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Our Test Prep Blogs:

How Can I Practice for the SAT at Home?

How Can I Practice for the SAT at Home?

Many of you are aware that the College Board has canceled the May 2nd SAT. The College Board is promising to provide future opportunities to take the SAT in place of the canceled tests. As of now, the June 6, 2020 SAT test is still being held as planned. This leaves a...

Will the AP Test Still Be Given in 2020?

Will the AP Test Still Be Given in 2020?

I bet a few weeks ago you did not think you would be homeschooling your student, especially not in their AP classes! We have received many questions from parents who are wondering about AP testing and whether it is still happening. They are also not sure how to best...

Should I Take the SAT or the ACT?

Should I Take the SAT or the ACT?

Should I Take the SAT or the ACT? Almost every college accepts both the SAT and the ACT. So, most students should choose the test that suits them best and prepare for that test exclusively. The best way to determine which test is best for you is by taking a released...

Do I Need to Take Both the SAT and the ACT?

Do I Need to Take Both the SAT and the ACT?

Do I Need to Take Both the SAT and the ACT? This is one of the most common questions that parents and students ask when I talk with them about college admissions. Often, they have been advised by a school counselor or peer to take both tests. The SAT and ACT are both...

Not Sure How to Accomplish that Big Task? Just Get Started!

Not Sure How to Accomplish that Big Task? Just Get Started!

Do you spend a lot of time and energy preparing for a test only to feel like your mind goes blank once you start the assessment? This is a common experience. It happens because of the way our brain takes in, stores, and then recovers learned information. There are three phases to learning and remembering…

Not Your Average High School Final

Not Your Average High School Final

    Preparing for the ACT and SAT has come to inspire more dread in high school upperclassmen than the tedious college application process itself, and with good reason. While the ACT has become slightly easier than past...

We Already Know How to Fix Education

We Already Know How to Fix Education

We Already Know How to Fix Education Just imagine if all teachers were given a break from constant new programs introduced from above and allowed to teach this way. Imagine the growth we could see. One of the most frustrating experiences as a public school teacher is...

3 Ways Switching to Google Keep Can Help You Stay Organized

3 Ways Switching to Google Keep Can Help You Stay Organized

3 Ways Switching to Google Keep Can Help You Stay Organized I used to love writing on sticky notes. A few years ago, if you walked into my office you would have seen an array of rainbow notes with everything from grocery lists to the details of a recent phone call...

A Really Simple Way to Achieve More Goals

A Really Simple Way to Achieve More Goals

A Really Simple Way to Achieve More Goals If You Are Working On A Challenging Goal, Plan Backwards As a study skills tutor, I often work with high school and college students to prepare for exams, write a lengthy paper, or plan how a project will be completed. I...

4 Apps to Help with Exam Preparation

4 Apps to Help with Exam Preparation

4 Apps to Help with Exam Preparation     Current technology helps make studying easier and more manageable. As smartphone ownership increases every year, mobile apps developed specifically for studying harder and smarter are regularly popping up. Parrish...

Five Simple Student Routines for School Success

Five Simple Student Routines for School Success

Five Simple Student Routines for School Success We all want our children to grow into happy, successful, and independently functioning (as in not living on our couch) adults one day. As a teacher, study skills tutor, and parent, I have come to the conclusion that if...

Do You Wonder if Your Child Has Dyslexia?

Do You Wonder if Your Child Has Dyslexia?

Do You Wonder if Your Child Has Dyslexia?  Do you wonder if your child has dyslexia? Maybe you wonder if you have dyslexia. You are definitely not alone. As a special education teacher and reading tutor, one of the most common questions that I am asked by parents...

5 Study Strategies for Students with Test Anxiety

5 Study Strategies for Students with Test Anxiety

5 Study Strategies for Students with Test Anxiety As the school year begins, a problem that I hear parents express most often, working as a study skills tutor, is that they see their children studying and then it seems they cannot remember the material on test day or...

When Should I Take the SAT?

When Should I Take the SAT?

In this blog, I will answer one of the most common questions that I am asked by both students and parents: “When should I/my student take the SAT?” There are five main factors that affect the answer to this question and that you should consider before making a...

Five Strategies for Surviving End-of-the-Year Testing

Five Strategies for Surviving End-of-the-Year Testing

Five Strategies for Surviving End-of-the-Year Testing Good Morning. Testing will begin shortly after you complete the identification information on your answer sheet. Please listen carefully to the following instructions. You may not eat or drink in this room. You may...

