During my junior-year, I enrolled in two APs: AP Psychology and AP European History, and both were definitely worth my while. Of course they were intense, tough, strenuous, challenging, and time-consuming, but every hour paid off. One of the best reasons to take an AP is that there are so many subjects offered, meaning that students can pick and choose topics based on personal preference. As I skimmed over the list of AP classes at the end of sophomore year, I was overwhelmed with excitement that I had the opportunity to select classes that genuinely interested me. I wasn’t being forced to suffer through boring, monotonous, uninteresting classes and because of this freedom, I selected classes whose topics greatly interested me, which encouraged me to listen and pay attention during class. Additionally, paying attention was no longer a strain; class thrilled me, and not only did I take in information during lectures, but I also often made “psych” references outside of school. I’d be at a baseball game, watching my brother play incredibly well, better than I remembered him ever playing at home, and all of a sudden I’d think of my psychology class and impeccably be able to explain why he was playing so well. The answer was social facilitation: the tendency to perform a known and practiced task better when in front of an audience.

The ability to select a class based on personal preference makes learning enjoyable and fun and the information becomes encoded for the long term. The classes I took stimulated my mind, as well as broadened and magnified my awareness and appreciation for the world around me. In addition to the personal benefits, AP classes also grant a boost to ones GPA (grade point average) and stand out when applying to college.

Even though AP classes are fabulously interesting, it takes a lot of work to succeed and pull of an admirable, gleaming “A.” Beginning at 7:50 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m., my high school, which follows a dual-curriculum, is rigorous and exhausting. On top of that, I am enrolled in honors math and Judaic classes, which makes the thought of adding APs to my schedule, beyond frightening. Honors classes share many similarities with AP classes; they both require time, attention, hardwork, and commitment. Taking honors classes throughout elementary school and the beginning of high school greatly aids the transition into AP classes. The most apparent difference, though, is that AP classes teach for the AP test in May. Going off on an engrossing and fascinating tangent rarely occurs because of the strict, immutable AP exam deadline. The teacher cannot adjust the AP exam to just test the material taught like he or she can do for a regular mid-term or final. This characteristic of teaching for the test, in my opinion, reflects the downside of an AP class. Because the material is predetermined by the collegeboard, details and key components often disappear from the curriculum and class discussions. However, in order to deal with the time constraint, teachers often construct and distribute organized, helpful syllabuses that map out the daily schedule, assignment deadlines, and test dates, which ensures that all material is taught thoroughly and adequately by the time the exam arrives.

One of the best parts of the AP exam is that not only do you receive high school credit, but depending on how you score on the exam, certain colleges will give you college credits. Receiving this college credit allows students to get through required classes and start taking electives.

AP and honors classes encourage students to develop a solid work ethic, effective study skills, and a superb understanding of the studied topics.

To read more about the benefits of AP exams, go to: College Board

I remember watching a track-and-field event at the Olympics in the 1980s, wondering why some runners ran out of steam on the last lap, while others grew more invigorated the closer they came to the finish line. I find that students of all ages mirror these same outcomes. The ones who lose their momentum toward the end of the year may forget to turn in homework, fail to organize their backpack or folders, and can experience a decline in their grades. I often wonder if all this correlates with the increase of hot, summer-like days; perhaps the brain processes that it’s summer vacation just a little sooner than the actual calendar date. Whatever the reason, our children sometimes need some parental intervention to keep them on course and help them aim for the finish line.

I suggest the following in order to push for a strong end to the year:

1) DO THE PROPER WARM UPS, including having a discussion about the importance of a “work ethic.” Having a drive to do better–not better than another student, but better than previous personal achievement–is something that separates the good student from the great student, the average worker from the exceptional worker, the okay parent from the stellar one. Work ethic translates to all other areas of life. If it becomes a habit to just “get by” at the end, that habit can find its way into other areas. I have had many students who have been noticed for going just a touch beyond the teacher’s expectations, whether creating a beautiful image for a science lab report title page or not settling for the minimum number of sources for a history research project. I personally learned how work ethic can influence one’s life path. In high school, I worked extremely hard, particularly in subjects where the material did not come naturally. When I was rejected from my top-choice college, my teachers (unbeknownst to me) called the school and expressed that the admissions committee had made a mistake. I was able to appeal due to their intervention, including a follow-up letter they wrote on my behalf, and I was accepted!

