1) Take a few practice tests. Try to imitate real test conditions as much as possible.  Don’t skip the essay.  Take pride if you are meeting your target score.  Get to work if you are not!

2) Prioritize! With only a little time before the test, you must tailor your efforts to the areas where you are most likely to see improvement.  Don’t get stuck on a particular concept if you are having difficulty with it.  You can always come back to it later.  You want to be able to answer as many different kinds of questions as possible.

3) Improve your vocabulary. At this point you should be hitting those word lists with considerable intensity.   Keep words you don’t know with you at all times (flash cards, iphone apps, etc.).   Learn a new word while you’re in the car, waiting in line at Starbucks, or, dare I say, in the bathroom.  Think how many words you could have learned in the time it took you to send those 863 texts today. (more…)

1) Consume Less “Junk Food” – TV, video games, phone calls, texting, IMing, Facebooking, Twittering, web surfing, et al.  Decide on a daily/weekly maximum.  The total of all these media should not exceed more than a couple of hours a day.  As academic fitness increases greater leeway in this area can be granted.

2) Do Your Reps – The brain is a muscle like any other.  Make sure it remains active.  As with exercise, you can’t make up for 4 months of inactivity in one all-night cramming session.  Make “contact” with difficult material and large projects daily or weekly. (more…)

1) Wherever you are, make life a “letter hunt.”  Be it the grocery store, drug store, the zoo, or in the car, pick a letter and find it in signage and brand names.   See if you can get all 26 letters.  Or choose a letter from the alphabet and search your home for words that start with that letter.  Try labeling those objects using a labeler or post-it notes. (Please be forewarned!  Pets exhibit a near-universal discomfort in being labeled.)  After naming items individually try using a different colored labels to group them by type, shape, color, or size.  For example, “couch” could also end up with the labels “brown,” “soft,” “rectangle,” and “furniture.”

2) Read to your child every day.  Demonstrate for your child how to read with expression.  If a book has pictures, relate the words to the pictures.  Even if you’re tired of a book, “Read it again!”  If you are repeating an old favorite, change the words in silly ways and let your child catch you “messing it up.” (more…)

1) Do what your teacher asks you to do. Complete all assignments to the teacher’s exact specifications.  Come prepared to class.  You know you need a writing tool no matter what.  How about some paper?  And of course, your completed homework does no good sitting on your desk at home.

2) Show you care about the class even if you don’t. Sit near the front, avoid distracting classmates, sit up straight, and make eye contact.  Listen for verbal clues, and watch for non-verbal clues.  For those less engaging classes, make sure you get enough sleep; nodding off is a big no-no. (more…)