72 | Prepping your child for the SAT with Kelly of In House Test Prep

Kelly of In House Test Prep wants to be able to help your child improve their test scores for College or Private School Entry to help them get into the schools of their dreams.  Her goal is to help them not only learn valuable study skills but to also understand that test scores don't define you.

-What are some strategies our children can use when preparing for testing?
 
-How can we as parents help to ensure our children are not stressed out about testing?
 
-What happens if our children don't do well on the test? 
 
You can find Kelly at:
Austin InHouse Test Prep - SAT, ACT, SSAT, ISEE Test Prep
(1) Kelly Frindell, PhD - Ace the Tests | Facebook
Kelly Frindell (@kellyfrindell) • Instagram photos and videos

Transcript

Unknown: 0:09

Welcome to raising healthy humans, a podcast created for busy moms where you can easily find information on health and wellness for your family. Enjoy experts who share tips on how to raise children through each phase of life. Gather current information on nutrition and wellness. And listen to Courtney, a health coach, movement specialist and founder of form fit an active and supportive community where she helps busy moms move more and raising healthy humans podcast. Courtney shares her personal life experiences, training, knowledge and conversations with other health and wellness experts so you can raise healthy humans. Today I'm speaking with Kelly of in house test prep, where she wants to be able to help your child improve their test scores for college or private school entry to help them get into the schools of their dreams. Her goal is to help them not only learn valuable study skills for the LSAT and AC T, but to also understand that test scores don't define you. Let's listen in. Hi, Kelly, how are you? Hi, I'm good. Thanks so much for having me on today. Yes, it's so nice to have you. So I want to know how you got started. You are a test prep, would that be like a counselor or what exactly is your position called. So there's a bunch of different names. But I mostly just call myself a test prep tutor, test prep consultant. And I work with students who are getting ready for standardized entrance exams, mostly for college and university. So the SATs and the AC t. And then also some of my younger students are taking tests called the SSAT or the IFSC, which are for students who are trying to get into private schools or boarding schools, mostly in the US. And the way that I got started with it is actually when I went to grad school, during my senior year of college, I spent months studying for the GRE, which is the entrance exam for grad school. And I learned 1040 vocabulary words. And when I got done, I thought I should use these vocabulary words for something. And at the time, the LSAT and the GRE were very similar to each other. So I got hired by Princeton Review, which is one of the major test prep companies learn their methods, and then continued to teach test prep on the side while I was in grad school, which had nothing to do with test prep. And then when I finished my grad school program, I actually ended up opening my test prep business. Oh, wow. Okay, so you weren't like a teacher before? Anything like that. You just were interested intrigued by this whole test prep for the GRE? Yes. For the GRE. Yes, exactly. I actually, I went to school originally, for psychology, I had intended to be a psychology professor, and kind of wrong time, wrong place and ended up getting my degree in public health. But I have really enjoyed teaching test prep on the side. And I love to tell my students that even what they think, you know, no matter what they think they're going to do when they grow up, it's probably going to change because I didn't grow up thinking, Oh, I'm going to be a test prep teacher, but I am and I love it. And it's turned out to be a really great life. And so I usually pass that along to my students who are really worried about things that it doesn't super matter what you think you're going to be doing at 17? Because it's probably something different. happening. Yes, very true. I noticed for myself, I'm on a completely different path. My husband, we have this conversation because I have a 16 and a 14 year old he's almost 17, almost 17 and 15 year old. So they're kind of on this test prep journey themselves. And my husband has really stuck with his career since he was very young. And then I'm in a completely different paths. So they get the back and forth like, No, it's not, you're gonna probably have all kinds of careers and jobs and things. And he's like, no, what are you talking about? So it's just funny how we have different thoughts in our own household and how the kids are having to listen to us with that. So do you work most specifically with college prep tests? Is that what you're working with? So I my students are split about 5050. So about half of my students are looking to go to college and the other half are the private and the boarding school students, the younger ones, okay. Okay. Just because with all of this standardized testing that is occurring on the younger, you know, from elementary, middle school, while it's all way through high school, do you work with any families with that, as well, I don't do much with the state testing. And most people don't prep for