WilsonDailyPrep - Online SAT Prep That's Personal

As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect! And it’s especially true when it comes to the SAT and ACT exams. The more practice tests you take, the higher you will ultimately score. That’s why my online program, WilsonDailyPrep, asks students to tackle 6 questions per day, 5 days a week (I know how badly my stressed-out students need their weekend downtime!). This daily practice keeps students engaged in test prep in manageable amounts, reinforcing important concepts and tricky vocabulary words while building test-taking skills.

Once students have a good handle on the daily questions, it’s important that they sit for a full practice exam. I know schedules are tight and the idea of taking a 4 hour SAT or 3 hour ACT isn’t exactly anyone’s idea of fun (except mine, maybe!) but this dry-run of test day is imperative. This dry run tests stamina and the ability to concentrate for an extended period of time. Just as you wouldn’t run a marathon without significant practice, you shouldn’t go into test day without being prepared.

When you take your practice test, try to mimic exam conditions as much as possible. Sit in a hard chair, not your cushy couch (you need to experience fanny fatigue!). Take the test in a quiet room – your school library is a great choice – and don’t forget to turn off your cell phone. Make sure you eat enough to make it through but not so much that it makes you sluggish – just like you’ll need to do on exam day. Take 10 minute breaks after completing 3 sections in a row. Most importantly, keep an eye on the time and don’t go over the time allotment.  And finally, make sure you review the answers once the test is corrected and go over anything you got wrong. (If you are a WilsonDailyPrep student, our experts can really help when it comes to reviewing your practice exams and figuring out which areas need more help.  Just email your coach!) I recommend taking at least 3 full practice exams before the real thing. We can provide the full exams for free – just ask!

In today’s digital age of short text messages and tweets, reading is quickly becoming a lost art. Most kids struggle with both reading and understanding long passages because these skills don’t come all that naturally to them. I see this often in my dual jobs as both tutor and mom, and in both roles I’m constantly thinking about ways to help kids learn to think critically about the written word.

My sons, for example, don’t willingly pick up a book for pleasure, and they often have difficulty understanding the subtlety and tone of what they’re reading. And they’re not alone; most of my students have the most difficulty in improving their scores on the critical reading passages of the SAT and ACT exams. Comprehensive reading is a lifelong process, not a skill that can be taught in a mere 10 weeks.

So how do we teach our children to be inferential readers? They go to school, engage in lots of homework and extracurricular activities, and – at least my sons – aren’t exactly jumping for joy at the thought of extra work from mom. And I don’t blame them. However, the Art of Reading is too important to ignore. So I came up with the Sunday night dinner reading ritual.

It works like this: Most Sundays I make a special family meal. Before we sit down, I ask my sons and husband to read a poem or newspaper article that I’ve copied for them. (Often, I take our readings from the New York Times opinion section or other editorials, as opinion pieces promote inferential reading.) These readings – saturated with distinct tonality and an underlying subtext – create lively dinnertime discussion as well as help our children become critical readers. They learn to pick up on sarcasm, cynicism, subjective and objective tones – all of which can change the overall interpretation of a piece. It’s fun to discuss something entirely random at the dinner table, and interesting conversations often ensue. It’s made dinnertime more fun – my kids often forget they’re learning! – and is a nice change of pace from the “How was your day” discussions. I always end our talks with the question, “Do you agree or disagree with this passage and why?” This forces my children to really contemplate the issue that we’ve been talking about, and nurtures their critical thinking skills.

The New York Times editorials are a far cry from Harry Potter stories. The language is often dry, the vocabulary is impressive, and the overall message is in no way relevant to their lives. This is also true of the SAT and ACT readings: Boring, boring, boring! The SAT is not leisure reading. In fact, the SAT is not really about reading at all. Rather, it’s about finding clues to answer the questions.

Yes, I am an SAT tutor, and yes, I’m a mom who may be starting her children’s standardized test preparation early, but I am also promoting the Art of Reading. This is a skill that will serve them for a lifetime. Plus, these Sunday dinners allow me to slow down and truly listen to my children.  And that’s a skill that I need to work on!