Seeing your children succeed in school is one of the greatest rewards that you as a parent can experience. While it’s great when your children succeed with nothing more than their own natural talents, sometimes they may need a little bit of help to stay on the right track.
Finals season is here yet again!
Students are already thinking about all of the fun they will have during Summer break and are making plans with their friends.
Before they can enjoy all of the plans they are making; they must survive finals. Students are asking their teachers for that last little grade bump, some extra credit, a curve on the test. Anything to help before the end of the school year.
They are looking for anything they can do to finish the school year strong. Acing those finals are the perfect way to get that grade up. Its a good thing then that we have compiled a list of ways to ace those exams.
1.Review ACT skills. Nationally recognized review books can either be purchased online or at any major book store. ACT, Inc. publishes The Real ACT Prep Guide, which provides you with 3 retired ACT exams for you to study.
2. I can't stress this enough, read, read, read. The more you read, the better your vocabulary and grammar will become. This will help in both the Reading and English sections.
3.Find a specialized tutor, class or online program to help you learn the best strategies to be successful on the ACT.
4.In math, you need to identify what you need focus on and find specific information to bridge any gaps in your mathematical knowledge. Memorize those formulas!
5.The Math section becomes more difficult as you progress through it. Break up this section into thirds: Easy (#1-20), Medium (#21-40) and Difficult (#41-60). Make sure you can pass the section you are working on with flying colors before moving to the next.
6.The Science Reasoning section has much less to do with science and more to do with reasoning. It is all about applying the concepts. Practice reading graphs and tables rather than studying science. All of the science required is provided in each passage. Most passages refer to difficult areas of science with little expectation that a student would have studied the material in school.
7.Keep track of time! During practice, time yourself without stopping, just to get a feel of how long the sections will take to complete. Later begin limiting yourself to the allotted duration for each section. Know how long each passage should take and remain disciplined.
8.Develop a customized strategy for each section. Practice that strategy constantly until it becomes second nature.
9.There may be test prep organizations in your area that provide practice tests with diagnostic analysis. A lot of the time, these services are provided for free.
10.Practice. Practice. Practice. Take a full practice exam several times before sitting for the actual exam. Training your body and your mind for the 3-5 hour ordeal of taking this test will help condition you for the the real exam.
by Gil Gibori, Director
Chicago Academic Tutoring
It has been estimated that millions of children nationwide are affected by severe anxiety (Hill & Wigfield, 1984). The negative impact that anxiety can have on a student is serious. While a mild amount of anxiety can actually be considered motivating for a student, student's with excessive amounts of anxiety can interfere with one’s memory, which can make it difficult to perform on a test or perform in other ways (Huberty, 2009). Students with severe anxiety can lead them to a lack of motivation, a lowered self-esteem, consistent issues with academic performance and even early withdrawal of school (Cowden, 2014).
Anxiety as it relates to academic performance is of significant importance to me due to my own experience with severe anxiety through my high school, college and early post college years. While I discovered tools in my adult years to help me cope with anxiety, I believe school would not have been so challenging for me had I had the tools then! It is in this vain that I have devoted so much of my time to researching academic anxiety. In this blog post, I share with you research supported steps that will help reduce the anxiety children experience and thus perform better academically. Ready? Let’s get started.
Read MoreIt is no secret that students of all ages are influenced by their peers. These influences can range from affecting the way a student dresses to the way a student performs in school. Even as adults our social networks can influence the way we eat, travel, work or think. As adults, we know that one person doesn’t often influence our way of life. The same concept applies to young students. While one student might not make a change in your student’s academic behavior, a group of them can – whether it be for better or for worse. In this case a tutor could help.
Follow these tips and improve your score!
Good Luck!
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ACT testWe at The House understand the frustration that comes with watching your child struggle in school. With often overcrowded classrooms and increasingly difficult curriculum, it can be a struggle for students to keep up, much less excel. We would love to help!
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