2) PLAN THE RACE by organizing the final months of school with a month-at-a-glance calendar. Some kids cannot process how to approach their workload, particularly if they have long-term assignments. Keep a master calendar in an area where the entire family can see it. Although I believe that iCal and other digital organization tools are worthwhile, I think children’s minds (and even adults’) need to see the coming weeks right in their faces! I advise writing in the due dates of quizzes, tests, and projects, and working backwards to include the steps taken along the way. For instance, if a student has a vocabulary test on Friday, he or she would write into the calendar: MONDAY (put vocabulary on note cards or type words and definitions into quizlet.com); TUESDAY (memorize definitions and parts of speech); WEDNESDAY (play a vocabulary game on quizlet or begin to test yourself on note cards); THURSDAY (final review: take practice test on quizlet, or have someone quiz you on the words). This method can be particularly effective when breaking down study time for final exams. The key is to have enough time to cover every subject in the amount of time it dictates. Being able to breakdown each subject into smaller, manageable parts contributes to higher grades and less anxiety.

3) REINFORCE THE REGIMEN by reminding your child about critical work habits. Is your child sitting at a desk when doing his or her homework, or is he or she in front of the TV? Does the student text, check messages, talk on the phone, or video chat throughout the process of completing his or her homework? Whereas breaks are a necessary part of the study process, distractions can become counterproductive and severely impact the quality of one’s work. Recently, one of my students told me that his cell phone broke and that it took a week to get it fixed. He said that he was a different person and student without it. Make firm rules about the quality of study time and what technology may or may not be integrated into that time.

4) CHEER YOUR CHILD TO THE FINISH LINE: be encouraging, rather than discouraging in order to help your child end the year successfully. None of us likes to hear over and over again what we should have done differently in the past even if done in an effort to move us forward. Send messages that boost your child’s esteem and influence his or her drive. You can also set up incentives to encourage positive behavior, ranging from a play date to a trip to Disneyland to the promise of additional driving time during the summer.

The end of the year is quickly approaching. With just a few slight adjustments,
you should see your child sprint toward the finish line!

Many parents find themselves unhappy with their child’s results on these tests. I have noticed that most kids who know the layout and directions of the test perform higher than those who go into the test with no experience. Certain schools offer parents the chance to order test-prep books for the CST. These books say “Practice and Mastery” on the front cover; I agree that practice does lead to mastery. Tests from prior years are also available online. This is a great resource because parents can download full practice tests in PDF form, in English-language arts, mathematics, science, and history/social science. At the end of the practice tests are the answers so that parents can easily correct the exams. Make sure to go over all the answers with your child, both the correct ones and incorrect ones in case he or she guessed! To get free copies of the CST tests, click on the following link:
FREE TEST

One might say that practicing before these tests defeats the purpose of seeing exactly what a child knows. However, my experience with tutoring children tells me otherwise. I find that when, for instance, kids learn division, they tend to forget addition and subtraction; they might even forget multiplication with double digits. Doing just a couple of sample problems serves as a reminder of concepts they studied earlier in the year. Having the test booklets or sample tests printed during spring break is an excellent time to review. The kids have time off of school and are not stressed. Reviewing concepts helps them to review the information before returning back to school and taking the real exams. Schools with standard start times will administer the CST typically May 9th through May 27th.
I want to advise students from both public and private schools to take these CST practice tests because I believe that they give parents important information regarding their kids’ mastery of grade-level skills as well as reveal what topics still need to be reviewed.

Paul Siemens, Director of Advantage Testing of Los Angeles, one of the premier test-prep companies in LA, gives great insight about how to decide whether to take the SAT or ACT:

Many people talk about the general differences between the SAT and the ACT but the best way for a student to see those specific differences is to take practice exams in both formats. The resulting scores will provide a great deal of information about which test a particular student might be better suited for taking. But the experience of taking the tests will also tell the student a lot: many students prefer the timing and pacing of one test to those of the other, despite how the questions on each test are phrased. In my opinion, choosing between the two tests depends in large part on how well a student can adapt to the pacing of each format. The SAT is akin to running ten sprints; the ACT is like running five mini-marathons. How a student responds to taking both practice tests in a simulated environment should clarify which test would be better for the individual student.

Knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses can also help determine which exam to take. The ACT, for instance, has a science section, which is not covered on the SAT. My students who have felt comfortable with reading graphs/data tables or who were particularly strong in science felt that they could shine in this area. For those with strengths in vocabulary or for the students who care to divide up testing into smaller sections over shorter periods of time, the SAT has been the right test. Many of my students have commented that the SAT was a “learnable” test—that they could master the test by putting in the proper preparation.

STRUCTURE OF THE ACT:
The ACT lasts for three hours and twenty-five minutes. It is divided into 5 sections, including the writing test:

75-question English test in 45 minutes
60-question Math test in 60 minutes
40-question reading test in 35 minutes
40-question science reasoning test in 35 minutes
Writing test with one essay prompt in 30 minutes

I like the predictability of the ACT. For instance, there are consistently the following number of questions in math:

• 14 pre-algebra
• 10 algebra
• 9 intermediate algebra
• 9 coordinate geometry
• 14 plane geometry
• 4 trigonometry

On the ACT, the English component consists of 5 passages that test grammar, punctuation, style, and content. The reading portion of the exam includes 4 passages in prose/fiction, social science, humanities, and natural science. Science reasoning contains passages in which the test taker must use charts and graphs to answer the questions. There are also 3 “experiments” passages and one passage where two scientific opinions are explored.

STRUCTURE OF THE SAT:
The SAT lasts for three hours and forty-five minutes. It is divided into 10 sections:
• Three writing
• Three critical reading
• Three mathematics (calculator is allowed) The math sections cover arithmetic, geometry, algebra I and algebra II
• One unscored section (this section does not factor into the final score)
According to collegeboard.com, the first section is always the essay, and the last is a writing section.

Here is the breakdown:

Writing (essay) 25
Writing (multiple-choice) 25
Writing (multiple-choice) 10
TOTAL TIME: 60 minutes

Critical reading (multiple-choice) 25
Critical reading (multiple-choice) 25
Critical reading (multiple-choice) 20
TOTAL TIME: 70 minutes

Mathematics (multiple-choice and student-produced response) 25
Mathematics (multiple-choice) 25
Mathematics (multiple-choice) 20
TOTAL TIME: 70 minutes

Variable (unscored, multiple-choice) 25
TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes

SCORING THE ACT:
• The ACT is scored from 1 to 36 with 36 being a perfect score.
• A separate score is recorded for each section, and the average is taken to obtain the composite score.
• A writing score will be given ranging from 2-12, but will not be factored into the composite score.
• No points are deducted for incorrect answers.

SCORING THE SAT:
• Each section is scored on a 200 to 800 point scale.
• The “perfect” score is 2400.
• A writing score will be given ranging from 2-12
• ¼ point is deducted for incorrect answers.

NEXT TEST DATES (ACT):
April 9, 2011
June 11, 2011

NEXT TEST DATES (SAT):

May 7, 2011
June 4, 2011

FREE PRACTICE QUESTIONS ACT:
ACT Practice Questions
• ACT Question of the Day
Each day we post a new ACT Test practice question.–FREE
• Preparing for the ACT (PDF; 80 pages, 1,075KB) or Preparación para el examen de ACT (PDF; 86 pages, 1.18MB) –FREE
A free student preparation booklet available from most high schools and colleges—includes test information, complete practice tests with scoring keys, and a writing prompt with sample essays.
• Practice Test Questions–FREE
• Alternate Format Practice Tests Order Form (PDF; 1 page, 45KB)–FREE
• Test tips–FREE
• Test descriptions–FREE

FREE PRACTICE QUESTIONS SAT:
My father, who developed the first online college application and founded xap.com, understood the importance of everyone having access to test preparation. On the website Xap.com under the “National Application Center,” free test prep is given.
FREE TEST

CollegeBoard also offers free sat practice.
SAT PRACTICE TEST

Sense-lang.org is a free online touch-typing program. This program can be practiced not only in English but also in the following languages:

* América Latina* Teclado Español* Brasil teclado* Portugal teclado* Clavier Français* Clavier Suisse* Clavier Belge* Deutsch Tastatur* Schweizer Tastatur* Skrive Veileder* Российская клавиатура* tastiera italiana* لوحة المفاتيح العربية* מקלדת בעברית* Το ελληνικό πληκτρολόγιο* Türk klavye* Български клавиатура* Svenskt tangentbord* Dansk tastatur* Suomen näppäimistö* Íslenska Lyklaborð* English QWERTY* English Dvorak* English Colemak