those tests. And it's a little bit dubious to prep for those as well, because they are their benchmark type exams. And so it's not as typical, I have a few times when people are really struggling to pass something. But most of mine is at the entrance exams. Okay. Well, and I guess the reason I was asking is I'm noticing a lot of families deal with a lot of anxiety around those tests. And I know that you help with some strategies. So I didn't know if they were applicable to all testing or if it's, no, there's a lot of stress management that goes into preparing for tests. And one thing that I find is a lot of my students who come to me are the same, they're very anxious about it. And especially with tests like the SATs and the AC T, they've heard their whole lives that Oh, everything is dependent on this test. And things have changed a little bit in the last few years with COVID, some of the schools have gone test optional, or say that you can choose or some of them have gone test blind, but they still hold a lot of importance for college admissions. And my poor students, sometimes they just come to me and they're like, why can I do this? What's wrong with me, I have an older sister, older brother, who just walked in and got a perfect score. And I can't do that. And, and what I have to tell them a lot, the first thing we always talk about is what these tests really mean. And they're not IQ test. They don't say anything about how a student is going to do in the future. It doesn't say anything about their self worth. And it all it really says is how did they do on this one test on this one day, and that's it. And they've never gotten that message before. Because everybody say, Oh, you must succeed, you must succeed. And the tests are important. Sure. But they're also not the most important thing in the world, either. And they're also they're just information. And that's what I really try to convey to the kids is it's just a piece of information. And there's nothing inherently good or bad about you, as a person, depending on your test scores, like if you score a little lower in math and your brother, so what, that that honestly really doesn't mean anything. And just because society might have said, Oh, it's important to have high test scores, there is nothing inherently better about being good at writing, or art or starting a business than there hasn't been good at math on the LSAT, there just isn't. And a lot of my students just haven't heard that before. And that is one of the first things we talk about. Because once they realize that, it frees them up a little bit to to be a little less anxious about the test, because they're just they have it in their mind that this is the most important thing they're going to do ever. And it really isn't. And I don't want to downplay the importance of those tests, because they still play a role in society and college and futures. But they also aren't the be all end all to everything. And that's something I really struggled with when I was a kid, because I put a lot of pressure on myself and I have to succeed, I have to do this. And as I've gotten older, I've realized, I put myself under a lot of stress that I just didn't need to and what seems so important to me at 16 and 17. And from all the messages I had gotten about what was important, later on, it's really not. And so that's probably the first step for managing stress is just really understanding what the tests are and what they do and what they don't do. And then there are also a lot of just basic stress tips for kids. And a lot of them are the same tips as they are for adults. And a lot of them just really have to do with taking care of your body and taking care of your brain. So it's important that you exercise, it's important that you get a good night's sleep, it's important that you don't let yourself get too overwhelmed with thoughts about these tests and put in your time, spend some time each day and then move on to the next thing. And some of it too, is just really noticing thought patterns and being able to stop them a little bit. So I have kids who get really wound up and they get into that cycle of I can't do that I'm gonna fail, and then I'm gonna be homeless, and then I've never I'm gonna die on the streets and everybody will hate me. And it's this whole vicious cycle. And if you can notice it, when you start getting into that pattern of oh, I'm really starting to think these negative thoughts again, and it sounds kind of silly, but one of the main methods for stopping those thoughts is honestly just telling yourself, stop, stop thinking these things. And I tell the kids sometimes they can imagine like a big stop sign in their head or just cut it out and redirect your thoughts. And really, the best way to do that is just to start being aware of it because it happens so automatically and we think all kinds of thoughts all day long that we're not really aware of. But when my students say things to me, they're if they miss a problem, they go, Oh, I'm dumb. And I say no, you are not dumb. You just you your attention was wandering or you haven't learned this skill. And I redirect them because I don't want them to have that self chatter in their head either because it's not helpful, right? Well in that self chatter like you mentioned And it's not, it doesn't mean it's true. So it's not, it's not