Time Management Parents and students complain to me all the time that there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done, and while that may be true, there are usually plenty of untapped resources students and families could be using to budget their time more effectively. Let’s consider why students may feel…
It is no secret that parental involvement is associated with higher student achievement outcomes. In fact, a recent report from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory[i] found that regardless of family income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to earn higher grades and test scores, enroll in higher-level programs, and graduate and go on…
Most kids (and, honestly, most adults) don’t know how to study. They either assume that simply going to class and taking basic notes are enough, or that rereading the material or said notes over and over again will embed the information into the deepest recesses of their brains. Neither is particularly effective. There’s lots of…
I don’t want to break anyone’s spirits, but summer’s over. Well, almost. With school just around the corner, it’s time to add some book-cracking to the beach trips and barbecues to start the next school year off on the right foot. This means wrapping up summer-reading, reviewing the previous year’s math topics, and getting organized….
It seems like summer has only just started, but it won’t be long before school starts up again and the first rounds of the ACT and SAT follow. With an upcoming September ACT date and October SAT date, there are a few reasons why students might want to consider using the summer to prepare for…
In helping families prepare plans for their standardized test prep, I have come across a recurring dilemma: lots of sophomores want to begin preparing for their tests as early as the summer before junior year, but won’t have the requisite course work completed in time to do so. Both the SAT and the ACT…
What’s the Deal with the ACT Science Section? This is the third piece in our series of ACT posts, this time focusing on the Science section. To those that grew up with the SAT, the ACT Science section is the most mysterious part of the test. Most have no idea how to prepare…
I am asked this all the time, so I figured with all the interest now would be a good time to talk about it. The short answer: no. The longer answer: It depends. The Past The ACT built this reputation of being easier by being based less on the analogical reasoning of the SAT and…
With all of the changes to the SAT this year, I have a lot of parents asking about the ACT. They’ve heard that it’s easier, or better for students interested in math and science, so they want to know about preparing for it instead of preparing for the SAT. In this post, I want to…
What Timeline is Right for You? With the Redesigned SAT’s push towards becoming more of a Common-Core content-driven test, preparing for the SAT starts far before buying the prep books and signing up to get the SAT question-of-the-day. It begins with a solid foundation of critical reading and math skills developed in the classroom over…