This is currently my favorite program because once you click on “Typing Tutorials,” you can choose a lesson. The first lesson is for beginners and teaches the letters “j” and “f.” The lessons get progressively harder, leading to full sentences. Some of the phrases in the advanced lessons are taken from sports, entertainment, and technology articles from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). While you practice, the computer keeps track of your words per minute (WPM) and makes a low-key sound when a mistake is made. I particularly like how the computer creates an image on the screen when you make an error. For instance, if you hit the wrong letter, a picture will appear of the right hand or left, showing the proper placement of the fingers.

What makes this program even more fun and educational is that there is a choice above Lesson 1 called “Practice Your Own Text.” Here, you can type in your own sentences or cut and paste from the Internet and then practice.

On this site, you can also take a test, which is scored, and play online games. Other fun typing games can be found at the site: Learning Games.

Games are a great way to build skills because the children have fun while they are learning. I particularly like the games “Cup Stacking” and “Typing Tidepool” on this website.

The most calls I receive as a tutor occur when parents find out their children’s standardized test scores.  Typically upon receiving these scores, parents learn that their children’s reading comprehension score is not as high as they expected or would have liked.  Whereas students tend to practice math facts regularly, they do not tend to practice reading passages accompanied by multiple choice and/or short answers.  Practice can really be the answer to children developing better reading comprehension; increased skills naturally lead to higher scores.
 
At abcteach.com, parents and students can have free access to a variety of reading comprehension passages, follow-up questions, and answer keys.  The categories break down to:
 
Pre K/Kindergarten
K-2
2-4
4-6
Middle/High
 
I tend to use this site mostly for first through sixth graders.  In each category, there are three sub-categories: Informational, Seasonal, and Fictional.  Many times, I even supplement the reading comprehension passage with a visual.  For instance, I recently gave one of my fourth grade students the passage “Olympic Moments – Pair Skaters”.  I then found on YouTube the short program for both the Russian and Canadian teams.  I had my student decide who should have won the gold medal. 
 
There are many other passages available for a yearly fee, but there are plenty of free samples to choose from.  This site has gotten a bit difficult to navigate, so have patience because many of my students have seen huge jumps in both their comprehension and standardized test scores. 
 
****If you do not see improvement, the next step would be to add underlining and note taking while reading to help imprint the information into the brain. However, most of my students complain that they are not allowed to write in their test booklets during standardized testing****

One of my peers commented to me the other day about how advanced young children are today. In kindergarten, we used to have nap time and watch the turtle move around the room. Now, there is so much more expected. My five-year-old is in school from 8:15 to after 3 p.m., and the day is filled with learning! Additionally, with the world of the Internet at our disposal, information is disseminated to us at a heightened level.

For preschoolers learning their lowercase letters, I have found a program that captures the process visually. At http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/ngfl-flash/alphabet-eng/alphabet.htm, children will see the lowercase letter, then watch as a giant pencil performs the correct strokes. To the right of the letter is a picture, such as an apple or a box, that starts with the same letter being drawn. You can click on the picture of the pencil to redraw, click on the ear to hear the sound of the letter, or click on the speaker icon to hear the name of the letter.

While most children are exposed to learning capital letters, they are not regularly shown how to form their lowercase ones. I particularly like how all the lowercase letters are written at the top of each page so that the child can notice which letters extend all the way to the top line and which “bump their head” on the dotted line. This program, in addition to the child practicing the formation of the letters on elementary lined paper, will lead to your child recognizing and writing all the letters! This website is particularly helpful in terms of readiness for kindergarten assessments.

To download elementary lined paper, please click on the PDF here:
Elementary Lined Paper

I am a firm believer in using mnemonics as a memorization tool. To shove information into the brain in large amounts can be absolutely overwhelming. I have found that when the student makes a fun sentence out of a series of information, not only does that child learn the information quicker, but he or she is likely to retain the information over time.

The example I am sharing involves memorizing the states on a map. Many of my students would complain about the length of time it took them to remember 50 states, their locations, and their spellings. I made up these mnemonics (although it is better for the child to make up ones that are meaningful to him or her), and my students memorized these first 17 states in a matter of minutes, not hours.

