Conquering the SAT: How Parents Can Help Teens Overcome the Pressure and Succeed

by Ned Johnson, Emily Warner Eskelsen

This insightful and practical guide for parents shows how we often undermine rather than encourage our teens' success on one of the most stressful standardized tests--the SAT--and what strategies will remedy the problem. In recent years this test has taken on fearsome proportions, matched only by the growing competition for slots at major universities. Success is now as much a matter of navigating the maze of changing testing structures, crippling self-conceptions, and family dynamics as it is about memorizing vocabulary words. PrepMatters tutors Ned Johnson and Emily Warner Eskelsen tackle the trials of the SAT head-on, revealing that the way our culture values this test is just as important as the answers teens fill in. Johnson and Eskelsen cover a wide range of topics including:

* Anxiety and ways to avoid "choking" on the test
* Best ways to prepare before the test - from exercise to nutrition to sleep
* Family communication
* What the SAT is actually testing
* How test-taking strategies will help teens in all walks of life
* Learning differences in teens and strategies for success

229 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2006

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, the best testing anxiety book I've ever read! I can't believe I forgot to put it on my goodreads list before now. :)

[Nathalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a great book for students, tutors, and parents. There's a lot of good things in here about the SAT, the process, and the external factors affecting performance. I haven't read an SAT study guide that covers the SAT content and also looks at the SAT beyond the questions. I'll be starting my tutoring lessons off of this book before hitting the ground running with learning the skills needed for the test. By dispelling the mystery of the test, we will have conquered half the battle. For parents short on time, I recommend reading chapter 8 regarding communication.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good: The repetition of the message to parents to not put pressure on their children, or use fear as a tactic, to improve scores. Correctly positioning the SAT in the big picture of life as just one day, one score, that does not measure intelligence or predict anything but grades the first year of college, even if top scores are necessary for a handful of schools. Bad: Repetition re: test anxiety, self-image, etc. I felt like the first half of the book had great advice and the second half repeated the same messages in different ways several times.