SAT used to stand for Scholastic Aptitude Test or Scholastic Assessment Test but now, SAT simply refers to SAT reasoning test. In the United States, the SAT reasoning test is used as a standard test for college admissions. The SAT score reflects a student’s literacy and writing skills that are needed to go through college. Ivy League universities usually require a higher SAT rating than other colleges.
If your child wants to enter one of those Ivy League universities, the most that you could do is to support his studies.
“Help your child establish a daily study routine. This is the only way for him to review his lessons and achieve well in school,” says Rossana Llenado, president of Ahead Tutorial and Review Center.
Here are some tips from Llenado on what you as a parent can do to help your child prepare for the SAT:Help your child develop the habit of daily reviewing. Every night, make him allot an hour or two to go over his lessons in class that day. He could also take the time to review materials for upcoming lessons. This would prepare him to get the most out of every lesson he takes.
1. Keep your child motivated by promising him a unique reward once he achieves a high score in the exam. The preparation for the SAT can be mentally exhausting for your child so it would be a great idea to motivate him at all times to keep him going toward his goal.
2. Remind your child to take a break. During the time he is reviewing for the SAT, provide him with some activities that would help him take a break. Breaks are important to help the mind recover from all the stresses of preparing for the exam.
3. Provide your child with SAT preparation books so he can try practicing answering questions most likely to be asked. Mock exams are perfect to get an overall feel of the exam and help your child prepare for this challenge. By providing him with books, you are giving him an idea as to how the exams would look in terms of structure and the contents. Since he already knows what to expect, he would not be taken by surprise during the actual SAT exam.
4. Advise your child to review his answers during the test. An ample amount of time is given for your child to answer the exam and review the test questions. In this case, critical analysis of all the items should be done if your child really wants to ace this exam. While this would be extremely exhausting, this is the only guarantee that your child got the right answer.
5. Get him a tutor who can help him prepare for the SAT. Although a child can review for the SAT by himself, a tutor can greatly help him focus on his weaknesses. “The SAT preparation course at Ahead Tutorial and Review Center has been proven helpful to past SAT examinees, enabling them to achieve high grades in the difficult exam,” Llenado says.