helping matters, it's not doing anything for them so and it generally isn't true and not knowing how to do something, because either you haven't learned it, or you learned it, or it wasn't taught to you in a way that was appropriate for you, or there's something that prevents you from learning it. Well, really, honestly doesn't mean you're dumb. It just means this thing is a challenge for you. Right? Yeah. So with children, I can only go from what is happening where we are with testing. But our children do the piece at first, right? So that I think that's an eighth grade, that they get that too. So there is a PSAT, which is a PSAT and in the past, it was given to juniors and your junior year is the year that it's important. In the past several years, some other ones have been added. So there is a PSAT eight, nine, which is given to eighth and ninth graders, a lot of students do take it in 10th grade. And those, I have a little bit of a cynical belief about those tests, there really is no reason for eighth graders to take them other than now they're being offered. And I suspect there's some financial incentives going on there. But those tests, the eighth and ninth grade tests, I usually tell people, don't worry about those, take them, try them out. It's good experience. It's good practice, but it doesn't inherently mean anything. And it's not the useful score for later, which will happen during junior year. Okay. Okay, because my oldest is a junior this year, and he's done. And it's something that the county provides. So it's during school and everything, they just take it during school. So he's taken that one. And I didn't even know he was getting it. So there was like, nothing. There was no studying involved or anything. And I didn't know, even if they should, you know, like, he gave me the numbers and everything. He's like, Okay, this is what I got. I was like, Okay, so. So what do we do now. And then he took it again in ninth grade. And then this pass, so 10th grade. Now, mind you, COVID was all happening during that time, so things got a little messed up. But then he was told he needs to sign up for the actual LSAT. So if you're saying that you wouldn't even really look at those, we shouldn't be looking at what he got numbers wise on those like to kind of assess where he would need to be. So for the eighth and ninth grade versions of those tests, those those don't take into consideration when students take it during their 10th grade year during their sophomore year. Those scores do have some information in them that could be important. And what that usually tells me, one, it tells me if people are likely to be National Merit Scholarship candidates. And that's what the PSAT basically does is it's a it's a clearing house, it's a gateway for national merit scholarships, and your scores for that only count during your junior year. And to be to qualify for it. There's several different steps, but taking the test is the first one, you have to score very, very high, you have to be in about the top 1% of all test takers. And so those 10th grade scores will tip you off as to whether you might be a candidate for national merit or not, and very few people are and so what it says for most people is the PSAT your junior year is just going to be practice for you. It's not going to be a super important thing. And so there are some people who prepare for the PSAT and that's typically people who are likely to be national merit candidates or they they might be close to that. For everybody else. It's not that important, but the PSAT and the SATs are similar to each other. So preparing for the PSAT will also get you ready for the SATs, but the PSAT cannot be used for college admissions. And so even if you take that one, you still have to take either an LSAT or an AC t, if you're applying to a school that is still asking for scores, okay. Okay. And you don't recommend like, go in, take the test first. Just kind of see where you are right. And then once you are getting ready for the actual LSAT, that's when you start to prepare. So typically what I do with students, when they come to see me is if they have PSAT scores, I typically use those and then what I'll have them do is take a practice AC t test, because for schools in the US that are still accepting scores, all schools will now take SATs or AC t it doesn't matter which one you take. And that used to be different in the past that used to be somewhat regional that the schools took SATs and these ones took AC T but now the ones that are taking them will take either one. And so I usually just have students take up Actors tests often for both of them if they don't have PSAT scores, and decide if there's a test that is easier to prepare for, and often what will happen is one of the scores will be much higher than the other score. And when that's the case, it's a clear cut, go with the one that has the higher score. If the scores are pretty similar to each other, then we decide based on the student's preferences, their schedule, which tests they liked better, and that sort of thing. And I typically, and there are very independence of this, some test prep tutors will have their students take an actual full length real test, I generally don't have students do that I just haven't taken it home because I can get the information that I need. But then once they know