Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

6 Ways to Support Your Child’s Test Prep

As a test prep tutor, most of my work deals directly with preparing students.


Nevertheless, I find that parents often need some preparation in order to gain a better understanding of how best to support their child during ACT or SAT preparation.

With this in mind, here are six things a parent can do to provide a supportive, encouraging, and ultimately successful test prep experience for their children:

1) Set a Plan and Follow It: Like most things in life, test prep requires a plan. Though this recommendation is quite obvious, I am surprised at the number of families that do not plan ahead for test prep. Parents do great at scheduling sports practice, musical performances, social events and other things more but they rarely set up a thorough plan for test prep. Ideally the plan should start junior year by taking the ACT and the SAT without prep. The plan should then include a review of scores, a schedule of follow up practice and a retest. Hiring a tutor is a great way to help build the plan but not totally necessary. 

2) Nudge But Don’t Nag: The worst kind of student I could have is the one that says “My mom is forcing me see a tutor.” This is a recipe for disaster. The student is reluctant to study because mom or dad is obligating them. Parents (myself included) are famous for telling kids, “well, you better go study or else!” This nagging does not yield positive results. The reluctant student starts to dread test prep which in turn leads to dreading the test itself which in turn leads to poor scores. Instead of nagging, simply nudge your child. “Can you show me your latest essay practice?” or “How is your test prep plan coming?” are great questions and won’t lead parents into a potential conflict.

3) Recreate the Testing Environment: Vince Lombardi is credited with the saying “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” This applies to test preparation because the student that prepares for the test exactly like the test is administered will be more prepared. This means that when a student is studying, s/he should study in a test-like atmosphere. For example, no cell phones are allowed while testing. So students that are practicing test prep should not use their cell phone. Same goes for the television, radio, computer, etc. Since these items are not allowed during the test, one should not have these items accessible during test prep. Same goes for timing: the test is timed, so practice should be timed. Ultimately, a parent can ensure a student gets the best test prep by practicing in an environment that perfectly matches the testing experience.

4) Be Realistic: Testing is hard. And some students do not respond well to standardized tests. As such, a parent should be very realistic about the potential for their son or daughter to achieve a high score. Any student, with time and practice, can improve. But not all students will get a perfect score. The best parent is one that celebrates improvement and looks for ways to encourage the student to do better. Parents should not add stress to an already stressful situation (see #5). 

5) Remove Stress: The key goal in test prep: remove stress. Stress is the enemy of test performance. Cramming the week before the test is the worst way to prepare for the SAT or ACT. Remember, the test is a marathon. Prepare your student for the marathon with ample time, lots of love and encouragement.

6) Read: Simple enough, right? Just read! Seriously, read books. And lots of them. If you model that reading is a normal activity, your kids will follow suit. Even better, read with them. Pick out a book together, read and and have your own personal book club. Reading is the number one skill tested on the SAT and ACT. Even the math section is more reading than math (remember word problems?). So model good reading habits and watch your son or daughter improve his or her test score. 

All in all, the best way a parent can support a son or daughter with ACT or SAT prep is with love and time. Take the time to prepare a plan, encourage lovingly, recreate the testing environment at home, be realistic, remove stress and read! 

If you need help, contact CROSSWALK. We know how to prepare students, and parents, for the ACT, SAT, SSAT, PSAT and academic subjects.

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

The Optimal Approach to Homework

Failing to plan is planning to fail, right? Well, same goes for homework. Without a solid plan to approach homework, you may as well prepare for the worst.

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In a recent session with a student, we reviewed the optimal approach to homework. This particular student has 5 subjects and about 2-3 hours of homework a night. With so much to manage we discussed a three step approach that has yielded fantastic results. Here is the approach:

1) Use a Planner: the planner I recommend may be a bit old school but it is very useful. The days of the week are listed across the top with the subjects along the side in a basic table format. Students input the assignment that is due on a particular day in that particular subject. Even if nothing is due on a given day in a subject, I usually recommend putting in an “extra” task like reading ahead, doing some background research on the web or reviewing notes. This reinforces the idea that consistent activity in a subject will yield better comprehension. Note: electronic planners are fine for this as well but pen and paper has been most successful for my students.

2) Prioritize Tasks: once all tasks are outlined in the planner, I coach the student to spend the first 10 minutes of study time ranking the tasks. If a test is slated for the next day, that might get a 1. An ongoing project might get a 2 and so on. Anything “extra” would be a 5. I’ve also had students color code their planners so that red boxes are “hot” and require immediate attention, yellow boxes are “warm” and need to be done soon while green boxes are “cold” and can be postponed. This approach allows students to create a map for their study sessions.

3) Tackle Each Task at the Right Time: this step is key since productivity can vary with timing. For example, some students are very productive right after school. The juices are still flowing and comprehension is easy. Other students need some down time right after school and maybe their most productive time is in the evening. I recommend that students tackle their most important tasks at their most productive time. Tasks with less importance can be handled at less productive times.

