@EastGrad - If you want to know more, terms of venery is what to search for (though it can also have something to do with sex; no idea why)
Some examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_terms_of_venery,_by_animal
http://www.tv.com/shows/downton-abbey/community/post/word-wit-terms-of-venery-for-downton-abbey-1393374188/
S19 just got his PSAT10 scores back. Math went fine - 730. Apparently these scores are just out of 760, not 800. Got three questions wrong. The reading/writing section was a little more tricky for him. Did well on the writing and language part but the reading brought him down since they are combined. Ended up with a 650. 
The good thing is that College Board goes nuts breaking the questions out into the different types of questions and he almost exclusively got one type of question wrong on the reading sectionā¦so I guess he knows he has to focus on that.
He didnāt study for this at all so Iām hoping more prep this summer will help!
That sounds like a great start for him! When my d took a practice proctored ACT fairly recently, English was her trickiest part too.
I think the English sections are something that need to be studied (at least for most kids). The questions arenāt the type they get in a typical English class at our school. I think he just needs to get used to them.
Weirdly enough, he took a regular SAT at Kaplan as a practice last summer and did better on reading than math. I know the math is more advanced on this regular SAT but it was the easier questions he got wrong. Rushed through them and then got the more advanced questions right. Overall, he just needs to take it easy when he does the math section. He really shouldnāt be getting many wrong.
Very curious how studying this summer will go and how long it will take him to get decent scores on the reading section of practice tests. He usually scores at the 99th percentile on tests like MAP for reading. I think he just needs to get more used to the types of questions on the SATā¦at least I hope so!
@homerdog My S19 got almost identical PSAT scores in the fall (he took the regular PSAT, not the PSAT 10) No sad face from me on his 650 on the Reading/Writing part (this kid never reads). I donāt foresee any issue with him getting a 700+ on the R/W if he studies how the reading questions work (most of his missed questions were there - he said a lot of questions had two answers that could be correct).
My son missed two questions on math and didnāt have time to answer two so he got a 710. Heāll probably just needs to review his geometry and work on his speed.
Does anyone have an opinion on how similar the new SAT is to the ACT? Are there fewer gaps between scores? I know that with the old SAT, there were clearly some kids who did better on one test than the other. (My D couldnāt crack 1800 on the old SAT and got a 30 on the ACT). Iām basically looking for reasons to not even bother with the ACT this time around.
@eh1234 We are just doing SAT. S19 has taken ACTs through Northwesternās NUMATS program and can never finish. Gets hardly any wrong on the questions he can complete but doesnāt get to 8-10 questions per section! They get 75 seconds per question on the SAT. On the ACT, they get 36 seconds per question on English and 55 seconds per question on the other three sections. Itās a big difference.
When I look at each test, I think the content is harder on the SAT. The reading passages seem more difficult for sure. Thereās a lot of original source material on the SAT (passages from historical documents, etc) and some of the literature can be difficult (Hardy, Dickens, etc). Iāve heard people say that kids should focus on SAT if reading is their strong point since reading is two thirds of that test.
Iām seriously considering an intensive prep class that bills itself as SAT/ACT prep, three hours a day, five days a week, for three weeks, that ends the night before the August SAT. Itās ālocal,ā in that itās in the same area as Dās school - so an hourās drive each way. Itās taught by a local guy who has a theater and business background (and education degrees) and apparently heās great at keeping the presentation interesting and even funny/riveting. There are testimonials on his site from parents whose names I recognize from Dās school, and I know where their kids went to college, so legit recommendations, I believe. Itād be $750. Thatās a lot cheaper than the one the richest kids flock to, which I discovered is $4k and not at all in our budget. I know there are great free options out there, but Iām just not seeing the motivation I want to see from D yet. She talks a good game, but Iāve been burned too many times to rely on that. I wish we had personal tutor options that I could afford and trust, but they just arenāt around here.
@Gatormama My DS16 attended a SAT test prep class for 6 weeks . It was very helpful to learn test taking strategies.
@Gatormama, does your local school offer the Aug SAT? I have not heard of any around here offering it, and on the Collegeboard website it would not let me search for test location in August yet, just June.
Does your local PSU branch offer a SAT prep program?
Although your course sounds interesting.
Iām hoping that once school winds down here, S can get some SAT prep in, online, in time for the June SAT.
I guess it counts as 2017-18 and so they havenāt put locations up anywhere that I can find either.
Iām sure some school will be offering the test - Weāll drive to wherever; itās not like weāre not used to long drives in predawn darkness 
Local PSU branch is just as far away as all the test prep companies. Its course also seems to be only 7 days long (3 hours a day). Lots cheaper, though. The community college does have courses but theyāre in July, when we are on vacay.
My kids would not be happy with me if I signed them up for 15 hours a week of class for 3 weeks during summer break.
