online. And I agree with the only going over what he is having difficulty with. He doesn't need to do the basic math stuff again. I'm guessing it is trig stuff or geometry, but we'll see. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Plus One Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I'm guessing it is trig stuff or geometry, but we'll see. They're both a pain in the neck, and that's from someone who majored in math. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Between testing in 2010 and 2011 there was no math change, despite a ton of math.... and my guess is it was the geometry. Algebra gets used in everything, but geometry kind of stands alone. I added a little review this spring and a lot of it came back to him... so we'll keep that up this year and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I'm voting with those who say his skills are getting rusty. Stats doesn't use all the skills tested on the PSAT. Neither does Pre-Calc. Reviewing (esp Geometry) ought to dust off the brain neurons so they can fire properly again. For what it's worth, reviewing with a PSAT book is probably better than an SAT book as the PSAT puts more of an emphasis on Geometry IMO. I honestly think having middle son review with an SAT book instead of a PSAT book made the difference between NMSF and Commended for him - that and the clock/time issue that caused him to not finish the first math portion. If I had it to do over again, I'd have spent the $$ on a PSAT review book. BUT this is all just my thoughts so take it for what it's worth. The exact same month (Oct) just one week later my guy scored a 34 on the ACT math having used SAT and ACT prep books. He knew his stuff. He was just rusty on some of the PSAT specific things - and therefore slower - and therefore the clock/time issue was an issue. This year youngest (10th grade) will take the PSAT cold. Next year, when it counts, he'll have the correct study book (and one for the ACT). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) First of all, he didn't score himself correctly. He made a 68. Ok.. he missed 1 out of 18 on the first section, 3 out of 10 on the second section and 4 out of 10 where he had to write the answer himself. None of the problems he missed involved geometry or trig...most of them were word problems. That and 2 were careless mistakes on easy problems and 1 problem he skipped all together!!! GRR. That is probably why he does better on the real thing, he takes more time and is very careful. Creekland, thanks. We're going to do all the math and writing in those test prep books. If he scores as high as he did on the reading section on a second practice test later, I won't worry about that. I bought the ACT prep book you recommended for him to start after the PSAT. Christine Edited July 26, 2011 by choirfarm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I just had my oldest take a practice PSAT. Christine OT, but is that something you can easily find online or do you have to purchase it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 OT, but is that something you can easily find online or do you have to purchase it? I bought 2 test prep books, but on the collegeboard site ( the one where you register for SAT and it has his PSAT scores from last year there) you can take a practice test for free and do practice problems online for free. That said, my guy just does better with pencil and paper than on the computer. So I haven't used those yet. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 4 out of 10 where he had to write the answer himself. Christine How is his handwriting? Could it be that numbers were confused? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 Well, his handwriting stinks, but no this was on his recent practice test he took and graded. I'm not sure how he did on that section on the one he took last October. I'll have to check and see. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I know nothing about this, but is it possible that the math he learned this year wasn't what was tested on the PSAT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nynyny Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 It's difficult to compare a prep book test to the "real thing". My son's practice scores varied 20 points between the Oct 2004 Wednesday test and the Oct 2004 Saturday test. One test was just much more difficult for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moki4 Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Can you please let us know which test review books you used for PSAT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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