How to Use Your PSAT Score to Prepare for the SAT

How to Use Your PSAT Score to Prepare for the SAT

Most students take the PSAT, but I have found through talking to students and parents that many do not fully understand how to use the PSAT to prepare for the SAT. The PSAT score report can be one of your most useful tools when preparing for the SAT. You spent the...

Is it Procrastination, Anxiety, or Avoidance?

Is it Procrastination, Anxiety, or Avoidance?

  Have you ever had an important project or paper to do and found that you suddenly had an urgent need to reorganize your pictures on Facebook, browse “how to” videos on YouTube, or clean out your closet?  Procrastination is a thief of time and a guaranteed way...

Fun, Cheap, and Easy Ideas to Do With Your Kids Today- Bowling

Fun, Cheap, and Easy Ideas to Do With Your Kids Today- Bowling

  Bowling is a great way to get kids out of the house to do something active, but did you know it can be a good way to practice math as well?  Try to let your kids score their bowling game the old fashioned way and then check their math on the screen.  Directions...

Learning: It’s Like Riding a Bike

Learning: It’s Like Riding a Bike

Learning: It’s Like Riding a Bike   This year for my daughter’s birthday, we got her a big girl bike. Shiny and pink with training wheels. If you live in our part of the country, you know that we are in the midst of an unending monsoon. It has rained for days. My...

The last day of school is right around the corner…

The last day of school is right around the corner…

  Summer is here! Where has the time gone? Now is the time to start thinking about your plans to stay ahead of the learning curve throughout the summer. A Smart Summer begins with additional enrichment that you wouldn't otherwise receive. We offer a lot of...

What’s So Different About the New SAT?

What’s So Different About the New SAT?

Students taking the SAT on March 5th will see a new and completely redesigned SAT test.  Many parents have contacted us regarding their concerns about this new test, and there is a lot of misinformation floating around!  Here is a quick comparison of the new and old...

Resolve to Look at Learning in a New Way in 2016

Resolve to Look at Learning in a New Way in 2016

Frequently, I get a phone call from a concerned parent that sounds something like this:  My child did so well in elementary/middle school.  At that time, the work was easy.  They rarely had homework and always made good grades.  Now that they are in middle/high...

Best Educational Toys Under $50

Best Educational Toys Under $50

If you are a parent, December is all about shopping for the perfect holiday gifts for your little ones.  As an educator, I like to think about how I can sneak a little learning in whenever possible.  So, in the spirit of the season, here are the first five fun and...

6 Ways to Prepare Your Preschooler for Kindergarten

6 Ways to Prepare Your Preschooler for Kindergarten

As many of you know from my previous blogs, my oldest daughter just started Kindergarten.  If you are about my age, and were in elementary school in the 80’s and early 90’s, you probably think of Kindergarten as very similar to preschool.  Maybe you remember days...

Teachers and Parents Give Their Best Back to School Advice

Teachers and Parents Give Their Best Back to School Advice

As many of you know, my oldest daughter started Kindergarten this week! I can’t believe that I have a child old enough to be in school when it feels like just yesterday that she was a baby, we were first starting our tutoring business, and I began writing a blog! So,...

Is School Causing You Stress?

Is School Causing You Stress?

I have been working this year with Riverbend High School Senior Abigail Williams on her Commonwealth Governor’s School Culminating Project.  The focus of this project is working through procrastination.  I am going to present Abby’s research in a two blog series....

How to Combat Procrastination

How to Combat Procrastination

I have been working this year with Riverbend High School Senior Abigail Williams on her Commonwealth Governor’s School Culminating Project. The focus of this project is working through procrastination. I am going to present Abby’s research in a two blog series. This...

Riverbend High School’s We Are One Campaign

Riverbend High School’s We Are One Campaign

Read on to learn about a campaign that local students at Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania have launched to promote inclusiveness and decrease bullying at their school. This year, Burke Swanson, the Senior Class President at Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania...

Become a Savvy Studier

Become a Savvy Studier

Several times a week I have a conversation that goes something like this: Parent: My kid studies; I think; I see them studying. Then they take the test and they do poorly. It’s like they don’t retain what they have studied. They see the test, get nervous, and forget....

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Help your child build the confidence and skills to succeed in school.

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