In gearing up for college applications, students need to begin preparing for college readiness tests no later than their freshman year.
In middle school, you can assist your students by teaching study skills and test taking skills. Taking timed tests, working with and without a calculator, completing bubble sheets and personal information on the test key, eliminating wrong answers, drawing illustrations for word problems, being familiar with common root words and grammar rules, and discerning main ideas from large reading passages are a few of the skills your student will need to experience prior to high school.
Several publishers offer standardized testing for homeschoolers:
Each test option offers different support and scope of testing depending on age and need. The practice in middle school is worth the money and test experience, as well as, the knowledge of possible gaps that you can add to the following year’s plan.
In high school, it is important to begin preparing your student for the SAT, ACT, CLT, and/or TSIA2 (accuplacer). All four tests are to determine college readiness for your student. One or more of these tests are required for college admission, core scheduling, and/or dual credit for 2yr and 4yr schools.
For Test Prep, I can recommend the following free opportunities for each:
Official SAT Prep: www.khanacademy.org/DigitalSAT
Bluebook Digital SAT Format: Bluebook Download and Practice
ACT Prep: www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation/free-act-test-prep.html
CLT Prep: www.cltexam.com/tests/test-prep/
TSIA2 Prep (specifically for dual credit and 2yr colleges):
(create account separate from your collegeboard account
For paid course and classes, I can recommend the following:
To create a baseline and to minimize anxiety, you can begin to sign up by taking any of the tests at the following sites. Your high school student needs create their OWN account at their OWN email. You can set up a dedicated email address for all things college and share that information in order to assist your student. Most of the sites listed allow you to create a parent account to mirror your students’ account. Also, encourage your student to share the login info with you so you may help them in times of deadlines, etc.
ACT: www.act.org/content/act/en.html
CLT: www.cltexam.com/
TSIA2: sign up with your local community college’s testing department
UPDATE: Does your student need accommodations? You can request those by completing the forms and providing documentation at the links below:
SAT: https://accommodations.collegeboard.org/request-accommodations/request/forms
Have questions about test-optional and setting up a high school plan for test prep? Reach out to me by email: sharianne@ccctoolbox.com or schedule one-one-one advising for all your high school and college prep needs.
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