Preparing Your Home Schooled Teen for College Entrance Exams

Making sure your home schooled teenager is prepared to take the necessary college entrance exams is extremely important. Not unlike any other teenager, home-schoolers may worry about completing an exam that bears such a tremendous amount of weight on their future. The news however is very good for home-schoolers as it has been shown that home schooled children excel quite well if not better on college entrance exams. Making sure your teen has the proper preparation and help will ensure that taking these tests won’t be such an overwhelming experience.

Preparation is important for anyone taking a college entrance exam. Prepping your teen early is always best. There are a number of resources that you can use to ensure preparedness. Invest in vocabulary books or cards that teach upper level words. Expanding the vocabulary can help greatly on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Practicing reading comprehension should also be included in your study plans for your teen. For the math portion you may want to go over the unit tests in his or her math books to make sure they have a firm grasp on the varied levels of mathematical concepts that could be on the college entrance exam. Purchase SAT or ACT prep books that include reviews and practice tests to assist your teen in studying.

Taking advantage of a number or professional resources is recommended also. There are a number of classes that are offered by national well known test taking companies which will provide your child with either classes to prep for the SAT or individual coaching. There are fees involved with this these classes and you should research them thoroughly before settling on any one program. The Educational Testing Service (ETS), the makers of the SAT, also offer a PSAT or Pre-SAT. The format of the PSAT is similar to the SAT and graded similarly.

There are fees to take this test but it can help both you and your teen gauge where additional assistance may be needed when taking the SAT. Likewise, when taking the SAT it is always best to take the test at least a year early this way there will be future test dates to take advantage of in case your teen would like to improve his or her score.

One of the major hurdles to overcome with taking college entrance exams is the anxiety. Anxiety can sometimes make or break a person’s ability to perform at his or her best. Everyone touts the importance of college entrance exams so much that many teens begin to worry if they are capable of passing this test.

Home schooled children should not feel more anxiety but some may if they believe there is a possibility they have not learned enough. To help alleviate this anxiety parents must make their teens understand that although college placement exams are important they are not the only determinant for college admissions. Essays, community service and participation in extracurricular activities are also highly regarded in many college admissions processes. In addition, providing outlets to alleviate stress such as treating your teen to a movie after a rigorous study session can help to reduce some of the tension involved with preparing for the college entrance exams.

Negative Effects of Homeschooling
The negative effects of homeschooling are easily overcome.