De Cito Eindtoets Basisonderwijs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s never too early to start helping your children understand what to expect on the various tests that they may have to take throughout their lives.  The actual day of the test is probably the worst time to learn just what kind of questions will actually appear on it.  The SAT test is no different, in that you need to be ready and prepare for it.  But SAT preparation doesn’t just happen one day and “VIOLA!” you or your child will be ready to take it.  SAT preparation is a process and requires some dedication.  As a parent, it would be very beneficial for your child (or children) if you were to follow a few simple guidelines that will help set them apart from the rest of the crowd and make their testing experience more enjoyable.

Take More Challenging Courses

One great way to help your child is by encouraging them to take classes that tend to more academically rigorous throughout their educational career.  The SAT is meant to be a demonstration of the amount of knowledge that someone has acquired throughout the years of their lower education.  Taking more advanced classes tends to innately increase the amount of knowledge and character that one develops naturally throughout the course.  The SAT is intended to measure skills that one has learned over the course of years, not just weeks, prior to the test.  And not only will this help your child be better prepared for standardized testing in general, it will probably help them be better prepared for anything life throws at them by giving them more confidence and abilities to use in the real world.

Don’t Let The Test Format Be A Surprise

The subject matter itself is not the only thing that you should be helping your child become familiar with during this process.  One important key to victory when taking the SAT is knowing what to expect from the actual test format and being prepared for it.  Taking multiple SAT practice tests can be a very worth-while tool in order to achieve this goal.  Try to find SAT practice tests that are full length and resemble the format of the actual test as much as possible and have your child work through some them in order to get their feet wet.  A good practice test would have the appropriate amount of each style of question and represent each subject adequately.  Also, make known to your child how SAT calculates scores different for blank and incorrect answers.  There is actual a penalty for marking a wrong answer, whereas a blank response just doesn’t gain any points.  So, in situations where your child can’t adequately narrow down the possibilities, it may be better to leave it blank than to guess.

Help Your Child To Relax And Be Calm

If there’s one thing that makes taking the SATs more difficult than anything else, it’s probably worrying too much about it and getting stressed out.  Stress can wreak havoc on your mind and can lead to poor judgment and flawed thought processes.  But by following these and other simple steps, your child can gain the confidence they need to go in feeling worry free and well-prepared to take the SAT test.