How to Tutor the SAT: A Guide for Parents

College-bound students have the potential to gain a great advantage from a high SAT score. Most colleges and universities take into account the SAT results when considering a student for admission. You can help your teenager with the SAT by providing guidance to help them prepare.

Preparing for the SAT does not have to be a difficult process. If you plan ahead and take the necessary steps, you can help your child to be successful. This parent’s guide will give you an idea of how parents can help their teens get ready for the SAT.

Be Prepared for the Challenges You’ll Face

Before agreeing to assist your child in achieving a satisfactory SAT score, you need to ensure that you have the necessary skills to be able to assist them effectively and assess if there are any difficulties you may encounter.

Are You Qualified to Tutor SAT?

Do not think that your age and good performance on the SAT test in the past automatically qualify you to help tutor your child.

It is important to remember that the SAT has gone through multiple rounds of transformations, so if you took the exam in high school, make sure to look into what the current version looks like so that you are up-to-date.

To be successful, you should make sure to spend sufficient time learning about the SAT. Try to score at least 150 points higher than your kid on a practice test, and if they already have high scores, you should aim for a perfect score.

Motivating Your Teen

One of the most difficult aspects of tutoring your own child is motivating them to do the necessary work to progress. This is the most important way to increase test scores. If you are having difficulty getting your teen to engage, try talking to them about the tangible advantages of a better SAT score. In particular, the impact their score will have on their future college, career, and life. 

Know the Format

To be an effective tutor, you need to be as knowledgeable about the SAT as your child. This means understanding the format of the test, the number of questions, the time needed to finish, and when to start tutoring. You also have to be familiar with the types of questions they will encounter, as well as the topics covered in the reading, math, and writing sections.

Set a Goal

Once you and your teen feel ready, it's time to discuss her expectations and potential schools to apply to. To determine the score range a college looks for when considering applicants, you can search online using the college's name. 

For example, if you want to know the typical SAT scores of students admitted to Brown University, you can search “brown university sat scores” in Google. The result is this quick answer at the top of the page:

Once you know the score range, set a clear target score for the student. When all that is clear, the two of you can set an ultimate goal.

When Should You Begin Tutoring?

Beginning your preparation as soon as you can is the optimal choice when it comes to exams such as the SAT. This gives you the opportunity to become more familiar with the exam and provide yourself with sufficient time to be adequately prepared for a SAT practice test and final test dates.

Gather the Best Resources and Study Guides

Prior to beginning tutoring SAT, ensure you have top-notch practice resources that can be used with your student. Collect the finest SAT materials, so your kid is ready. Utilizing the most suitable SAT preparatory documents will guide your child in the right direction and provide a thorough comprehension of the SAT examination.

Create a Plan of Action

As your teen's SAT tutor, it is important to have an action plan in place to help the student stay focused and pinpoint any areas of weakness early on so that there is sufficient time to address them. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of time management.

Be Supportive

Most students find the college application process to be quite stressful, and those with test anxiety may find the SAT particularly intimidating. Therefore, as a parent, you can have a major impact on their success by offering your support.

Talk to them about their concerns, provide guidance, and stay positive throughout test preparations. Be sure to acknowledge the effort they are putting in to prepare, but also ensure they are not pushing themselves too hard and not getting enough sleep.

The Benefits of a Private SAT Tutor

Students now have access to a larger variety of test prep materials, including standardized practice tests, than ever before. However, working with a one-on-one tutor can offer extra advantages:

1. Structured guidance: The questions on the SAT cross multiple subjects, which can make it daunting for students to know where to begin. A tutor proficient in the test can create a study plan for learning sessions in a way that ensures the most important skills are taught first and often.
2. Exam techniques: It's not only knowledge of content that can help increase a student's SAT score. Although many students can reinforce their content knowledge independently, gaining insight into the strategies and processes of the test is challenging without a tutor.
3. Establishing accountability: working with a tutor can help a student stay on track with their homework assignments.
4. Offering motivation and support: tutors can provide motivation and words of encouragement when a student may be feeling discouraged.
5. Developing self-understanding: tutors can help a student to recognize their own test-taking habits, allowing them to become more aware of how they approach tasks.
6. Facilitating self-improvement: gaining insight into one’s process is the first step towards making positive changes.

Master the SAT With Amikka Learning in Your Corner!

Amikka’s online SAT prep course offers a free trial and covers every single piece of content and strategy needed to get a top score in the Math, Reading, and Grammar sections.

Resources include:

• Over 200 videos of content
• Over ten practice tests
• Rewind, pause, or speed up our course whenever necessary
• Hundreds of practice questions

Amikka Learning’s test-taking philosophy is that improvements in time management, content mastery, and general exam strategy are the main keys to success.

If you’d prefer to have your child work one-on-one with an experienced SAT tutor (from the comfort of your own home), contact us for a free consultation.