Your daughter seems to be very bright and well-rounded. Those are good things for admission to any college.
@rosered55 Thanks for saying that!
Her list of summer stuff does seem long all typed out, but she is the type of person who just enjoys doing so many things. Everything is fun to her, and she seems to do it all with ease. She is just a joy!
What about math? The discussion here has focused on language. Read, read, read is good advice. And there’s so much good literature to read that a smart kid can get into advanced literature by 10th grade, if not earlier. Writing is also important in helping the student to master grammar and syntax.
Math and math problems are a different situation. First make sure the kid masters the sequence of math courses and, if possible, takes above-grade courses. But other things can help. Students may have hobbies that incline them to work on technology, computer logic, coding, and statistics. This can help a lot to build familiarity and perhaps a strong interest in applied math. In my kid’s case, the motivation was sports statistics. He taught himself to use spreadsheets, to write macros that helped him to manipulate player and team performance statistics, and to manage his fantasy baseball teams,
He ended up as NMF without ever “prepping” for the tests or taking practice tests. He had developed the tools as part of his hobbies. It helped also that he did not have any test anxiety.
My kids got 790 and 800 on a diet mostly of sci fi and fantasy. Over 100 books a year for the older one (some re-reads), almost as many for the younger one. Speed reading really is a huge help. Older son read a lot of computer theory, younger son a fair amount of history. I’ve heard people say that doing SAT question of the day, was really a help. If your kid is in 8th grade and starts now that might be enough.
I homeschool also and I can tell you that timed bubble testing annually and then doing some lite prep the month before the actual test has been helpful. I really do think at this age you get the biggest bang for the buck doing quality school work. My son tests at the top of reading and English on the ACT easily with no prep and it’s just been quality exposure to literature and a love of reading. Nothing is going to replace the hours and years of that. Keeping some math review going has been helpful for testing but just also helpful for math in general. We do math review with just workbooks and working 3-5 problems a day alongside a math curriculum.
My kid’s ACT score from 8th grade to 11th (on practice tests - he’s taking in June) have gone up like 11-13 points. He’s at the top of the test now so those singular points are hard to get at the top. This is the first year we’ve done significant prep. I do think using that using these tests as our annual testing device for homeschooling (required in our state) has been helpful. My 8th grader is actually also taking the ACT for the first time in June with just light format exposure.
Summer after 8th grade is not too early to get familiar with the test. I know of some kids (not mine) who are starting to prep as early as the summer after 6th grade. Like it or not, your kid will be competing against those kids. Getting really really familiar with the test and the way the questions/answers are written is the goal. When she isn’t busy with other activities, your D could do 5-10 math/language questions or one reading passage a day in The Official SAT Study Guide. Don’t make a “job” out of it at this point, but she could get through a practice test or two (154 questions per SAT) this summer. Fwiw, I’m a former homeschooler- -my 5th kid (of 7) is finishing her first year of college. Three of my kids were NMFs. The other two also received large SAT/ACT score-based merit scholarships. I have been doing test prep and math tutoring, mostly with homeschoolers, for 14 years.
Somewhere above, math was mentioned. It seems to me that being a year advanced in math, such that the student has taken geometry and algebra 2 by the end of sophomore year, will best set up the student to have a chance at NM in October of junior year.
My suggestion would be to engage in significant SAT prep during the summer before junior year. I would be reluctant to make test prep a part of schoolwork prior to that.
Since scholarships are the prime motivation, I would also keep in mind that there is a long list of automatic merit possibilities that are based on grades and SAT/ACT test scores, but not on the PSAT. Not all kids will be hitting optimal score levels until summer/fall senior year.
My feeling exactly, if any prep at all for the PSAT.
This is the type of thread that makes me thankful that my parents were more hands off. When I was a kid, my parents would take me to the library. Sometimes I would check out SAT prep books and study for the SAT and take practice tests, even though I was 10 years old and wasn’t actually going to take the SAT anytime soon. I enjoyed it and had fun, and fortunately for me, no one told me to relax or really cared what I was doing. If your daughter wants to study for the PSAT, I don’t see why she shouldn’t. I don’t think you need to do anything that you wouldn’t do if she were older, there is a lot of practice material out there.
My kid had around 155 on PSAT as a freshman, 194 as a sophomore and 222 as a junior and unexpectedly made NMF in CA (cut off was 221 that year) by studying for ACT test on his own, which he took right before taking PSAT. No other prep. Wasn’t even trying to make NMF so maybe that helped. But I did go overboard searching for Honors College which gave fulk rides to NMFs.
I’m a test prep tutor. I would never suggest someone study for a standaridzed test for three years. In an ideal world, I think three or four months out is a good amount of time, accounting for school vacations and holidays, etc…
You have had good advice so far: your child should read a lot. Make sure she isn’t behind in math, but she doesn’t need to be super advanced.
My most challenging student has been my son, who is dyslexic and dysgraphic. Before he took the SAT in March, we began test prep in earnest in January. He had prepped, and had been scheduled to take the ACT in Feb, but broke a bone and rescheduled for April. He got a good score on the SAT, and so, other than reviewing punctuation again, he literally did nothing else for the ACT. He didn’t care how he did because he already had a good SAT score, and only took it because it was already paid for. He got a 34, quite a bit better than his SAT.
