Inspiring Young Children to Read

Convincing a child who hates books to read can be an extremely daunting task, especially if we’re dealing with the most stubborn kid who just won’t switch a video game console for a book. In most cases, the parents are to blame for their kids’ hate for books. If you haven’t been paying too much attention on your child’s hobbies and passions lately, maybe it’s time to rethink your priorities; otherwise, you’ll end up with a TV addict who will never know who Huckleberry Finn was.  

 

Inspiring Children to Read: Flickr Harald Groven

Inspiring a love for reading is devastating, especially if your precious son/daughter doesn’t like books. We must admit that technology hinders our abilities to raise our kids the right way, so rather than turn it off for good, it’s best to use it in your advantage. Here’s how:

Buy an iPad

Buying an iPad and using it to make your child start loving books is more like a trend these days. Your kid might not like actual books, but he will certainly love the beautiful images on a smart device. With Kindle and iBooks at your disposal, who needs books anymore? Organize periodic reading session, choose enticing books, and let your kids discover the wonders of an interesting plot on their own. Don’t forget to limit their reading time on the iPad in order to keep them interested. 

Read to your kids every night

Your 9-year old might not like reading, but that shouldn’t stop you from reading to him/her every night. Choose an interesting book and find a way to maintain their interest. Mystery books, adventure books like “Harry Potter” or “The Hobbit” will definitely make them want to know more. It will be difficult at first and you might have to deal with your kids’ grumpy attitude, but try not to give up. 

Reward your kids for every chapter read

The best way to convince your kids to read is to reward them after they’re done. They might not like the activity, but they will surely adore that chocolate cake you’ll be making for them afterwards. Don’t force them though, and let them pick their own books. It might be a good idea to stock your bookcase with new books your kids might like. 

Make reading fun

A lot of books for kids have onomatopoeia and rhythmic sounds, so use them to make reading a fun activity. These specific literary techniques additionally involve action and mimicry, which are really important for the little ones. It’s important to make your kids become part of the story and not just force them read for the sake of reading. If they’re not enjoying the activity, they’ll never see it as a relaxing endeavor. 

Reading out loud

Children should be thought by their parents that reading is important. The best way to do that is by organizing a reading session with the whole family. Make it a weekly ritual; bring the whole family together, create a suitable environment in the sunroom for example or by the fireplace, and engage in the experience. After the session is done, devote a couple of minutes to talk about the story. Ask kids what they understood, what they liked, disliked, and so on. Don’t forget to keep things fun.

Visit local libraries

Another great way of making your children curious about reading books is to take them to the local library. Don’t buy anything for them at first, and pick something for you only. We all know kids are curious, so 2-3 visits a week will eventually make them want to read too. Recurrent visits create a ritual, so it will be a lot simpler for you to instill a passion for books in your stubborn kids.

It’s official! Kids hate reading books because they’re used to playing video games all day long. As a responsible parent it’s your job to inspire a love for reading in your kids. How do you do that? Simple; start by limiting TV and computer time, make reading fun, and never force your kids to read a certain book you’ve chosen for them. Be a role model, read frequently, and don’t forget to make your home a book-friendly environment.

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Tips to Organize a Successful Fieldtrip!

Field trips are educational activities for an academic program. The aim of a field trip is to provide practical knowledge of a subject outside a classroom setting. If, for example, you are a history teacher, then your students might have question about ancient civilization and you would want them to have a firsthand knowledge of such sites. So naturally you would want them to visit a historical place to have a practical experience. This is where field trips have an important role to play. They allow students to see things out of the classroom and broaden their horizons of knowledge. Organizing a field trip is a real challenge especially if it involves going abroad, so you will need some guidelines about the whole experience.

For planning a field trip, you have to take into considerations some important factors that include the age group, abilities and, above all, the interest of your students. Besides, you must have excellent organizational and planning skills to oversee the whole trip. To know some important tips about organizing a field trip for college students, you must read on this helpful guide.

