SAT/PSAT

[ccmom]

Hello,

I have a 10th grader and 8th grader. My 10th grader has always been a "struggling" learner, but he is coming along.

 

What is the best way to study for the SAT without letting the other subjects slide?

 

I'll do some more searching, but I wanted to put the question out for people to respond. I expect my 10th grader to attend community college before university, to ease him into it. I am not sure yet about my youngest.

 

Thanks!

Susan

[speedmom4]

Since your son is only in 10th grade you have plenty of time for test prep. We used the McGraw Hill PSAT test prep book with great success and then my daughter took an SAT math prep (outside) class. They used the College Board Official SAT test prep book. I personally liked the layout of the McGraw Hill book better.

 

My daughter just did about 10-15 minutes a day on her test prep books. On the weekends we actually did the timed tests. I don't think test prep has to interfere with any other school work. Summer would also be a good time to work on the test prep book.

 

Hope you get some other responses!

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[Musicmom]

Since your son is only in 10th grade you have plenty of time for test prep. We used the McGraw Hill PSAT test prep book with great success and then my daughter took an SAT math prep (outside) class. They used the College Board Official SAT test prep book. I personally liked the layout of the McGraw Hill book better.

 

My daughter just did about 10-15 minutes a day on her test prep books. On the weekends we actually did the timed tests. I don't think test prep has to interfere with any other school work. Summer would also be a good time to work on the test prep book.

 

Hope you get some other responses!

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

:iagree:with everything above. We also used the McGraw Hill PSAT Prep book, and it was very helpful. We found prepping for the PSAT to be good prep for the SAT. McGraw Hill has some good, long-term suggestions for developing skills, so by starting early, you can take advantage of those suggestions, as well as just work at it a little each day.

 

For the SAT, we used the College Board Official Study Guide for the practice tests--and McGraw Hill's SAT Prep book for concept review and test techniques (helpful chapter on writing the essay, and the grammar section is great). We also used IEW's High School Essay for the essay portion. We did also use Barron's SAT Critical Reading Workbook (as CR was my dc's weakest area), and dd used Barron's SAT Writing Workbook instead of McGraw Hill (suited her better.)

 

Math was not an issue for us... experience with the PSAT/SAT types of problems seemed to help my dc the most with that. I do remember though, that the McGraw Hill PSAT prep book seemed to provide good review and good problem solving techniques. Hopefully others will have more suggestions for the math.

 

When it comes to taking practice tests, another effective and less time-consuming approach (that we just tried this last fall with dd) is to work on just one section at a time. Most are only 25-30 minutes long, so not too much time out of the day. Start by doing it untimed (in one sitting, though, and open book--don't struggle) for the first couple of tests and focus on getting and understanding the correct answers, then work on doing it timed. Finally, in the few weeks preceding the test, do one (or maybe two if you think necessary) full-length practice tests on weekends to build stamina and get a feel for the test conditions.

 

Anyway, you're in a good position to start early and work slowly so that test prep doesn't need to be a huge thing.

[ccmom]

Thanks! I will check these out.

[Brenda in MA]

Hello,

I have a 10th grader and 8th grader. My 10th grader has always been a "struggling" learner, but he is coming along.

 

I expect my 10th grader to attend community college before university, to ease him into it. I am not sure yet about my youngest.

 

Thanks!

Susan

 

Susan,

 

I'm a bit confused by your message. If your 10th grader will take some CC classes before applying to a 4-year school, then he/she will need to take the SAT or ACT to get into the 4-year school.

 

If the 10th grader plans to go to the CC and get a 2-year degree before transferring to a 4-year school, then he/she doesn't need to take the SAT or ACT all all -- just the placement test at the CC.

 

If he/she will need to take the SAT or ACT, I agree with the others about the prep books they suggested.

 

Brenda

[Bassoonaroo]

One thing that really helped my dd was to realize that you use lots of strategies on the SAT and ACT. It's not like math or English at home. You're under a tight time constraint and you usually have all the answers given to you underneath the problem! So, strategies like plugging in the answers (starting with C if it's the math section!), eliminating obvious wrong choices, pacing, estimating, looking for certain key words, learning to read the reading passages strategically, etc. all make sense. My dd learned how to guess well, move on, mark her test booklet so she knew which ones to go back to if time allowed, etc. She got familiar with her calculator before the test so it was an "old friend" by the time she tested, etc.

 

Another thing I did was to buy a book of 10 or 12 practice tests. I cut them all out and put them in folders and we had an SAT party here at the house. Except it didn't feel like a party. The kids were put in a silent room and we set the timer and they worked hard. They got the same breaks that you'd get at a testing center. Adults graded the essays and the kids graded the rest of the test, and then found their scores. Practice tests help them realize what it FEELS like to take the SAT all at one sitting (many kids practice a little each day and never do a full practice test before The Real Thing).

 

HTH