Good luck to the punks having to take their ACTs at 8 a.m. on Saturday. What a waste of time and money.....

One week until A17 takes the ACT......

I HATE STANDARDIZED TESTING, and I have not made that a secret.  I do not think standardized tests are an accurate representation of the majority of students (99%). 

They are an archaic measure at best and need to be done away with. 

My kids have always tested above-average but that does not even matter to me. 

Some kids/people are just not good test takers but it is a nonnegotiable matter at the moment so we will play along.  Good luck A17 and the rest of the guinea pigs taking the test next Saturday!

Ramped up studying for the ACT......

Kudos to you if........

you are homeschooling a high school student.  You may want to read this article in its entirety.  Here is the summary but you may need $$$muchos dineros to pull this off.

Harvard wants homeschoolers:

Top schools including Harvard, MIT, Duke, Yale, and Stanford are all actively recruiting homeschoolers. These schools don't just grudgingly accept homeschooled students, they do everything they can to get them in the door, recognizing that homeschoolers are often better prepared for college than their brick-and-mortar schooled peers.

ACT....yeah you know me............

                                          Great ACT online practice tests.

ACT Crash Course: Last Minute Tips

ACT Blitz: 10 Rules for 2 Extra Points on the ACT

ACT Math 21 Concepts to Boost Your Score

The HARDEST ACT Math Problems

Kid #2 heading to the ACT........

I just do not know where the time goes.  C18 is in college and A16 is getting ready to take the ACT.  I am just posting a few more resources for test prep.  You can find other blog posts here for resources that C18 used.





~ACT official website.

~So I found these great online flashcards at Union Test Prep.

~Hit the jackpot here at Power Score Test Preparations.  They have four ACT practice tests with answers in PDF format.

~Prep Scholar math.

~Best ACT prep.

~Free Test Online.

~Great math review videos can be found here at Mometrix Preparation.

Seriously hate standardized testing and have many blog posts about testing but since they must be done.....

it certainly helps when they come back positive.  A16 just finished up her last standardized test to end 10th grade and head into 11th, and she nailed it.

Many of her scores were "post-high school," as in super awesome.  So proud of both of my girls!  Life gets better and better every single day!  Feeling so blessed.

Mommy bragging rights..............

So proud of my girl for getting ACT scores, the first time taking it, better than good enough to get in to almost any school she wants.

She said next time, she will do even better!

Way to go C17!

ACT.........is not easy as 1, 2, 3................

Just signed C16 up for her ACT test..............

time is going way too fast!!!!

SAT versus ACT, a closer look.

I have blogged about this topic before but now that the time is coming for C16 to really start prepping, which test will she take, if any?  

I am not a fan of standardized testing.  Not because my kids do not test well because they score in the high 90s in every subject in past testing but because some people do not test well for all kinds of reasons.  I just do not feel standardized testing is a good predictor of academic knowledge and the concept of multiple choice is outdated in my opinion.  

Lets figure this out.  

So you have your SAT and your ACT.  The SAT is to assess (aptitude) reasoning ability, and the ACT is focused more on knowledge, yada yada yada.

Do college admission boards prefer one test over the other?  The short answer is NO!  According to the research, both tests are viewed equally.  The SAT was the top dog of testing but not any more.  In 2014, around 1.7 million students to the SAT and around 1.8 million took the ACT.  You can read more about that here in this article by The Washington Post.  The class of 2015 included 1.5 million SAT test-takers and 1.9 million who took the ACT.  You can read all about that here from again, The Washington Post.

Another surprise is that some colleges do not require you take either.  What the what?  Here is a comprehensive list of colleges that do not require the SAT or the ACT to get in including Wake Forest University, Bowdoin College, and Wesleyan University.

So now what?  Still can't decide?  A little more info:

Image link.

SAT:
~The SAT strongly emphasizes vocabulary.
~No science section.
~Mandatory writing section.
~This test is broken up into 10 sections going back and fort between topics.
~College recruiters are looking at how you did on each section of the SAT.

ACT: Achievement test.
~Science section.
~Very straight forward.
~The ACT writing section is optional unless requested by the college.
~More advanced math topics including trig.
~Broken into 4 sections with no going back and forth between topics.
~College recruiters look at the big picture on the ACT scores (composite score).  The good thing about that is if you are a little weaker in one area than another, it will not effect your overall score negatively.
~Does not cost as much as the SAT.

Still cannot decide?  Try this.  Grokit has a free five minute quiz that can help you decide which test is for you.

Help for the SAT here.
My PSAT/SAT Pinterest board.
Sample SAT.
SAT

Help for the ACT here.
My ACT Pinterest board.
Sample ACT. PDF
ACT

Happy testing!

The results are in!

I have made it no secret that I am not a fan of standardized testing.  The majority of homeschoolers fall into this same category but we do it because we have to.  I will say, however, Georgia is a really homeschool-friendly state.  We only have to test every three years.  We have tested occasionally during the off years just because I like to make sure no one has anything to say about what we are doing.

We had a very rough year which caused us to slow down here and there and take longer breaks due to stressful situations but in spite of all the drama that unfolded in a short amount of time, I am very happy to report that both of my girls did excellent!  I am so proud of them!  If they had not done so well this year, I would have understood completely.  They have been put through the ringer for the last few months so to have them test as well as they did says a lot about the dynamic that the three of us have together and the plain and simple fact that homeschooling does work!  I usually do not take a lot of credit for the accomplishments that my kids make because I feel like they are that smart, and they are that talented, and they are that awesome but they are also really lucky that I am willing to go the extra mile for them at any cost, no matter what so I will take a little credit for some of their awesomeness!