How To Make Big Score Gains on the SAT
What was the biggest surprise after taking the SAT 7 times?
There's no way to test prep your way into significant score gains on the SAT -- significant score gains come with a solid foundation. If the fundamentals are strong, good test prep can be very effective. Tips and tricks can optimize an SAT score, but the big gains come with solid skills.
For my younger, post-project child, we went back to her foundational skills to shore them up before starting any “test prep.” She had done well in Algebra 1 and Geometry, but she did a refresher course and I made sure she passed the state exam with 90% or higher before moving onto Algebra 2.
She reads one article per day from the NY Times and [is supposed to] keep a list of the vocabulary words she doesn’t know.* And we discuss the words and the main idea of the story she chose.
I fastidiously correct grammar.
I didn't have her start "test prep" (i.e. familiarizing her with the SAT and test-taking strategies) until midway through junior year.
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*Regarding this "written down vocabulary list" -- the truth is, I preach more than I practice on this front. Sometimes she writes down the words; most of the time she does not. If I were the perfect SAT mom, I'd enforce the rule, but I don't. We do actually discuss the words all the time though, and if you spend any time with us, you will definitely hear me say (probably more than once), "Let me hear you use it in a sentence."
If I learned anything from kid #1, it's that "Do you know what that means?" "Yes." -- does not actually mean that he/she knows what that means. Verify!
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If you're interested in having me attend your book group, I'd love to! Here's the link: Book the Writer.
To find out more about Book the Writer and its founder, Jean Hanff Korelitz, check out this story in the New York Times.
If you don't belong to a book group, but would like to, Jean can create a "pop up" group.
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Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis.
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