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How to Prepare for SAT and ACT Reading: The Long Game

1/23/2014

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SAT and ACT Reading
When it comes to SAT and ACT reading, I'm often asked the same question:

"Sure, you have tips and tricks for the tests themselves - but how do I improve my child's overall reading skills in preparation for your tutoring?"

In other words, parents recognize the value of proper testing strategy, but they also understand that students who are "good readers" will always do better on these tests than students who aren't.

While the SAT and ACT aren't intelligence tests, it would be ridiculous to say that they don't reward students with better mathematical and verbal processing abilities.  Think of these tests like basketball: anyone can be good, but it still helps to be tall.

So how do you make your child "taller?"  How do you improve his/her reading comprehension abilities before he/she ever steps into the testing center?  While the best answer would be, "a lifetime devotion to developing your child's reading ability and love of learning," there are four things parents can start doing immediately that'll have a large impact:

1. Your child needs to read challenging material every single day.  I had a conversation yesterday that went something like this:
"I can't believe my child didn't get good Critical Reading scores on his PSAT."
"Does he read often?"
"No...why?"

The best way to get good at something is to do it.  The more you read, the better you'll get at reading, plain and simple.  If you want high SAT or ACT scores, then your child should be reading on a daily basis.  This isn't optional.

By challenging material, I mean good novels, reputable non-fiction, and newspapers/magazines with real content (i.e. Scientific American, The New York Times, The Economist, etc.).  Try to get 30 minutes a day out of your child.  If your child doesn't want to do this, that's fine - but don't expect him/her to be a great reader.

Try having a little review of what you've been reading every night at dinner.  Share new ideas you've learned, and ask your child what he/she has learned.  It's a heck of a lot better than squabbling over SAT preparation.

2. Your child should learn to speed read.  I encourage all of my students to speed read.  Far from some "trick," speed reading is an essential life skill.  The SAT and ACT are both tests of time - if you can perform the same tasks in less time, you'll get a better core.

You and your child should practice speed reading together.  Here are the only two books you'll need:

Start with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Rapid-Reading-Peter-Kump/dp/073520019X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1390498154&sr=8-5

Then move on to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Speed-Reading/dp/1592577784/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1390498113&sr=8-15

It's like developing a new superpower.  You'll thank me later.

3. Your child should answer the three "golden questions" after everything he/she reads.  Just reading isn't enough.  Your child needs to be able to answer these three questions about everything that he/she reads:

A) What was the main idea?
B) What was the author trying to accomplish?
C) What was the tone?

If your child gets in this habit, he/she will start asking these questions automatically - and they're the three questions that need to be asked to effectively comprehend every reading passage on the SAT and the ACT.  Answering them after every paragraph is ideal - after every page is still effective.

4. Your child should be studying vocabulary every day.  If you want a big vocabulary, you need to learn new words constantly, and review the ones you've already learned.

Reading regularly is a big help - but it isn't enough.

Try getting your child to make 5-10 vocabulary flashcards a day by using Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and from new words in the material that he/she reads.  Also, be sure to sign up for my free vocabulary software, Vivid Vocab, at:

www.VividVocab.com

Better reading skills lead to better SAT and ACT scores - period.

The sooner you put your child on this program, the more developed his/her scores will be by test time.

Make sure to download a free copy of my book, Test Prep for Parents.

Also, if you're not able to book me personally, then you can always sign up for my online SAT prep course at:

www.GreenSATsystem.com

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The #1 Problem With SAT and ACT Prep Classes

1/21/2014

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SAT Tutoring Class
If you want high SAT and ACT scores, you need to prepare.  While the material within might be familiar, the styles and formats of these exams are different from anything you're used to - this is where the myth of the "bad tester" comes into play: students who do very well in algebra class bomb the SAT, and think it's because they're simply "not good at testing."

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.  The reality is simple: these tests present material in their own "language" - if you want to get high scores, you need to learn how to speak it.  Most students and parents assume that, because they have high grades in math and English, these grades will translate into high test scores.  They're shocked when this isn't the case, but they shouldn't be - the SAT is far from a simple math test.  It combines esoteric wording, material from multiple mathematical disciplines, logical reasoning, and time pressure to create an entirely new testing experience.

If you want to get good SAT and ACT scores, you need to prepare for the SAT and ACT - NOT for the isolated material that's tested by these exams.

In other words: it doesn't matter how good your math, vocabulary, reading, and grammar skills are if you've never applied them to the SAT / ACT.

A good analogy: a man spends years and years studying Russian vocabulary words in school.  Every day, he learns a few more, and every week he's tested on their meaning.  He's a straight A+ Russian student.  Then, one day, he's flown to Russia and asked to speak to a bunch of Russians in their native tongue...and what happens?  He'll have no idea how to do it.  Sure, he might have all the vocab words down, but he doesn't have the grammar, the ear for the language, the rapidity of comprehension, the idioms...the list goes on.  And so, even though this student has the material mastered, he still can't speak Russian.

Does this mean the student is "bad at Russian?"  No.  Does this mean the student "just can't do Russian?"  No.  It means that he has never spoken Russian before, so OF COURSE he isn't good at speaking it AT THAT MOMENT!

If you want high SAT / ACT scores, you can't just know the material - you need to be good at taking these tests.  And these tests are unlike anything that you're probably used to.  While tutoring and self-study programs are both good options, classroom courses are the absolute worst way to prepare for the SAT, the ACT, and any other standardized test.  

Why?

Classroom SAT and ACT courses replicate the EXACT errors in instruction that prevent students from getting good test scores in the first place!

In other words: the reason that great math and English students don't do well on the SAT is because they haven't applied their knowledge correctly.  All their skills are used to listen to a teacher, then regurgitate the teacher's lessons onto a piece of paper every few weeks.  But that's not how these tests work.  If you want high SAT or ACT scores, you need to get your hands dirty - you need to work with real tests, apply your knowledge directly to them, and force your brain to conquer these exams in a way that only your brain can.  Knowing the math and vocabulary words isn't enough - you need to know how those math concepts and words are applicable to these tests (and their bizarre logical reasoning elements).

When you sit in a classroom test prep course, this doesn't happen.  It's like trying to get better at speaking Russian by sitting through another year of Russian vocab lessons - it didn't help you beforehand, and it's not going to help you now.  Students are initially "bad" at the SAT and ACT because of classroom learning, which does not prepare them for these tests. Classroom learning will never fix this problem.  

Whether you decide to sign up for an SAT self-study course, or you decide to go with a one-on-one tutor, be sure that your prep is focused on the test itself, and not on the isolated material concepts involved.  Otherwise, you're simply adding to the problem that already exists.

Whether you want to work with me 1-on-1 , use my self-study course at www.GreenSATsystem.com, or find another tutor or self-study course, that's up to you - but please, please do not sign up for a classroom SAT or ACT prep course.  You won't just be wasting your money - you might actually be making the problem worse!

Have any questions, comments, or ideas?  Don't forget to share them in the comments section below!  If you'd like to download a free copy of my book, Test Prep for Parents, you can sign up for my free newsletter and get a free copy here.  

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