Here are some hands-on guidelines for organizing a successful college field trip:

·      Find your Destination

Choose a destination for your field trip. It must be something that relate with the students interest or subject and offers them something to learn about. For example, if your subject is ‘History’, then you can consider a ‘museum’ or ‘archaeological site’ as your destination.

·      Check out the Highlights

Take a look at the destination’s website for details about rates, total members limit or special packages if any. Look out for other information about what the site has to offer for

accommodation and recreation. Confirm the exact date and time of the trip.

Photo: Stockvault

·      Do All the Procedures

Do all the documentation formalities as per the policies of your school. Check with the school authorities about insurance policy if any.

·      Get Permission from Parents and Arrange Chaperon

Ask permission from the parents, informing them about the exact details for location and fees of the field trip. Get some chaperons to look after the students. Allocate one chaperone for 3-5 students. Make groups of students in terms of age, level and behavior.

·      Set Up a Standby Classroom for Absentees

Arrange activities for students who are not attending the field trip. Allocate a teacher to look after their activities. If there are only a few students who are not participating in the field trip, then accommodate them with other students in a regular classroom.

·      Demonstrate Important Considerations

Arrange a meeting with the students and discuss with them about the highlights of the trip. Explain to them the behavior that is expected on a field trip. Do some important drills required for different activities. For example, you can demonstrate the students how they should handle antique objects if the field trip’s destination is a Museum.

·      Arrange things in advance

Inform students a week before the field trip. Collect the money and other contributions a day before the event.

Remember!

·      If there is any student with disability, make sure to choose a place that has all the necessities for him.

·      When writing a permission slip, include all the nitty-gritty details, such as the wardrobe or any outfit.

·      Get emergency contact number of every student for any emergency.

Contributor: April Rheon is an online writer by profession. She is currently associated with the team of Assignmentlabs.co.uk as a content manager. In her spare time, she blogs about college life, educational events & activities.

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The Benefits of Single-Sex Education

No matter how long you’ve been out of school, it’s still easy to picture what it looked like. The lockers in the hallway, the drama in the lunchroom, and the cute boys on the football team are images common to many, made even more memorable by the uncountable amount of movies that been set in high school. 

Why would film writers and producers use school as their setting? They have realized that the tension and dynamics of high school is the perfect driving force in their plotlines, movies like The Breakfast Club, Ten Things I Hate About You, High School Musical, and Easy A. Each of these films uses the social structure of high school, girls and boys placed together in a closed environment, trying to find their place as people, and struggling to fit in while being noticed by the opposite gender. It’s these parts of high school that make them ideal settings for movies, but it’s also these same features that sometimes make high school a hard place to do what they came for: learn. For these reasons, along with some compelling research and data, many forerunners in education are suggesting that single sex schools may be an environment that, while less fitting for the movie scene, will be more conducive to our children’s education. 

Following the Research

The idea of single sex education may seem to be old-fashioned to some, but as LaunchEducation.com reviewed the latest research on the learning traits of boys and girls, we began to see a picture of how single sex education may soon be put back into practice. The previously accepted fact that girls learn better in all-girl classrooms remains, but researchers have now found that not only does this hold true for boys as well, but a single gender environment seems to have an even greater affect on boys’ learning.

A study at Stetson University indicated that in a co-ed classroom, girls reached around 59% proficiency as compared to the girls in a single-sex classroom who reached 75% proficiency, an improvement of 16%.  When the same study was performed with boys, the findings were even more significant. Only 37% of boys reached proficiency in the co-ed classroom, whereas 86% of boys reached the same level in a single-sex classroom., indicating a 49% improvement. It is that drastic difference in performance that is causing many schools and parents to consider single-sex education.

And these findings are not limited to one grade level; rather, all ages demonstrate similar findings. 