which tests they're going to prepare for, then we can really begin preparing an earnest. Okay. Now I remember when I was in school, we did. Like a lot of the kids took Latin so that they could help understand language and put together the vocabulary words, I don't even think down here like we live in Florida. I don't notice any Latin classes. Correct. That that did used to be true. And I took Latin in high school and partly for the same reason, because I heard the same thing. Oh, you need Latin for when you take the LSAT. And some of that is a relic of time because in the 90s. And up until the early 2000s. There was a lot of vocabulary on the LSAT. And then they have redesigned it several times since I've been teaching since 2001. And they're about to they're coming out with a new version in the next year or so. And that will be the fourth time they've changed the test that since I've been teaching it and so Wow. Okay, one of the things they have done is they have progressively taken off the vocabulary off of the test. So in the past, there used to be synonyms and sentence completions and analogies. And there's none of that anymore. There is a little bit of vocabulary mixed in in the reading section and in the English grammar section. But they don't test vocabulary in the same way that they used to. And the AC T doesn't testify at all. Oh, that's very interesting. Okay, so can you tell me just basically, what is it a Reading and Math Type assessment that they do now with both si t and ICT? That so both tests are pretty similar. Now they've been, they've become more similar over the years. And for LSAT, there's a reading comprehension section, which is long stories and questions. There is an English grammar section, which is mostly looking at can you use commas and periods and punctuation and choose phrasing in the correct manner. There. And then there are two math sections on the LSAT, one, you can use a calculator, and one you cannot use a calculator. And that has been a change since about 2016. They put that no calculator section on there. And that comes as a surprise to a lot of students. And it's challenging for a lot of people, especially for high school students, because they've been using calculators for years, and a lot of my students have forgotten their times tables, they've forgotten how to do fractions by hand, they forgotten how to do long division. And so that's on the LSAT. And then the AC T is pretty similar. There's reading comprehension, there's an English grammar section, there's one long maths section which you can use a calculator on. And then the wildcard on the AC T is there's a science section, that there's no direct correlation on the LSAT for the science section on the AC T. But it's kind of an interesting section because it's about science, but you don't really need to know science to do it. Because what they do is they give you six or seven different experiments. And they explain the experiments that give you graphs and charts with the results of the experiments. And it's basically a data interpretation type of section. It's reading data interpretation in the field in the realm of science. And so the the experiments are chemistry experiments, are they they're biology experiments, but you don't have to sit down and learn the periodic table or learn physics formulas. Because that's not that's not the type of science section it is. But that one often, especially when people see it for the first time. My students at me they go what was that? Because it It is strange, but it's definitely learnable once you spend some time with it. Okay, I was gonna say if you have children that are data driven, that like looking at graphs, I wouldn't say that might be an advantage for them to be able to do that test over the LSAT. Yeah, and the LSAT also is a little bit trickier than the AC T especially on the math, the LSAT has its own version of math, and it's not necessarily the way that students learn in school, and you have to be a little bit creative with it. And what I have found is that students who are good at tests tend to be good at both tests. For a lot of students who struggle with tests, the LSAT, especially the math often is very difficult to learn, and the AC t tends to be more straightforward But the timing is harder on it. And so sometimes students can't finish quite all of the questions, because the timing is so much tighter. But if you are a middle level score, if you're not somebody who's trying to get the very top score or a perfect score, it often doesn't matter if you can't get to quite all of the questions, because you aren't going to be able to do all of the questions anyway. Because the test isn't designed to be able to be completed by everybody who takes it. And so, like on the AC T, math, there's 60 questions. And they go into what's called order of difficulty, which means they start easy, and they get progressively harder as you go. And the last time questions, they they've gotten crazy, and they have gotten harder and harder over the years. And I've done this for 22 years, and they have started to put questions in those last 10 that I have never seen before and that I have to go look up when I get a new tests, and I'm probably over it. And if I have to look it up, it means most high school students, there are some high school students who will know at