Category: learning challenges

College Readiness Tests and Test Prep

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:

hewittlearning.org

www.setontesting.com

www.depts.ttu.edu/k12

www.bjupresshomeschool.com/content/testing-support

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):

www.tsipracticetest.com/

practice.accuplacer.org/login

(create account separate from your collegeboard account

For paid course and classes, I can recommend the following:

www.collegeprepgenius.com

www.kaptest.com/

www.princetonreview.com/

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.

SAT: www.collegeboard.org/

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 

ACT: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/registration/accommodations/homeschooled-or-non-enrolled.html

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.

Dyslexia, learning challenges, and a few helpful resources

As my children faced different challenges in their learning, I began doing research to find ways where I could assist them to be more successful.

I began by exploring the role of learning styles for the reception, the retention, and the recall of information. The goal was to integrate the different learning styles into my daily routine to facilitate optimal learning for all my children. Along the way, I became more attuned to the individual strengths and challenges of my children as they progressed, and how I could effectively involve them in all lessons, leveraging their strengths in particular. If you want to delve deeper, you can find a comprehensive overview here.

Once I discovered that there were more complicated challenges at play, I began to ask more experienced teachers and home educators for help. One resource that helped me the most was LittleGiantSteps.com/BrainSprints.com. I learned a lot from them and used their tools to help my daughter learn to read. The individualized services are worth every penny, and their advice and tools for learning are priceless.

Another one of my children struggled with dysgraphia, and my search began again. I ran across Dianne Craft and was so very grateful for her videos, advice, tools, and helpful information for right brain learning and dysgraphia. I’ve used her materials to help lots of students in tutoring math and students in overcoming dysgraphia. Again, so priceless!

Following the advice of one of my kids’ co-op teachers, I also looked into eye therapy and prisms for glasses to help with learning challenges. Both made a dramatic and immediate difference with my children – jumping their reading levels by 2-3 years in 3 months. Our therapeutic eye doctor retired, but I believe you can still find others. They work on strengthening the eye muscles to control the moving of letters when they read. Very effective! See https://eyecanlearn.com/ for more info.

Lastly, reach out to resources I can personally recommend like UnitedWerks.org or RevolutionPrep.com for one-on-one assistance, tutoring, and personal training with dyslexia and other learning challenges you might encounter.

I hope this is helpful on your homeschooling journey. Children love to learn and love to please. We can help develop these loves and find ways to help every child learn. Need more information? Feel to reach out to me: sharianne@ccctoolbox.com.