Students studying: Stockvault

Despite these findings, many parents are hesitant about the idea of sending their child to a single-sex school. After all, many parents are familiar with the typical high school scene since that is what they experienced. However, with the many potential benefits of single-sex education, it is time for parents to give this idea some serious thought.

No More “Girly” Subjects

While many are trying to break the gender stereotypes, the stigma still remains that boys are better at math and science while literature and the arts are girl’s subjects. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that only 30% of the degrees in math or science are awarded to women. While teaching in a mixed-gender high school, students can be pressured by these stigmas. Girls may let boys take the lead in the sciences while boys are hesitant to participate in literature and arts for fear of looking “sissy.” However, in a single-sex school, roles can no longer be assigned by gender. This frees boys to participate in creative subjects and allows girls to step forward and take leadership in the typically male-dominated sciences. 

The tutors at Launch Education note that while there are differences in learning styles for many girls and boys, there are still exceptions. Some students do very well in mixed gender classrooms and tutoring sessions while others perform far better in all boy or all girl classes. Other students perform best in one-on-one teaching environments or smaller classes. These are factors that many studies overlook when separating boys and girls, while simultaneously shrinking class size. Launch Education continues to explore the effects of a student’s environment on performance and improvement. It may be the case that we begin to see a strong revival in single sex education, but it is important to look at the myriad of other factors that affect student performance as well.

Helping Boys with the Ants in their Pants

During their education, most teachers spend time studying the differences in the psychology of males and females; however, actually implementing this knowledge in the co-ed classroom is difficult. Using a strategy geared to one gender often means inadvertently ostracizing the other. While a teacher may try to engage boys in more dynamic, active methods of learning, the girls are hungering for more reflective feedback and encouragement 

Even the ideal temperature for learning in the classroom differs from boys to girls. Studies have shown that boys do better at colder temperatures while girls can focus better in warmer environments. By splitting students into single-sex classrooms, teachers are better able to meet all the students’ needs in their classroom and maximize their learning potential.

Removing Posturing, Hormones, and Sexual Tension

Imagine that movie scene where the boy is listening attentively to the teacher and suddenly that cute blonde girl walks into the classroom to deliver a note; the boy’s eyes follow her as she leaves, his attention stolen for the rest of class. Or picture another familiar movie scene where the girl finds herself sitting by the cute boy in her math class and starts pretending to be incapable of math so he will tutor her. While these scenes are obviously exaggerations of the reality, they still hold some truth. 

From as young as 5^th and 6^th grade, students are beginning to enter puberty, a time of raging hormones and awkward adjustments to the opposite sex. Teachers are constantly battling the students’ bodies for the attention of their minds while the opposite gender surrounds and distracts them. Within single-sex classrooms, students are faced with less distraction from the opposite gender. Plus, they feel less pressure to perform and less intimidated to speak out. In all grades, students in single-sex classrooms display more focus, which also results in better discipline and less disruption in class. 

Returning Schools from Entertaining to Educating

While the co-ed classrooms may be the perfect movie setting, maybe it’s time we learned something from these films about how distracting these environments can be. Instead of regarding single-sex schools as old-fashioned or extreme, we should see the truth of what they can be: simpler and more effective. Single-sex classrooms are an effort to bring education closer to its goal of preparing and teaching students. Who can argue with that? As more schools try single sex education, parents should consider helping their boys and girls learn in a classroom that caters to them individually and helping them reach their maximum potential.

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SAT & ACT Testing Dates: 2013-2014

All high school students need to take either the SAT or the ACT sometime during their student careers. To make it easy for you, we compiled a list of all the SAT and ACT test days in one place.
 

