A Reason for Reading: Vocabulary Improvement

Parents always want to know how to help their student improve their standardized test scores.  Whatever the age of your child, read this entire post, because the sooner you implement this advice, the better the score will be.

It's really very simple:  read to them and have them read.

Don't fall into the trap of loading them up on 'mind candy' with the excuse of 'at least they are reading'.  

Reading should stretch them just a bit, not just make them comfortable.

If they are reading (or you are reading to them), they should encounter some words they don't know.  When they do, they should look up the definition.

With that being said, here are some books that are not hard to read, but include some vocabulary stretching words.

The first one, For Two, is a shameless plug for a book written by my 18 year old son.  This book is appropriate for students as young as fifth grade, but even adults will find some vocabulary building words (raising my hand, here).
  





Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold is for high school students and above.  It is classified as sci-fi romance.  Again, there are some good vocabulary words, but not so many as to slow down the reading process.



The Count of Monte Cristo  by Alexandre Dumas is a favorite of mine full of swashbuckling and adventure.  I have taught this in a co-op class and the students loved it.  It is part of a series, so don't stop at just this book.



The Last of the Mohicans by James Fennimore Cooper, is an historical fiction adventure.  Another great story that will painlessly enhance the readers' vocabulary.

 

There are many lists of classics to read and I trust you can use google to find those lists.  I have tried to list books here that will appeal to both males and females, but are often overlooked.  

Read to your children daily.
Require your students to read daily.
 

What books do you recommend?  

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karentrina.com is a participant in the Amazon affiliate program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising commission by linking to amazon. com  This means if you click on a link that goes to Amazon and choose to purchase that product or another product, Amazon will pay me a small percentage for sending you there.  If you shop at Amazon and would like to support my website (no cost to you) you can do so by clicking on one of my affiliate links (easiest to find at book reviews) to get to Amazon.  
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karentrina.com is a participant in the Amazon affiliate program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising commission by linking to amazon. com  This means if you click on a link that goes to Amazon and choose to purchase that product or another product, Amazon will pay me a small percentage for sending you there.  If you shop at Amazon and would like to support my website (no cost to you) you can do so by clicking on one of my affiliate links (easiest to find at book reviews) to get to Amazon.  

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Homeschooling: What Every Parent Should Know about the NEW SAT & ACT, Part 2

Today is part 2 of Lauren Gaggioli's post about the new SAT and ACT.  If you missed the first part, you can find it here.

The Three Elephants In The Room

Homeschooling: What Every Parent Should Know about the NEW SAT & ACT

 Today, Lauren Gaggioli of Higher Scores Test Prep is my guest writer.  Lauren addresses changes in the ACT and SAT and advises on what you should do about them and even how they relate to Common Core.  This is a 2 part series, so be sure to sign up to receive blog posts or bookmark this site.

Preparing for the New SAT

Now that the initial uproar about the new SAT has subsided, it is time to think about how to prepare your student for the new test   If your student will graduate in 2017 or beyond, they will be taking the new SAT, if they take the SAT.

As I mentioned last year, one option would be to take only the ACT test.


 But, if you want some excellent information on preparing for the test,

Why Sentence Diagramming is Important

 I use Rod and Staff grammar curriculum and as a result, my students have had many years of sentence diagramming.  

Year after year, they diagrammed increasingly more difficult sentences as part of their English lessons.  Many times wondering, "What is the point of this?"

National Merit Commended Student

 Friday, we received notification in the mail that our son, Jesse, has been named a National Merit Commended Student.  

This was not a surprise to us since we have gone through the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying process five other times and have a good idea of what score is needed to achieve this.  Based on his PSAT selection index score, we knew it was not high enough to qualify as  a Semi-Finalist in Texas (selection index 218) , but would qualify for Commended status.  We are proud of his accomplishment.




What is a National Merit Commended Student?

What To Do About the New SAT (uncut version)

As you probably noticed in my last post titled What To Do About the New SAT, my editor believes in brevity.   She thought my original post was verbose, but I wanted to share it anyway.  What follows is the uncut version of the post.

The SAT is getting a makeover.

Current high school freshmen will be the guinea pigs for this test in Spring 2016, according to the College Board.

There is a lot of ‘chatter’ on the internet in response to this announcement.

What can students do about the new SAT?  

Don’t take it.  

What To Do About the New SAT Test

The brevity of this post is brought to you by my mean editor. 

Don't like the new SAT? 

Take the ACT instead. 

The end.

* the 400+ word unedited version of this post is coming soon

Improve Your Vocabulary, Improve Your SAT or ACT Score

I recently realized that lack of a broad vocabulary hinders many students from scoring higher on the SAT or ACT test.

Improve your vocabulary, improve your score.

ACT or SAT?

A reader recently contacted me with this question: "I have read your advice on preparing for the SAT and PSAT tests, but what about the ACT test? What preparation should my son do?"

How does National Merit Qualifying work?

How does  National Merit Qualifying work?  

National Merit Semi-Finalists are the top 1% of PSAT scores of high school juniors from each state.  This means that each state has a different qualifying minimum.

7 Tips about the PSAT/NMSQT Test and Homeschoolers

Homeschoolers are often confused as to when, if, or why students should take the PSAT test.

How to Prepare for the SAT

Read good books!

With two National Merit Scholars and two National Merit Commended Scholars, I am often asked, “How should my student prepare for the PSAT/SAT test?”

While I am not a big fan of 'final hour' preparation, I do have some recommendations to help prepare for the standardized tests