Sure, and but most people will not. And so if they don't get to those last 10 questions, it doesn't matter that much. Because they are so hard. It's unlikely that they were going to get them right anyway. And so something I talk with my students a lot about is where to spend your time and what to spend your time on. Because there's no reason to spend five minutes on a hard question you're gonna miss when you could get to easy questions right in that same time, and easy questions. And hard questions are worth the same amount of points. And schools don't get a breakdown of you got all the hard questions, right, or you got this really easy. All they see is your final score. So the goal is just grab your points where you can, and don't worry about the rest of it. Okay, that. Okay? So that's kind of going along with a strategy that you can use. So can you do you have other strategies that they can use that kids can use when taking either one? Yeah. So part of what is important is realizing that the beginning, understanding really where your level is, and what you should be studying. Because there's so much to study for both of these tests, you can't ever study everything. And occasionally I have students come to me who are very motivated, they're like, I'm going to do all the practice tests, I'm going to learn everything, and I'm gonna get a perfect score. And I can just, I can study my way into a perfect score. And there are a few kids who can, but truthfully, there are limits to where people will score on these tests. And most of the time, wherever people start out out at there is room for improvement for just about every student, for sure. There really is a ceiling of where people will top out. And even for me having done this at 22 years, I can get pretty close to perfect score. But there's typically one or two questions that trip even me up. And I've done this for two decades, right. So figuring out where you are, is a good way to know what to study and how to study. Because if you just a lot of times parents will buy their children's test prep book. And I don't know if you've seen those books, but they're giant the LSAT book is 1300 Pages for mine, the AC T book is about 1000 pages. And I have parents who hang in there a book to their kid, and they see here study this and get good at this test. And I can tell you, some kids will look at it occasionally, there are a few kids who will sit down and do it. But the majority of kids will put that book under their bed, or will end up in their closet or in their car in the cover will get ripped off, and they will never look at it again. And so understanding what to study is important. And if you know that you're not trying to get a 35 or 36 out of 36 on the AC t, you probably don't need to be spending time on the very hardest math problems on the very hardest science problems, you need to be spending your time on the things that you're likely to get right. And with test prep, one of the tricky things is always balancing helping students with skills that they're weak on, but also grabbing points where they can get them because your goal is just get as many points as you can from wherever you can. And some sections are easier to improve than other sections, like the grammar section is typically one of the easier sections to improve. Because it's mostly just a matter of knowing what the rules are. And a lot of students haven't had grammar, a lot of them missed it during COVID. A lot of schools have just straight up, stopped teaching it. And so some of that is just literally learning, here's how you use a comma, here's how you semicolon, here's how you use a dash. And those rules don't change. And so once you know them, there's a formula for solving that section. And so understanding your strengths and weaknesses and where you're likely to get points back and where you should spend your time is really an important strategy. And then also having a plan for it. Because again, like I was telling you if you give a kid a book, most kids are not going to do it. And so it's really important to have your child have some kind of plan before they start. And that might just be okay on Tuesdays and Thursdays I sit down for an hour and I work through these sections or I look at Khan Academy which has free resources for the LSAT or I work with my friends or I work with a tutor, but just for most kids, if they start without a plan, they may have good intentions, but they have so much else to do. They won't do it. Right, right. Is there anything we as parents can do to help our children during this time time. And one of the most helpful things is actually starts way before sophomore or junior year for studying test. And that's making sure that your child is on top of things in general and making sure they do know their basic math skills. And especially with the last few years, because so many students miss so much math, they miss so much English, making sure that your kid does have the the basics in math that they know their timetables that they know how to do, the basic operations of math. And in the past pre COVID, that wasn't as big a deal because most sophomores and juniors had those skills. But the current group of sophomores and juniors missed most of middle school, and they missed a lot of math. And I am seeing that, and it is very hard to catch up with math, once