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Barb.b
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 8:54am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 11:12am | IP Logged
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My dd is just starting her sophomore year so I'm not experienced with this yet but I do know that MODG has students take Saxon Algebra for 9th, Jacobs Geometry for 10th, and then back to Saxon. My consultant says it is because they feel that even though Saxon is an excellent math course the Jacobs prepares them better for the geometry.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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MarilynW
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 3:25pm | IP Logged
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Some good news - Math is the easiest section to improve your score. (I think the ONLY section that you can really work on and bring up your score significantly. I think reading and writing are more intuitive and also depends on cumulative reading and grammar and writing)
My view - I think Saxon high school does not help with standardized testing. I really do not like Saxon so I am biased.(my kids always want to know the WHY of Math and Saxon does not give you this)
The SAT depends a lot on strategy and a "game plan" as much as what you know.
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Marilyn
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Barb.b
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 4:18pm | IP Logged
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I like Saxon because of the spiral review - very helpful to keep some things fresh. Also, the saxon way of wording things - helps with the SAT way of wording things! She will do better this fall/winter because she will be farther along in Adv. Math and have gotten more geometry lessons and practice in.
She just finished sophomore year - so our goal was to get her feet wet - get used to testing in the real environment. One thing - she had 2 pages stick together in a critical reading section - she didn't notice this till the next section started! So one reading and all its questions were left blank! SOOOO - we think the next math section she was not on her game due to stress of seeing she had to skip 9-10 questions! This ended up NOT being the experimental section so brought her down. Which means CR would have been awesome (and will be next time). I think we will discover when her score report comes out that this math section has a lot more wrong (or miss bubbled) then the others. This is why I am glad she took the SAT now - for experience!!! The 1st time is always more nerve wrecking!
So, she is spending more time per day on SAT prep! We are doing 2 1/2 lessons in advanced math this summer. Plus LOTS OF PRACTICE SAT tests - especially in Math. Do one sections of a practice test - take quick break - then she will go through all the explanations - quick break - then do another section. . . Thats the math plan. Any type of problem she gets wrong - she will find additional types and do those too (either in any of our SAT prep books, online . . . ) We think she can do lots more SAT practice tests. by the end of the summer she should have done 8-10 practice tests (plus looking at explanations and additional problems as needed). That leaves the 9 more practice tests she can do on the college board online once September comes. So by late fall or early winter she will have at least 18-19 practice tests down.
Anyway - thats the math plan!
Barb
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Barb.b
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 4:21pm | IP Logged
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Oh - as expected she was bummed to be sure. But like me, quickly re-grouped and came up with a plan with research online. She also did very will on writing (610) and 560 on CR - and thats with skipping 9-10 problems by mistake. . . if she saw those and made sure those pages weren't stuck together that CR score would have been in the mid 600's. She didn't really prep much at all for writing and CR - so her plan: prep well for those now and really get those up!
Barb
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MarilynW
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 6:26pm | IP Logged
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Barb,
If you don't mind me asking - why is your daughter so focused on the SAT?
I guess I just want to say that the SAT is not a mark of how educated or clever you are. It is simply a test that can open doors. I make sure my kids know that. I have met many people who have been so focused on the SAT's that they have not really had an education. I also know many very clever kids who just cannot raise their SAT score. It is such a big time commitment to just do it once, I cannot imagine doing it several times.
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Marilyn
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Barb.b
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 6:44pm | IP Logged
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I get what you are saying. But it really is a needed thing. Yes, I agree it doesn't mean much. But - a math score in the mid 500's is what we are wanting. Being homeschoolers - most universities and colleges put more emphasis on SAT scores. So, a math score in the upper 400's just isn't the score we will want to send! If you look - most preparation advice says - take lots of practice tests. I didn't mean to give the impression that this is all she is doing. Yes, It is the focus of the summer because she has lots of time this summer. Once school starts in September it will still be a part of her day because she will have made it a habit over the summer. It isn't all she does. She will have US history, lit, spanish, physics, catechism (bible study this year) and saxon advanced math. Plus - do a practice SAT section each day and grade it (so maybe 1 - 1 1/2 hours SAT per day).
Barb
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MarilynW
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| Posted: June 26 2014 at 8:14pm | IP Logged
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Absolutely Barb - and sadly, it does really mean a lot. Especially if you need merit aid.
Yes practice tests are the way to go. But you also need a gameplan. Figure out which questions she is going to do etc. eg always do the easy ones at the beginning of the section. eg in a 20 question section - the hardest questions will be 17-20 and for a target score of 600 you can leave these out (because you are still penalized for wrong answers). There is a book - called something like the Math gameplan which is good. Not so much for kids who have to perfect score and do pretty much every question, but very good in pointing out some good strategies.
My high schoolers will be taking the new SAT - I have no idea what this will be like. I quite like the idea of no penalties for wrong answers.
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Marilyn
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 27 2014 at 6:36am | IP Logged
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Many moons ago when I took the SAT, I was able to raise my score significantly by reading one of the strategy books my counselor had. There was not the emphasis on prep and classes and such, and I just did it on my own, but my counselor was astonished that I raised my score 150 points (out of 1800 in those days). It was enough to make my full tuition scholarship bump up to include housing, though not at my dream school ;-) I found that just knowing the ins and out of the test helped, like which questions to go with my first instinct, when it was better to second guess, which questions to guess at, which to leave blank, etc... I didn't do any extra math study or vocabulary prep (the verbal section was analogies when I took it, not comprehension), just the strategy reading. I think I may have been sick the first time, accounting somewhat for the lower score, but still.
It must be harder today since all those you are competing with are taking prep classes and such.
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Lindsay
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Angel
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| Posted: July 01 2014 at 4:56pm | IP Logged
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Ok, I have some unconventional advice. TAKE THE ACT. Your daughter may do considerably better on it than the SAT. Because of my son's learning...um... quirks, shall we say, I signed him up for *both* tests even though the ACT is standard in our area because the tests are set up differently. The SAT's sections are more broken up and we thought that might be better for his attention span. Wrong! His ACT score was SO much better than his SAT score, largely, I think because the ACT includes a science section, which he did well on. The other problem I think he had with the SAT was the way the SAT is graded. With the ACT there is no "strategy" of what to omit, etc.. The strategy is to answer all the questions, because an omission is the same as a wrong answer. So guessing will often pay off. All the section scores were higher on the ACT, but the math score was noticeably better. To put it in another light... his ACT score looks to qualify him for a presidential scholarship at a school whose scholarship requirements are high... but his SAT score is not even close.
So... I would encourage everybody to take both tests! Then just send the scores from the test on which you do better, because all the schools -- regardless of where they are in the country do (I think!) take either the ACT or SAT.
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Angela
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Barb.b
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| Posted: July 02 2014 at 9:00pm | IP Logged
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Angela,
I agree! my oldest did ok on SAT and much better on ACT. The plan is to take SAT 1 more time Junior year. Then take ACT 2nd semester Junior year (maybe early spring late winter so she can take it one more time if she needs.). But since the ACT goes a litter farther in math - that will be the last test.
Barb
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: . .
