Without warning or time to prepare, millions of parents are now homeschooling their children for the first time thanks to the novel coronavirus. While the COVID-19 situation is unprecedented, there’s nothing inherently new about school at home. Thousands of families do it every day, but for those parents who find themselves in the difficult position of suddenly having to transition from their kids going to school each day to not being able to leave the…
Are you nervous about taking the SAT? When I began my junior year, my teachers and administrators flooded me with tons of information regarding the SAT. I remember walking into Barnes and Noble and seeing a huge 4-inch wide book with “S.A.T. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW” in big block letters printed on its bindings. Anxiety pulsed through my veins, and I thought to myself: do I really need that? In reality, when students begin…
The 2019-2020 SSAT test dates have been released. Your child can take the middle and upper level SSAT test up to 8 times, or the elementary level twice. It’s important to review the test dates below and make sure you register your child in time. Standard Test Date Regular Registration Starts Aug 1, 2019 & Ends: Last Day for Registration (Without Testing Accommodations) Sat, Oct 19, 2019 September 28, 2019 Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Sat, Nov…
In order to perform well on the ISEE and SSAT tests, learning to study vocabulary is crucial. The Verbal section of each test challenges the vocabulary skills of even the strongest students. It can be difficult to study vocabulary with your busy schedule, but without making it a priority, you will not be able to perform well on the synonyms and analogies portions of the SSAT exam or the synonyms and sentence completions portions of…
When applying to colleges, I already knew what field I wanted to study: Music Education. That was the easy part. From there I had to decide to which schools I wanted to apply. I researched schools in my area that had great Music Education programs. After I decided on four schools to which I wanted to apply, I researched the criteria that was required for acceptance into each university. Specifically, I researched how well I…
The High School Placement Test – or the HSPT – is an exam administered to 8th grade students who are applying to certain Catholic high schools. The HSPT helps to determine admissions decisions, class placement, and scholarship awards. If you are unsure how the HSPT is scored, these tips may help you. Here are seven HSPT strategies that will ensure more success. 1. Break it down. Because the HSPT consists of nearly 300 questions in…
We recommend that students take the ISEE more than once. Ideally, students take the test once during the course of test preparation with a tutor, and then again at the end of test preparation. This gives students time to learn from their mistakes and practice time-management and test-taking strategies. It also gives tutors the opportunity to use the student’s test as an additional formal assessment with which to guide their instruction over the remainder of…
If your child is interested in attending an independent school, they will likely need to take the Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE) in order to apply. You’ll be set to go once you read our list of ISEE don’ts. Don’t wait until the last minute to prep. Starting early is essential to understanding and becoming comfortable with the test format, which in turn is essential for a good score. Don’t skip the practice tests. Boston…
Educators have learned much about the benefits of using projects for learning, and collaboration is easily recognized as an important skill for students to build. There are very few arguments against having students do group work together in class and on certain assignments. However, the challenge facing many educators lies in figuring out how to group students together in the most effective way. The following simple guide can help. 1) Do: Consider distance and access…
According to a new experimental study by George Mason University professor Robert Youmans and University of Illinois doctoral student Jared Ramsburg, meditating before class can lead to better grades. The pair of researchers conducted three classroom experiments at a California university to see if meditation might help students focus and better retain information in class. A random selection of students followed basic meditation instructions before a lecture, and the students who meditated before the lecture scored better…