Homework planning is not rocket science. However, a little common sense about organization and planning will go a long way.

The key is to follow a plan and adjust when necessary. Without a plan you may as well be rowing without a paddle. After all, if you fail to plan….oh, you know the rest.

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

7 Ways to Help Your Child with the SAT

Love it or hate it, the SAT is part of education. While it is only one variable to measure student achievement, it carries significant weight.

With so much pressure placed on exam performance, SAT can be a tough time for students. So what can a parent do? How can mom or dad help their son or daughter tackle such a major undertaking?

If your child is faced with the prospect of taking the SAT, here are seven ways you can provide a path towards success:

1) Get Engaged: this goes without saying. Getting engaged is the first step towards successful parenting on any level. The fact that you’re reading this means you’re on the right track. Talk to your child about the test. Find out what resources are available at school and in the community. Check outwww.CollegeBoard.com and get educated. And keep up the dialogue. Your teenager may not like the intrusion, but your support is absolutely crucial.

2) Find the End: the “end” of the SAT is the goal score your son or daughter needs to get into the school of their choice. Most schools publish the average SAT scores of their incoming students on their website. Pick three or four schools that interest your son or daughter and find out their average SAT score. This score is now the goal and everything you and your child do needs to be focused on that score.

3) Research the Options: you don’t need to be an expert and you don’t need to know all of the answers. In fact, it is better if you don’t have all of the answers so you can engage with your son or daughter to learn more (see #1). Part of the research is to understand what your son or daughter wants. The other part is how to get there.

4) Set Realistic Expectations: you can shoot for the moon and keep high expectations, but it’s also important to understand the reality of the SAT test. The SAT is only one, isolated measurement that does not define a person. This point is extremely important if your son or daughter is not a good test taker. Understand your options (see #3) and focus on keeping as many options open as possible.

5) Stay Positive: the SAT is such a mental test that a positive mindset, especially from mom or dad, can be the difference between success and failure. Remember, it’s never the end of the world if the performance fails to meet expectations. There are many, many alternatives and a variety of solutions to you and your child’s needs.

6) Follow the Study Plan: part of being engaged means knowing the plan. You may not remember your algebra skills and you might not have an expanded SAT vocabulary, but believe it or not, this matters little. Support is what matters. Support is one million times more important than the correct answers. Whatever study plan your child chooses, follow it. Check in with him or her. See how things are going and ask how you can support.

7) Set a Good Example: the impact of role modeling needs little explanation. Your child is your reflection, for better or worse. Set the tone for success with your actions and success will follow.

Ultimately, supporting your son or daughter on the SAT is no different that supporting him or her in whatever they do. If you are plugged into their needs, success is possible.

So get engaged. If you don’t know where to start, share this page with your son or daughter today. Better yet, do it right now. The earlier you start, the better.

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

What Can Mom or Dad do to Help SAT Test Prep?

Standardized tests can be scary. Not all students thrive during timed-tests with pressure-inducing consequences.

So what’s a mom or dad to do? What can a parent, guardian or caregiver do to help out?

It’s a simple answer: get engaged.

Moms and dads, take note: you don’t need to be a successful test-taker for your teenager to succeed at the SAT. You don’t need to know all of the answers in the test booklet and you don’t need to know all of the strategies.

You simply need to be engaged with your student. Talk to him and her about what they know or don’t know.

The first place to start is the end goal. The end goal is the school your teenager wishes to attend. Get on that school’s website together and find out the test scores of the incoming students. That score becomes the goal to shoot for.

With that goal in mind, you can now engage your learner in meaningful discussions. This exercise alone will foster some discussions about the test and the strategy behind it.

But don’t end the conversation there. Continue to engage your student. Find reliable sources of information like www.collegeboard.com and talk more about the test.

Make the test a journey with you and your teenager. Success with standardized tests requires preparation, support, confidence and repetition. You don’t have to know all the answers but you can be a great companion on your loved one’s trip.

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

It’s the Teacher’s Fault, Isn’t It?

Learning is complex. Students respond to different materials and different methods.

We see this time and time again. In a classroom setting, especially when there are a lot of other students, the needs of one particular student can get overlooked. It’s a fact of the matter.

Despite a teacher or a school’s best efforts, some kids fall through the cracks. Other kids don’t achieve their potential.

It can be frustrating for the student, the parent, the teacher, the school and anyone else involved.

But don’t be too quick to blame the teacher. I’ve heard it time and time again from CROSSWALK’s clients. They bad mouth the teacher for not helping the student.

While that may be the case for some students, the vast majority of our clients find that there are other factors involved. Simply blaming the teacher is an easy excuse, but underneath there might be other learning challenges like too many distractions or lack of motivation.

Whatever the case, a tutor is a great resource. A tutor can sift through the learning challenges and personalize a program to achieve maximum results.

We do it everyday at CROSSWALK. Achieving a student’s academic potential is what drives us.

After all, we’re teachers. And we’re here to serve your academic needs.