Seven ways to prepare your teenagers for the SAT is the secret weapon to your child doing their best. The SAT is a major milestone in their high school life and preparing for college. Make it as much of a stress free zone and process as possible. Embrace your child(ren) throughout the process and ensure their success and make sure they become a confident test taker. Here is how.
Seven Ways to Prepare Your Teenagers For the SAT
- Have your child(ren) take the practice test to see where they are before SAT to measure where they are and need to go. Come up with a well-organized blend of study sessions, tutors, free programs, free practice tests, and books to prepare them. Practice makes imperfectly perfect testing and you can assist them with preparing through those avenues.
- Teach your child(ren) how to make an essay outline and practice writing essays until you have it mastered in the new 50 minute time frame. Here is a great time writing advice from Duke – http://twp.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/timed-essay.original.pdf and here are a series of videos – http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-sat-essay.html
- Take note of the SAT being redesigned in March of 2016 so be very familiar with what changed and make sure you have current information on the changes here. https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/good-sat-scores .
- Make sure your child reads anything and everything to become familiar with just about everything. Suggested readings are Time Magazine, the dictionary, People Magazine, history books, The Great Gatsby, speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. etc… World events matter and they only need to read a few paragraphs and recall what they read. Remember practice makes perfect.
- Make the calculator their best friend and make sure they know it inside and out. All the “extra buttons” are there for a reason when it is SAT time. Also, be sure they know the shortcut on their calculator as well. Practice using it all the time with practicing the SAT. Here are some calculator quick facts for the SAT. https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/taking-the-test/calculator-policy
- Set a SAT study schedule with your child and hold them accountable to sticking with their SAT study schedule in addition to other responsibilities they may have. These are samples of study schedules to consider.
- Teach them how to guess and when to skip a question altogetherr. There is an art to this and you need to make sure your child knows this art. Teach them not to waste time guessing when they can move on to the next question or skip that question altogetherr. Two rules of thumb. 1. If you cannot eliminate any of the answers, skip the question. 2. If you can eliminate at least two of the answers and take an educated guess; however do not waste too much time doing so. Time is of the essence and make sure to use all of your time.
I really admire and respect parents who go the extra mile to ensure their children do well. As an added bonus make sure they access and read the Reader’s Digest digest at an early age, both online and offline. This is an old secret weapon for feeding the mind for the SAT.
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Amanda Drew says
My daughter is going to have to take the SAT next year, and I don’t know how to properly prepare her for it since I took the ACT. Thanks for suggesting that they read just about everything from People Magazine to classic literature. Still, I think that I’ll find her a SAT prep course to take.