<p>What is the best prep for the critical reading portion of the SAT I? My son is a rising junior and, while he loves to read, this was the lowest portion of his score in the "practice" PSAT he took as a sophomore. Are there any particular books/low-cost programs out there that work particularly well?</p>
<p>Praaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaactice. Just get a workbok, do every question in it, read every explanation, and then do the same thing on other workbooks or practice tests.</p>
<p>Workbooks and the blue book are pretty cheap.</p>
<p>I definitely second blue book. If vocab is hurting him, use DirectHits and have him look up any words he doesn’t know in books (I would sit near a computer so I could google them - I hate stopping in the middle of a great novel to flip through a dictionary for too long). If the passages are hurting him, he just needs to use the blue book and learn to think like the test.</p>
<p>What is the Blue Book? Is is it the guide you get from the Collegeboard website? Can it be purchased in stores? What is DirectHits…a website? He does browse the WordSmart book frequently and we have made a game of learning those words. Is Free Rice helpful or are those “non-SAT type words”? I think his biggest problem is the speed factor of reading…content and analysis is not a problem, if he has the time.</p>
<p>The BB is “The Official SAT Study Guide”, the BB2 is “The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd edition”. The BB has eight tests, seven of which are in the BB2 (which has three extra previously administered tests). If you don’t have either book, get the BB2. It can be purchased almost anywhere- Barnes and Noble, Amazon, CB website, etc.</p>
<p>Direct Hits is also another book. It’s similar to Wordsmart but people on this website seem to like it more. It comes in two volumes and it’s recommended that you get both. It has about 350+ words which are known to appear most frequently on the SATs. I’ve used it and it’s great. Freerice is OK but I don’t really think it’s going to help much for the SATs. </p>
<p>If his problem is speed (? I thought he loved to read?), he could learn vocabulary and breeze through sentence completions to give himself more time for the reading passages. Or, he could read the magazines like the New Yorker and the Economist.</p>
<p>I think vocab is the best way because idk why, but just knowing all those complicated words will aid you significantly on your reading. I know some words that can help: go online and find the “easy prep flash cards.” There are 4 sets to these, 750 per set, but you only need sets 1-3. I know someone who memorized these sets and got an 800 on CR</p>
<p>Are there any books specifically focused on the critical reading section that anyone could recommend (not the bb)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend prep books for CR – I don’t think they really help. He just needs to do lots of practice and pay very careful attention to the way CB constructs questions and answers. It’s something one has to figure out for oneself.</p>