I honestly think if I had made my son prep for three years, he would have stabbed me in my sleep. As it was, I had to sleep with one eye open. :)) I truly think that being relaxed is what helped him get such a great score.
Some kids need more prep than others, but it’s way too early to know how much prep she will will need. I’ve seen kids make themselves sick with anxiety about these tests. They might have started preparing early, but not effectively, and they do poorly on their first attempt. That sets them up with a negative mindset. If a child starts prepping too far out, they think the tests are the be all and end all. Sometimes I have to “deprogram” students from their mindset and previous study methods. IMO, it’s best to start studying effectively a few months out from the test. A couple of hours a week is probably sufficient.
Prep for you - read the thread about NMF rejections. If your daughter wants to get into those schools, focus as much on things that will get her admitted as on things that will get the scholarships. Admission is not guaranteed most places.
Also, while your daughter may be willing to “prep,” I wouldn’t do too much. If you do, you might and up facing fatigue right about the time when the prep is most important. If you’re going to do some prep, look over her scores and see what her weaknesses were. Advice here is spot on, regarding reading - and no, it really doesn’t matter what she reads as long as she reads. For math I would focus on reviewing anything she’s already been exposed to that came up short in her first test, and then work on ensuring she understands the foundation she’s building for everything else. Advance too quickly in math, and you’ll find she’s no longer using the math skills she needs for this test on a regular basis, and they become rusty (DD’s school has 8 sophomores in Calculus this year, and taking advanced science and engineering classes - they all made “stupid” mistakes an the PSAT this year, and are thankfully to have the heads up to review for next fall).
Have her explore her interests, so she is an interesting person. Her goal is not just to excel academically, but to be the person everyone wants on their campus.
My D started the prep process in 10th grade, very casually. This ramped up a bit in the summer before 11th. Our prep process was free and flexible. She signed up for the Dictionary “word of the day” emails and the SAT “question of the day” emails. She would look the emails in batches, when she felt like it. She said both things were helpful. We also took the PSAT every year, starting in 9th grade. In our school this required the student to initiate signing up and the parent had to pay for it. This method works best for a self-motivated student (which sounds like your kid). She was an avid reader.
She did get NMF and had a full ride merit award between that and additional scholarships.
My kid not an avid reader but likes to read Cliff notes. Lol His HS offers practice PSAT to AP kids so he took one each year. Because he got 195 in his sophomore year I thought he had no chance at NMF but because he studied on his own for ACT it somehow helped his PSAT instead of ACT, and he totally unexpectedly made NMF.
Both my kids did well on the PSAT with minimal prep, by which I mean an hour at most. One was NMF, and the other missed NMSF by a point, because we live in a high-cutoff state.
There’s a huge difference from state to state. It would be an extreme measure, and I don’t advocate this, but you could move to a low-cutoff state.
I love the SAT “Question of the Day” suggestions! That seems a great middle-of-the-road option.
Having said that, I don’t see the harm in 20 minutes every week or two doing PSAT (or PSAT 8/9 or PSAT 10) practice problems. DD has always done a page or two a day of summer workbooks throughout elementary school to combat “summer slide”. She didn’t love it, but the practice has paid off for her.
I had forgotten about the SAT “question of the day” . Back when my oldest was in 6th grade, in late March, our local supermarket had a 90% off clearance bin and there was a page-a-day tearoff calendar with SAT sample questions on it. He insisted we buy it, while youngest was happy getting a calendar with kittens on it.
I don’t consider it prep, though. It was the natural result of a child driven to satisfy his own curiosity.
OP - I share this as a happy memory, not to make you concerned about starting too late.
Start your kid on Latin. If you are homeschooling, find out a good home school Latin course that other parents recommend. That plus reading (everything- fiction, non-fiction, books, magazines) should do the trick.
Re: Math- everything in the world is math. The carpet department at Home Depot is math (it’s sad that the folks who sell carpeting for a living don’t know basic geometry). The produce aisle at your supermarket is math (artichokes, pineapples- Fibonacci numbers). Filling up the car with gas is math. (when the gauge is on 1/4 full and gas costs $3.00 a gallon, what should your pump say if you fill the tank?) Putting down mulch in the yard is math.
We didn’t do any test prep; not the way we are wired as a family. But we had long car rides to visit grandparents, and lots of family time in the evenings, and it was usually spent reading, doing puzzles, and yes- talking. I am math phobic but my kids loved math. So I learned to make everything about math.
Way too early for anything resembling prep, but not too early for a foreign language, or to do word games/puzzles/logic games.
Yes, she has had 2 years of Latin through a co-op, and it is one of her favorite subjects. She also takes Spanish at home. She loves learning languages.
She might enjoy math enrichment, though. She isn’t as strong in math as she is in other subjects.
Skip the Latin. Study a foreign language of choice. That will help understand English roots. Just plain reading a ton is better than memorizing Latin grammar that will never be used (who cares how to use a verb…). This from a NMS and mother of a NMF (he didn’t need money, discouraged son from putting school he went to first on list).
Love the kid on the couch. Let kids have a fun childhood along with the academics. The stellar students will shine, those who need to put in tons of effort will not want to put in that effort through college and beyond. This applies to choosing to be in that uber instead of top percentile as well.