The prep class we do is $675 for the group session, more if you want 1:1. 10 weeks at 2.5 hours a week on saturdays and 3 practice tests I think. Schedule can be a bit more flexible on the 1:1. S17 started in small private group and ended up with most of it 1:1 but I donāt expect to do that with S19.
D19 took one of those Kaplan practice tests where students take a mini version of the SAT and the ACT to get a sense which one is the better test to take. Her ACT science score strongly pulled up the overall ACT score given her not-so-great math score. So she is planning to take the ACT in September, with ACT prep starting in July (after school is done and her Behind The Wheel course is wrapped up.
Sheāll take the given-by-the-school PSAT in October.
I have no idea how long it takes to get ACT scores back. Does it make sense to consider taking the SAT in addition to the ACT after the scores are back? Or is it better to just stick with retaking the ACT?
D19 has College Board accommodations for extra time, and weāre hoping she will get extra time accommodations for the ACT in September. The school coordinator will submit the request for us once weāre able to register her for the ACT test.
ACT scores come a lot faster than SAT tests. Maybe a few weeks if I remember correctly and you can check the scores online.
I think son19 will take a summer SAT prep session that some teachers offer for one week. Itās cheap, maybe 150 bucks. Then heāll take the PSAT in the Fall and then weāll work on scheduling SAT and ACT tests after that. During the summer I hope I can get him to do some free online test prep too. If he had more time I might be inclined to sign him up for some additional test prep, but our summer is crazy scheduled already and there is no time.
My D19 is probably going to spend the summer in Madagascar of all places, so no ACT prep for her. however, as I watch things fall apart pre-final exams for her, Iām thinking that next year Iām going to have to delve into the world of private tutoring, or finding an educational therapist or something.
I went to the longest track meet ever on Saturday, I had no idea how long those things are. I got there a little early so I wouldnāt miss any action, 5 1/2 hours later after being out in the sun all day I was about to pass out, lol. I donāt know how the kids managed to keep their energy up for the whole event. My sonās first event started at 2 and his last event finished at 6;45pm. It was sort of exciting, son19ās team placed well and his group beat a couple of longstanding school records so that was cool to see. I need to go better prepared next time, with some better snacks/drinks/reading material etc. First year doing track so Iām clueless on how it all works.
Then on Sunday I had to drive 1 1/2 hours each way to take him to play in a soccer match. He plays on a regional club so they travel throughout MA,CT,RI, NH . Iām certain they could find some teams to play a bit closer. Seems like nonsense to deal with that.
Poor kid basically came home Sunday night, studied for a few hours and passed out from exhaustion. Really busy times in our household right now, too much stuff going on all at once.
Track is brutal. I confess to not being sad that S19 gave it up this year. Itās a brutal time of year all around. I swear each year I block out how bad May and June can be. It is constant.
D19 is in mayhem week, with theatre performances Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (2 performance times). Weekend was 10 am - 5 pm for tech day and run through (both days) and this week sheās there from 3 - 10 pm tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday, 3 - 11 pm Thursday, 3 - midnight Friday, 7:30 am - midnight Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm Sunday.
That sounds like a long day! My S19 made it through one day of the two-day track tryout last year. Maybe I should be glad he decided it wasnāt for him.
He did play around 300 pages of bass music this weekend with four performances of the school musical. Heās not used to being quite so busy and finally settled into his homework at 10:00 last night. I am so not looking forward to an increased workload next year.
@RightCoaster Ugh. Track. The worst is when the meet is on a weekdayā¦and away. S19 got home from one last week at 9:30 pm and then had homework and studying left to do. Of course, he only ran two events so spent the rest of the time standing around and (supposedly) cheering on his teammates. They arenāt allowed to sit and do any homework. XC is so much more fun and the event lasts 12-13 minutes and itās over!!
I want to clarify that Iām not complaining. I am very fortunate to have a healthy happy kid who has found something he enjoys. He has never done track before, just showed up a few weeks ago with no training and is already setting school records in several events. Itās awesome to watch, so I appreciate it. However, the meets are quite long. I am more inspired by some of the parents that show up and root for their kids that may might not be track super stats but are simply doing it to challenge themselves and try to reach a personal record. Some of the kids try so hard and give it there all even when there is nothing to win or lose really. So seeing those parents rooting for their kids really hits home and.I have to think how lucky my family is. I have enjoyed track, even though itās only been a short season so far, because there is a lack of politics. You either win or lose, you have the times to qualify or not. Thatās it, no BS. No coaches playing favorites or mind games on the kids. I think my son19 finds it refreshing and he has made some new friends. I have also met some people that I did not know and have enjoyed learning about their kids.
Good luck to getting through the next month everyone. 1 day at a time is my motto this time of the year. So much chaos going on, it goes by in a blur.