** March 8th 2014 is an SAT test only. Subject tests are not available on that day.
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/register/test-dates

SAT Test Dates	Regular Registration Deadline	Late Registration Deadline
October 5th	September 6th	September 20th
November 2nd	October 3rd	October 18th
December 7th	November 8th	November 22nd
January 25th	December 27th	January 10th
March 8th**	February 7th	February 21st
May 3rd	April 4th	April 18th
June 7th	May 9th	May 23rd

ACT Test Dates	Regular Registration Deadlines	Late Registration Deadlines
September 21st	August 23rd	September 6th
October 26th	September 27th	October 11th
December 14th	November 8th	November 22nd
February 8th**	January 10th	January 24th
April 12th	March 7th	March 21st
June 14th	May 9th	May 23rd

** February 8th 2014 does not have test centers scheduled in New York.
http://www.actstudent.org/regist/dates.html#second

Late fees apply to all late registrations for both the SAT and ACT. It is highly encouraged that you decide which tests you want to take and when to save money. The fees can be costly!!

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Story of Education - Student's Perspective

--> Hello my name is Matt and I am about to share my TRUE story of education

Childhood – Concept of Education

Since my early days of schooling, I was never into education like most of the kids. I tried my best to avoid studying, as much as possible, and spent time playing games. This is because of an obvious reason, that I found games more attractive and enjoyable. At this stage, I never thought of the advantages of education, and I think I wasn’t even told about that. All I was told by my parents is to socialize, enjoy with friends and teachers in your class. To sum up, it never makes sense to go to school till the 8^th grade.

High School 

Things have started to make sense but the world is not easy to conquer! You have to sacrifice a lot to make sure you stood good in class; you have to be very strict with schedule, life, and plans. However, this stage has almost the same intentions as childhood but with a bit of a knowledge that education is going to play a vital role in life!

Normal Concept of Teenagers about Education - College Life

This age seems to be more sensitive because:
·       Students are not that much in control of parents
·       Life seems to be more beautiful than ever
·       Your friends / social circle is very influential for you
·       And the most important point, students try to earn! Which is good for them and parents but it comes up with a whole new package. I personally think that the more you are exposed to jobs, the more you have the potential to get away with education.

Every student is not sharp, intelligent, and has the ability to maintain balance. I have a few friends who always wanted to earn more (I wish if they wanted to Learn more), and they did against the cost of their education for a specific time frame. But when I was done with the engineering degree I was earning far better than all those who didn’t pursue their education or is some cases hardly done with an associate degree to start earning as soon as possible. All of them were looking for a short term plan!
                                                                                         

Student’s Concept about Education

Even at college and university life, students were not able to understand the importance of education. For me, education is just to have a better career, and this reason is good enough to pursue for my engineering program!

What Actually Education is?

Education is not only about what degree you have. I have a strong believe that education gives you “vision” which is priceless. My parents used to tell me all the time that education will make you a man of honors and respect. This never makes sense for me. Now when I realize that education has actually makes me think like a sensible person. It not only makes you learn a skill and pursue a successful career, in fact it lets you make sensible decisions in life. The more you use your brain the better it will have thinking ability. Education is such a great things that it always reflects in you (from you work, family, decision, and analytical skills!) Also, that doesn’t matter which career path you have selected, the more you learn, and the better will be you!

The above mentioned point is the top most benefit of education; this is the difference that even differentiates between a proper four year bachelor graduate and vocational degree holder, which concentrates on a specific skill set. The purpose of wide range of courses in a bachelor degree is to create a coating of education on students.

Engineers, doctors and other professions that require four year degree program has a strong reason. I have done software engineering and during my span of four year degree program, I studied forty courses (5 per semesters), among those 40 courses, only 25% courses (10 courses) ever specifically related to software engineering. Why? Why I don’t just go for those specific 10 courses and get an engineering degree? This is because engineers and other four year degree program holders are respected more, not just because they have a specific skill set from specific courses BUT they have more analytical and mental capabilities, which is achieved thorough the continuer years of effort!

In short, you have to pay to get something, and what you pay for education is not even close of what actually you get! It’s priceless!!!

About Author:
Ronnie Williams is a staff writer for AskForEducation.Com, offers information on accredited online schools. You can follow Ronnie on twitter @askforedu.

