Time Management skills are essential for success in high school. Adding in a regular time for test prep will give your student the confidence to face the ACT / SAT challenge head on! Your student will likely spend several hours each week studying and preparing for the SAT and the ACT. With so much time devoted to this one task, a time management system can be a great help!
Block Schedule Organization
One method of organizing your student’s time is block scheduling. Block scheduling is very similar to what your student will encounter in college. Instead of meeting for 40-50 minutes 6-7 times a day, your student might study for 90 minutes 3 times a week. To cover all subjects, students rotate them. For instance, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, students might study each subject for 90 minutes and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they might study each subject for 120 minutes. In the end, they’re still spending 4-5 hours each week in each subject. Some parents find this method to be extremely helpful when trying to fit in time to study for the SAT and the ACT. Students can spend two hours each Tuesday and Thursday specifically devoted to testing prep while not neglecting their other subjects.
Weekend Warriors
Another popular method of studying for the SAT and the ACT is to study on the weekends. You could have your student sit down with you for three hours every Saturday and comb through the SAT/ACT test prep book(s) you’ve purchased. One good thing about this method is that it helps build stamina. The SAT and the ACT are both tests that last about three hours. If your student is already used to spending this much time in test prep each weekend, he or she will have the endurance it takes to get through the test when Test Day arrives.
Finding time to study for the SAT and the ACT is half the battle when it comes to test prep. Choosing to study during the week keeps the weekends open, but it makes weekdays feel longer. On the other hand, studying on the weekend lets your student keep his or her current schedule and helps students learn to endure a three-hour test. Whichever method your student finds the most attractive, the key is to stick to it.
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