“Are you having a COW?”
1. C=California
2. 0=Oregon
3. W=Washington

“NA!”
4. N=Nevada
5. A=Arizona

“I OWE U something NEW!”
6. I OWE=Idaho
7. U=Utah
8. NEW=New Mexico

“MAN, is that shirt TAN?” “WHY?” “It’s not your COLOR!”
9. MAN TAN=Montana
10. WHY=Wyoming
11. COLOR=Colorado

“DAKOTA, do you want to go NORTH OR SOUTH? Well, if you are really ASKing me, I C(K)AN go HOME to TEXAS.”
12. North Dakota
13. South Dakota
14. ASK=NebrASKa
15. C(K)AN=Kansas
16. HOME=Oklahoma
17. TEXAS

Many children have trouble memorizing their twelves tables in multiplication. I have found that by exploring patterns in math, children who don’t just automatically memorize their times tables are better apt to learn. What I noticed is that the ones column has a pattern of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 that continues throughout all the facts. In the first five facts, the tens column keeps the 1, 2, 3, 4.

The first five multiplication facts are:

12 x 0 = 0
12 x 1 = 12 (in the tens column, keep the 1)
12 x 2 = 24 (in the tens column, keep the 2)
12 x 3 = 36 (in the tens column, keep the 3)
12 x 4 = 48 (in the tens column, keep the 4)
______________________________________________________
The rule changes every multiple of 5:
We now have 12 x 5 = 60
(the rule changes: in the 10s column, the number will increase by 1)
The ones column keeps the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 pattern.

12 x 5 = 60 (the five increases by one to 6)
12 x 6 = 72 (the six increases by one to 7)
12 x 7 = 84 (the seven increases by one to 8)
12 x 8 = 96 (the eight increases by one to 9)
12 x 9 = 108 (the nine increases by one to 10)
______________________________________________________

We now have our multiple of five: 12 x 10 = 120, which means our rule is changing again.
(the rule changes: the number will increase by 2)
The ones column keeps the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 pattern.

12 x 10 = 120 (the ten increases by two to 12)
12 x 11 = 132 (the eleven increases by two to 13)
12 x 12 = 144 (the twelve increases by two to 14)
12 x 13 = 156 (the thirteen increases by two to 15)
12 x 14 = 168 (the fourteen increases by two to 16)
______________________________________________________
We now have our multiple of five: 12 x 15 = 180, which means our rule is changing again.
(the rule changes: the number will increase by 3)
The ones column keeps the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 pattern.

12 x 15 = 180 (the fifteen increases by three to 18)
12 x 16 = 192 (the sixteen increases by three to 19)
12 x 17 = 204 (the seventeen increases by three to 20)
12 x 18 = 216 (the eighteen increases by three to 21)
12 x 19 = 228 (the nineteen increases by three to 22)

The pattern continues on and on…

Download the chart: Multiplication 12s

For some reason, our children are judged on how well they stay in their seats. Kindergarteners are asked to sit on the carpet and listen. From first grade on, students sit at their desks for the majority of their day…math, language arts, social studies, science…it’s all learned sitting down.

For many students, adding an action can make a concept click. Just last week, I sat down at my work table with one of my kindergarteners. His assignment was to count by twos, and the teacher had written the numbers one through twenty at the top of the page. We started with the number two, and I asked, “What is the next number if we are skipping by twos?” First, he answered “three,” then “five,” and then “twelve.” Clearly, he had no idea. I spoke to him about even numbers versus odd numbers and told him that we should have our pencil jump over each odd number above. He looked blank.

I thought to myself: Here is a young, vibrant boy, sitting at this desk, not understanding the material. “Follow me,” I said. We went outside to the sidewalk, and I wrote—using sidewalk chalk—the numbers one through twenty, one on each consecutive, cement square. I told him that when we skip or count by twos that we actually are jumping over the in between, or odd, number.

He playfully jumped from one even number to the next. Not only did he start chanting, “two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve…,” but he was filled with excitement and smiled through the whole lesson. I watched how free and open he was to learning now that the material was visual and stimulating. After our session, I was reminded once again that sometimes the best lessons happen out of one’s seat!