Parent Tips for ACT Preparation

The ACT can be one of the most important tests your child will take during their school career. The ACT will help determine classes your child will need to take when entering a college and if any remedial classes will be needed. The ACT is just like any other test and should be thought of as important and crucial to the success of a student going to college. If you want information on how to help your child prepare for the ACT, here are some ways you can help them study for this test.

The first thing you should know if you are studying for the ACT is that you can get previous tests as practice. The ACT practice tests are great ways to help your child study for the test because this will help them better understand the types of questions being asked. The practice test is a good way to familiarize you with the questions being asked as well as help prepare for the different parts of the test. You can go to a bookstore and get different versions of the ACT test as well and that will cost you around 10 dollars for the books in the store. The practice tests will not usually be the same questions as the test your child will have, but it will give them a good idea of the types of thinking questions and reading questions they will have to do. The practice ACT will also give your child the directions for the test and it is important they read and understand the directions before going into the test.

The ACT is also a timed test so it is important your child know how to handle a timed test. Use the ACT practice booklets to help you get your child used to the timing that will happen during the real test. Have your child sit down and take the test as if it were the real one, and then give them about 20 minutes for each area. When the time is up you then tell your child to move on to the next section. The tests are meant for you not to have time for every question, so you have to learn how to use your time wisely by answering the questions you know first. The timing for the test will also mean your child needs to know how to use educated guesses for some of the questions. The process of elimination will help your child answer questions they might not really know by using simple processes of elimination. It is important that your child know they can leave a question on a test blank if they do not have any idea, this will not hurt their score and if they have time they can come back to it later.

Also, have your child study every day prior to the ACT but not the day before the test. The day before the test your child should be as stress-free as possible and trying to cram the day before will only hurt their chances to get a better school. The day before the ACT your child should be going to bed early so that they are well-rested for the test the next day and they should eat a good breakfast the morning of the test.

Your child should also go over all notes in their various subjects in order to review about things they might have forgotten. If your child keeps a collection of notebooks for each class, have them go over the notes and refresh their memory on math questions and tables as well as reading questions. Going over the notes you took in school can help you remember how to come up with answers that you might have forgotten.

If your child is not a morning person, you should see if you can schedule the ACT for the afternoon. It is important that your child be at their best for the test and should be awake and alert. Some schools will give you an option for either the morning test or the afternoon test, and you should choose which time to take the test when your child is most alert. If your child can only take the ACT in the morning, be sure they are well-rested and alert prior to taking the test by having breakfast and being up a little earlier than normal.