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Expanding Your Horizons and Experiences for College

There are many ways you can prepare for college. However, the best piece of advice anyone can give you is to expand your horizons while you're still in high school. You give your college applications a boost by participating extracurricular activities, including world travel, volunteering and internships. Recruiters love applicants who have firsthand knowledge, life experiences and a resume filled with responsible activities.

Travel

International travel can make a world of difference on your college application. World travel helps you gain knowledge of other cultures and languages. This knowledge cannot be taught in a classroom and can only be learned through getting that stamp on your passport. World travel shows you're willing to step out of your comfort zone, that you're curious and that you have the initiative to experience new things.

If you want to take your overseas experience to the next level, volunteer abroad. Turning your world travel into a volunteering experience will further expand your appreciation of new cultures and will have college recruiters putting your application at the top of the pile.

Volunteering

A recent addition to high school curriculums is the requirement that students complete a certain amount of volunteer hours. Not all high schools require it, but it's becoming common for students to dedicate some volunteer hours. Volunteering in the community or overseas can help you gain knowledge and experience that shows college recruiters you are a go-getter. There are many different

types of volunteer opportunities you can sign up for while still in high school, including summer camps, local sports programs, animal shelters and overseas training programs.

Internships

Having work experience through an internship will give you a boost in the competitive race to college acceptance. By working as an intern, you'll be able to put your classroom knowledge to work while gaining work experience in your desired field of study. High school internships are available in a variety of job fields, including communications, education, electronics, engineering and nursing. Many times, your high school will be able to help you find internship opportunities. They may even have internship programs already established with local businesses. Not only does the internship look good on your college application, you'll also be able to decide before entering college if it's the right career path for you. Plus, you already have your foot in the door and have great work references for when you do graduate college.

College recruiters look for well-rounded students with more than just classroom knowledge. Getting a little bit of each of these extracurricular activities may help you get the edge you need. Sit down and talk with your guidance counselor to discuss the different ways you can participate in these activities and find out which ones are best suited for you. Get involved wherever you can. Life experiences are just as important as a solid education. Achieving both before entering college is something that will stick with you for the rest of your life. In addition to the impressive achievements you'll list on your college applications, you'll have the benefit of doing good work.

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How Helpful are College Rankings?

Every year, reports are released that rank colleges according to a multitude of factors and qualities.  US News & World Report, which publishes one of the most important and widely read of these rankings, charges almost 35 dollars for their yearly college ranking report, and prospective college students (and parents of prospective college students, of course) snap them up in huge volumes.  After all, the choice of which college to attend is one of—if not the—biggest decisions high school students have had to face in their lives up to that point.  It certainly, then, would help to have a scientific study and assessment of all the colleges out there, wouldn’t it? Most would say yes.

More and more people, however, are starting to voice a dissenting opinion.  What are their arguments?  Why would someone think that these reports are either unhelpful or possibly even detrimental?  Here are a few of the reasons that those who think this way are giving.

1. It’s a Publishing Racket

Many who find college rankings to be less useful that publicized believe that newspapers and magazines like the US News & World Report have simply engineered a need in order to sell their publication.  By hiding a lack of real-world utility behind a veneer of “scientific” processes and seemingly rigorous, methodological research, these critics believe, publications have found a way to make their product seem and feel necessary to the college search process—when in reality it provides very little actual benefit.  On this opinion, publishers of college rankings reports are simply preying upon the stress and anxiety of parents and students in order to sell copies of their publications.

2. It Isn’t Trustworthy

One of the more surprising facts about the college rankings process, for most people, is that many colleges—knowing how seriously parents and students take these reports—have been shown to falsify the data given to publishers in order to make their college’s rank rise.  Most recently, Claremont McKenna—an elite, upper echelon school in California—admitted to supply falsified data for the reports for just this very reason.  What is most disconcerting about this fact is that this scandal reaches the highest ranks, that even the very best schools are engaging in this deceit. If even these schools can’t be trusted, the argument goes, how can the rankings be relied upon as an accurate source of information for students and parents to base their decisions on?

