Things to Take Note of Before Taking the ACT

The road to a brighter future is paved with the hard work that is done today. Securing a successful career and gaining entry to a prestigious university may very well be impossible without first passing a standardized test. In years past, the SAT was the exam of choice for college hopefuls, but it has been supplemented by the ACT. This exam is now on equal footing with the SAT and any student looking to move forward with their education must first prepare for it if they are looking to land in a good school.

Just as with any other type of test, the ACT requires a good deal of preparation on the student's part if they want to pass. Reading up on past lessons is always a must, but there are other things to remember that may just help with the exam. If you review your lessons and take the test with a clear understanding of important concepts in your mind, there's a good chance that you're going to pass.

The exam itself covers the basics such as Mathematics and Science along with all the other language related subjects. Study the more advanced lessons of these subjects as much as you can and the ACT itself may end up being very easy for you.

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How to Ace Your PSAT

The PSAT exam is given to know the student's academic readiness before going to college. Because of this, most colleges will be asking for your PSAT scores aside from your high school GPA. Having good PSAT scores is essential for you to be admitted in prestigious colleges and universities, but how will you be able to score high on the exam?

Set a goal that is realistic but still challenging. If you have taken the exam before, then have a certain goal that is higher than your score and make sure that you will beat your previous score. However, it is also important that you make your goal as realistic as possible.

Practice, practice and practice. This is probably one of the most important part of the preparation stage so you can obtain a high score in a PSAT exam. The exam will last for four hours, so it is best to prepare by practicing under timed conditions to make you experience the feel of the exam.

Answer the easy questions first before doing the hard ones. Each exam will be from easy to hard, and you will be answering them according to the order of how they appear. Some questions will be giveaways, which you should answer first. There is more chances that you will be able to answer easy questions correctly than the hard ones.

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Getting Ready to Take on the ACT

Getting ready for college life is a huge ordeal. Although many people are ready to take on the challenge, colleges and universities would like to make sure that applicants have what it takes to survive advanced academic learning. This is why testing programs like the ACT are designed.

The exam would be containing four sections with 215 items, and should be completed within three and a half hours. There is also an optional fifth writing section that students could take with an additional 30 minutes to complete the exam. The exam is designed to gauge the students' knowledge and understanding on several subjects like English, mathematics, reading, and science.

Although listening to your high school teachers should be able to help you out for your ACT, there are different ways you could help yourself get even more prepared for it. There are different institutions that offer ACT tutoring, and you could choose to take these lessons to have an idea on how the exam will be like.

According to experts, the ACT is best suited for math whizzes and people with good science reasoning skills. To improve your chances of passing, you should pay close attention to science lab sessions and mathematics lectures.

The ACT is only a test, but once you get through this, you could soon be on your way to a good university.

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Tips on Teaching Your Child How to Read

As a parent, you have the primary responsibility of teaching your children, especially on the basic academic skills like reading and writing. If you don't start teaching your little ones how to read as early as you can manage, they might end up falling behind in school.

Read to your kids everyday or before bedtime. Knowing how words are supposed to sound will give them an excellent head start in associating written words with spoken ones. Moreover, children are excellent at emulating people, so if you make them feel how important reading is to you (thus the need to do it daily), they will eventually develop an interest in picking up a book and reading by themselves.

Use everyday objects that your kids are familiar with to teach them sounds. Point to your , trusty pet and clearly enunciate the word 'cat' or 'dog'. Remember to focus on teaching them the sounds that each letter makes when used in different words more than the names of each one. This will teach them to sound out the letter combination of each word instead of straining themselves in identifying each letter.

Focus on teaching them one letter at a time, building up on the different sounds that each one can make, depending on how they are used in a word. Teaching them the entire alphabet in one sitting might only end up confusing them.

