Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Purported effectivness of SAT prep classes - facts?

Some elite students have to review because they have gone beyond what is on the test and they need a refresher in earlier math skills.

I also think the time to prep for the reading part starts at age 1 when mom or dad or caregiver are reading aloud to you and once you become an independent reader to actually spend significant time reading. Summer before 11th grade is a bit too late.

Goodnight Moon and Moo Baa La La La should be marketed as SAT prep books.

This is my concern. While being hyper accelerated is good for some, I can see that too much time might pass before they get to the point where the SAT and ACT actually count. Trying to get a kid to review when their grades are good is hard enough. Trying to get a kid who is in APCalculusBC to take a refresher in algebra1 might be a bit difficult.

What I found with DS who is in AP Calc in studying for the PSAT it is helpful to review at least some sample tests and look over the math. While you do use basic algebra in Calculus and Pre-Calculus there are some formula's you tend to forget. Learning algebra is necessary before Calculus for a reason so lots of practice on basic algebraic computation wasn't necessary. But a review of rarely used formulas is helpful. Or in my son's case he wanted to take a simple probability question where you calculate the percentage and solve it with techniques taught in his honors Algebra II class.