3. The Subjectivity Problem

Another issue raised is simple, but represents a real problem: these publications do their best to present their rankings as “objective” and “scientific,” but in reality there is much that is subjective in the comparison between schools—especially schools in similar quality strata.  Is Princeton really better than Yale?  Can data decide this?  Proponents of this argument make the case that these types of decisions can’t be shown objectively; in reality, these schools—as close as they are in quality—are better for some types of people and not others.

Lastly—and this is more of a philosophical difference than an argument—those who find college rankings less useful than purported often say that the whole idea of ranking colleges in the first place has the harmful effect of creating the illusion that college choice should be decided by which college is best overall, instead of which college is best for you.  Their logic works as follows: Columbia College may be ranked as one of the best art schools in the nation, but if you’re from Arkansas and there’s a solid art school that fits you better and is closer to home, it means it’s probably a better choice for you—college rankings be…well, you know.

Otter Boone writes for concorde.edu; be sure to visit them to learn about their medical assistant school degree programs.

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5 Educational Museums to Inspire Teens

-->

After an entire school year of studying, taking tests and sitting through lectures, the last thing your teen probably wants to do is visit educational sites during his or her vacation. Although it may remind your teen of school, educational sites can actually make learning more fun and interactive for students of all ages. Not to mention, it offers a nice change from confined classrooms that will emphasize the fact that learning can happen anywhere. Consider planning your next vacation to include a stop at one of the following destinations:

1. The Chickasaw Cultural Center

Schools these days don't spend a lot of time teaching about the history and culture of Native Americans, so a lot of what your teen knows might be based on fiction. Visiting the Chickasaw Nation in southern Oklahoma allows the whole family to become better acquainted with the realities of this fascinating culture. The Chickasaw Cultural center in Oklahoma is one great stop for discovering the unique qualities about this tribe, while other nearby museums and collections showcase the inspiring artwork and artifacts that Chickasaw ancestors left behind.

2. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Washington, D.C., is an excellent vacation spot for educational sites. However, there's much more to discover in this city than just government-related landmarks and experiences. The Smithsonian offers the largest collection of museums in the world, with a wide range of different themes that are sure to accommodate the interests of everyone on board. The National Air and Space Museum is an especially notable museum in this complex that features life-size replicas of famous aircraft along with actual souvenirs from space.

3. Adler Planetarium

Speaking of space, the Adler Planetarium is the ultimate destination for students fascinated by the universe we live in. Located in Chicago, the planetarium features several interesting and interactive exhibits depicting the experience of being in space along with hands-on, visually striking explanations of what scientists have discovered about space. A massive theater with a screen on the ceiling makes for highly engaging learning experiences and memorable viewings of images captured by the Hubble telescope.

4. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

Philadelphia's Drexel University is home to America's oldest natural history museum and is a world leader in biodiversity and environmental research. The museum has been studying, collecting and showcasing the incredible diversity of our planet's natural world for more than 200 years and has a lot of outstanding exhibits to show for it. The world-renowned collections feature more than 18 million specimens, ranging from Lewis and Clark's plant collection to John James Audubon's birds, consisting of 435 hand-colored illustrations.

5. Museum of Modern Art

With schools losing funding for arts programs, your child may not have gotten much of an opportunity to explore the world of art. New York City's famous Museum of Modern Art can allow teens to discover exactly how modern artists are applying their talents and skills to the real world – and perhaps ignite a creative spark. The museum has rotating exhibits that are sure to appeal to a wide range of personalities.

Students often wonder how the lessons learned in classrooms apply in real-life. So taking them to museums and showing them how science, art, culture and other subjects have shaped the world can really help teens understand why their education is important. More importantly, visiting educational centers teaches students that learning can be fun, which is one of the most important lessons parents can teach.