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Cheat Sheet: How to Learn Math Easily

Math is the most dreaded subject of so many children, what with the numbers, formulas and solutions that they have to put to mind. The truth is, the subject is rather simple to learn (and hopefully, master)  since it is linear and straightforward; what is correct will always be correct. Here are some valuable tips worth a try:

Quality Notes

When taking notes, go for quality; a notebook riddled with incoherent numbers might end up overwhelming you and thus discourage you from reviewing at home. Rather you should jot down only one or two examples and link them to their solution (illustrate each step so you won't miss anything).

Learning Style

People learn differently when using varied channels. In other words, copying how your classmates study will not make you learn any better. Instead, develop or discover your own study style (you may be an auditory learner more than visual) and build on it.

Eat

No, skipping breakfast to review for a big test won't help you. Keep yourself well-nourished so that your brain can function properly when studying or reviewing your math lessons. Moreover, an empty stomach is also a fervent annoyance.

Review

Don't cram in new information without linking it to your past lessons first. Review the lesson, take a few examples, see how it relates to your previous topics and when you have a connection, you can start building a new link to your math knowledge base.

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The Importance of Using Learning Centers

Contrary to what some educators may espouse, different students learn at different rates. Just as each person has unique characteristics and mannerisms, so are each person's methods of perceiving and understanding lessons. This is why a formalized classroom setting may not always work for all students; there has to be a customized learning program designed for a specific learning curve, whether for fast learners or otherwise.

Parents concerned about how their kids are learning in school may choose to enroll them in learning centers. Learning centers are basically tutoring sessions designed to help students understand their lessons in class while pursuing their specific needs. Typically, such sessions are much smaller than regular classes in terms of scale.

Of course, parents can't just enroll their children in a learning center without first assessing what exactly are their kids struggling with. There will be easier and harder subjects, and parents will obviously want their kids to bolster their weaknesses in more difficult subjects. A good way to measure a child's aptitude would be to give him a small test, and most learning center tutors can administer such a test before the lessons begin. Identifying problem subjects can help learning centers drill students on their specific shortcomings.

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ACT Prep—Getting Ready for the Test

Before entering college, students have to pass the American College Test (ACT). This test is designed to assess the readiness of each student for college education. Those who pass the test obtain the chance to enroll in a college or university of their choice. Given that a lot of students fail this test, many tutorial centers provide ACT prep assistance courses that impart techniques on passing the test, including the following.

For instance, reading the instructions carefully is an all-too-common yet often neglected tip. Unlike typical exams in school, the ACT consists of various complex mechanics that need extra attention. Mistakes can be avoided if instructions are read with diligence. Additionally, the examinees should pay close attention to special announcements to find out about changes in the test system.

The ACT system requires answer sheets to be filled out using a lead No. 2 pencil. Using any other pencil or writing instrument is tantamount to getting invalid answers. When deciding which questions to answer first, it is always ideal to go with the easy ones that have similar value as more difficult ones. This way, test takers will be able to answer more items and simply go back to more difficult questions as a way to manage one's time better.

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Take it Seriously: PSAT isn't Just a Practice Test

For most people, the Preliminary Standard Achievement Test (PSAT) is simply a dry-run for students before they can take the actual SAT. In essence, those who fare well in the PSAT are bound to exhibit a similar performance during the actual exam, which is given at a later date. Failing the PSAT isn't going to leave a bad mark on a student's performance, so there's no need to take it seriously.

However, just because it's a practice exam doesn't mean that students shouldn't prepare for it. PSAT scores for junior-year (11^th grade) students are used to determine if someone is indeed eligible for the National Merit Scholarship Program. This college scholarship can also be seen as a prestige in itself since only about 15,000 to 16,000 students are considered eligible for the program every year, while only about 8,000 from these finalists are awarded Merit Scholarship awards.

As such, it's not “over-preparing” if parents hire tutoring services for their children since even this “practice” exam can leave a significant impact. While it is true that PSAT scores aren't submitted to colleges and universities, this test does give students an idea of their current academic performance and allows them to make the necessary adjustments on their study habits to prepare for the real deal. 

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