Best prep for AP World History or SAT Subject Test

[beachnut]

DS is studying world history in 9th & 10th grade using Spielvogel's "Western Civilization." I was hoping to have him take either the AP World History test or the SAT Subject Test when he's finished.

 

Can anyone recommend any good resources to prepare him for these tests & keep 2 year's worth of material fresh in his head? (I'm referring to things OTHER than the standard test prep books by Princeton Review, Kaplan, etc. I've already got 1 or 2 of those.)

 

For example, I ran across this free video course (26 half-hour videos) from Annenberg's website (http://www.learner.org/resources/series197.html) that seems like a good review of more of the "big picture & connections" of world history themes & patterns:

 

Bridging World History is a multimedia course for secondary school and college teachers that looks at global patterns through time, seeing history as an integrated whole.

 

Anyone use this video course or have similar resources to suggest?

[Kareni]

When my daughter took an AP US (not world) History class, she found these Barron's flash cards helpful; here are the analogous world history flash cards.

 

She also enjoyed reading Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the United States for a fun review. Larry Gonick has a series of books that cover world history as well.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[nancy in nj]

between the AP World History and SAT II World History. I believe that there is a much greater % of European History on the SAT II (maybe 35%) compared to the AP test. My dd took the SAT II World History test last December after completing a non-AP World history class and the AP Euro in the years before the SAT II. The SAT II can be very detail oriented. Last December's test devoted 3 of the 80 questions to the Javanese (and that is not a typo!).

 

Nancy

[beachnut]

Thank you both for you insights & suggestions. Will look into the flashcards, as I'm sure they'll help. I forgot that we own a few of Gonick's books. They would make a fun review!

 

Nancy -- the Javanese? :confused: Never heard of them. Yikes! We are only just starting to study the Middle Ages, so hopefully we have not missed them (or any other "important" cultures) yet.

[plansrme]

This is a cut and paste from a post of mine from last summer's AP score thread (my 13 yo completely self-studied and made a 5 on AP World History), but you may want to skip the first couple of paragraphs:

 

 

Before we started homeschooling in what would have been her fourth grade year, my daughter had never had any history. We did U.S. the first two years, and then decided to plunge into world history with a two-year path to prepare for the AP World History exam.

 

In Year 1, which would have been her sixth grade by age (but obviously not where she is working), we used the first Spielvogel/Duiker text, the one meant for college world history courses, and the study guide that goes with it. She took weekly tests that I prepared using test-creating software that goes with the program. I spent a whopping $30, if that, for all of this on half.com. She read the chapter, worked through the study guide, including some essay questions, and took the tests, which were hard for multiple choice tests. She learned a lot but was lonely.

 

In Year 2, first semester plus a couple of weeks of the second semester, we used Trisms Rise of Nations, minus the literature. She liked this very much, but it stops at 1850.

 

Year 2, what was left of second semester, she used two AP prep texts, So Are You Serious Aboug Getting a 5? and another one, the name of which I can't remember--woman author (Edith, maybe?), learned about it here, grey cover. Ring a bell, anyone? I can check when I get home if anyone wants to know. Are You Serious had more strategy, Edith's book was meatier. She emphasized their substantive materials on 1850+ and also read some books, rather randomly, on modern Africa and the Cold War. (ETA this is the book: http://www.amazon.com/AP-World-History-Essential-Coursebook/dp/0974348147)

 

The last two weeks, she did nothing but practice free-response questions, using old exams and the sample answers that the College Board has released. I love that they release samples that scored poorly as well as those that scored well.

 

One of the most important things she did was make a notecard with the requirements for getting the core points on each of the three types of questions. You do not get any expanded core points (for exceptional knowledge about a subject, or something like that) unless you get all of the core points. I was not about to let any exceptional knowledge go to waste like this, and her responses improved after this exercise.

 

I did almost nothing other than schedule every last thing and read her essays. Don't tell her, but I have no idea whether the substance of her essays over the two years was right, as I did not read along with her. If it made sense and was well written, I gave it a thumbs' up. I relied on multiple choice exams to judge her substantive knowledge.

 

One bit of advice I gave her was to focus on China and Africa. She is taking Mandarin Chinese, so it was easier for her than most students to remember Chinese dynasties and names, and I thought that would be an excellent way to nab some expanded core points. Despite my earnest prayers to the contrary, she did not a discussion question on China. Africa, however, was her second strength. As she was going into the exam, she says the high school students around here were talking about how they didn't know anything about Africa. And sure enough, the actual exam included a big, fat question on ancient Africa. She thinks she nailed that one.

 

Hope that helps someone. The whole process has been substantially demystified for me now. While we unashamedly taught to the test, the AP world history exam is a good test--if you can do well on it, by golly, you've learned some history.

 

 

Terri