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SAT: The Ticket to a Great College

When it comes to college admissions, the SAT (or the ACT) is the one factor that can trump everything else. If you have lousy grades, low involvement and a lackluster application essay – but you have a 2300 on your SAT, colleges will still take interest in you.

All colleges claim they “look at students holistically.” Sure, they will look past your SAT, and in some cases they will favor students with lower SAT scores and high involvement/grades over those with higher SATs and lower grades. But, still a 2300 gets you in the door almost anywhere.

That’s just another way of saying that your SAT can make or break your college application. 

Why? Because it makes admissions counselors’ jobs a whole lot easier. You can compare all students across the board on SAT scores, but a 3.8 at one school is not the same as a 3.8 at another, especially as some high schools are notorious for grade inflation. We’re looking at you, schools who give students 5.0 GPAs instead of 4.0. 

What’s a good SAT score: Most colleges set minimum SAT requirements, and if you want to be accepted into the top schools, you’ll need to score in the top 90^th percentile.  Your ranges will have to be 620-760 (reading), 630-780 (math) and 620-760 (writing) or a combined 1870-2300, according to about.com.

The average SAT score is around a 500 for each section or a 1500 total – specifically 497 (reading), 514 (math) and 489 (writing). The Writing Section, being the newest section, is still considered by most schools; however, the Math and Critical Reading Sections are weighted a lot more heavily. Writing was added in 2005, and some colleges that focus on engineering or other math-related fields won’t even factor it in.

How many times should I take the SAT: As many times as you can tolerate. It can get expensive, but the benefits of taking the test multiple times can far outweigh the $49 administration fee. First of all, you might not be as anxious the second time you take the test, and you might be a little familiar with the types of questions and structures. You’ll have an idea of what worked and what didn’t. 

Also, a lot of colleges will combine your SAT section scores. So, if you take it one time and score a 650 (math), 750 (reading) and 730 (writing); then you take it again and score 760 (math), 620 (reading) and 700 (writing), some colleges will only consider the 760, 750 and 730. So, why wouldn’t you take the test as many times as you can?

SAT Tips: How to improve SAT score: Practice is the best way to improve your SAT score, but you have to practice the right way. Randomly taking practice tests won’t help much. Instead, you need to sit down and create a legitimate strategy or action plan for your SAT.

 First, take a full practice test to get your brain used to thinking for over 3.5 hours straight – just to find out where you struggle. Then, it’s best to work through your problematic areas with a tutor, as he/she will help you break these complex questions down into simple patterns and structures. And if tutoring prices are a concern, don’t let it worry you. You can always find great tutors that will work with your price range. At this point, focus only on your problematic areas until you improve.
Then, take another full practice test, and repeat the process of focusing on your most difficult questions until you feel confident with these problems. After this, take one more practice test so you can connect everything you learned with everything you already knew. When you take your practice tests, try to mimic the actual test’s scenarios. Take them in a public, but quiet place (like a library or coffee shop) and sit down for the entire 3 hours and 45 minutes. Take the tests in the order they appear on the SAT and only take breaks as the test offers them.

Middle scores for top colleges, according to about.com.

 

	SAT Scores
	Reading		Math		Writing
	25%	75%	25%	75%	25%	75%
Carnegie Mellon	620	720	670	780	620	710
Duke	660	750	680	790	680	780
Emory	640	730	660	740	640	730
Georgetown	620	730	630	730	-	-
Johns Hopkins	630	730	650	760	630	730
Northwestern	670	750	680	770	660	750
Notre Dame	650	740	670	760	640	730
Rice	650	750	670	780	640	750
Stanford	650	760	680	780	670	760
University of Chicago	660	770	650	760	-	-
Vanderbilt	650	740	680	760	650	730
Washington University	680	760	700	780	-	-

This guest post article was written and provided by Marissa Krause who is a stay at home mother and homeschools her children with the help of VarsityTutors.com.

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