you get to 15 1617, it is easier to catch it now. And so for your listeners who have children who are in middle school, or early high school, that's something I would make sure to check to see if they have those skills, because a lot of parents just don't know that their students have lost the skills or haven't learned them. So that would be the first thing that I would say. And then another thing that's important is determining is really sitting down with your kid and asking them what they're wanting to do and what they're willing to do. And right now, especially a lot of the schools have gone to test optional, which means you do get to choose whether you want to send your scores or not. And what I'm finding with a lot of my students is people have taken that as Oh, we just straight up don't have to take the test anymore. And right right now I'm seeing that from from a lot of my juniors as they're like, Well, I don't have to do it. But it's all test optional. And that really isn't true. There are a lot of schools that have gone to it. Some of that was temporary, because a lot of school said, Okay, we'll do it for three years. And we've already almost gotten to three years. And some schools are going back like MIT just announced that they're going back to taking test scores, they're going to require them they had stopped for a little bit. And some schools also say their tests optional, but it's kind of a name only. And you really need to be submitting scores. And so I always feel like it's better to have something and not need it than to need it and be scrambling at the end. And so, and I have some students who have just straight up said, I am not taking tests, I'm not doing it, I'm only going to apply to test optional schools. And that's fine, that is a totally valid option. But it also, you do need to know that may limit your choices of where you can go to school, potentially. And so understanding early where what kinds of schools kids are wanting to go to and what their goals are. And because if they're wanting to go to a high level school, if they want to go to an Ivy League school, they have to take the test, even some of those still say their test optional, but you have to take it. And so maybe having a conversation around sophomore year of okay, what are your goals? What do you want to do? And what do you want to do about this test, because if you if you are going to take it, you got to you got to plan for it and put in the time and energy and some kids just won't and that's fine. They they have as a 15 or 16 year old, I feel like students have some autonomy, and they get to they get to have input into that. It's their future. And so so you have to see where they're on board with that. But things are also changing so much that it's hard to tell what's going to be happening in the next couple of years with these tests and with admissions. But having a plan and knowing what your child wants to do and is willing to do I think is really important too. Okay. And what what do we do for the our child if they take a test and they just don't do well on it? Is there anything? I mean, obviously, prepping, practicing. But is there anything that you would recommend for someone who's struggling? Yeah. So a lot of times, you have to look at why people have scored not as well as they'd hoped. And if it's just a straight up preparation issue that they didn't put any prep into it. Time and prep can help. And there are some students who can work through the material themselves. But as I was saying earlier, most students it is really hard for them to do it, even if they have the motivation, just a sports and music, school and applications and college visits is really challenging to do it. And so there are a lot of options for students who are wanting to prep their group classes. And there's in person group classes at companies like Princeton Review or Kaplan and there are online classes now. There are there's online tutoring, there's individual tutoring, there's individual in person tutoring, and any of those options tend to be good, I have a little bit of a bias towards private tutoring, because that's what I do. And I used to teach group classes when I taught at Princeton Review My, my first few years, I taught those group classes. But what I know is that the way that I was taught to teach them was pretty much straight down the middle. And so the kids who were very advanced, were bored. The kids who were struggling, were confused. And the kids in the middle, were bored, because it's boring to sit for three hours in the class. And it's just, it's hard when it's not individualized like that. And one of the advantages of doing individual tutoring is that you can really focus in on what the student needs. So like, with my students, there's certain things that I cover with everybody, the first few lessons are the same, because the strategies don't change for for students. But after that, we're free to focus on both the things that are challenging and the places where they're likely to get points back. Okay. And one other thing to say about that with the low scores, sometimes if they did spend a lot of time prepping, and they were getting high scores on practice tests, before they took the test, that says that possibly there may be an anxiety issue that's interfering, it also may mean that they were sick, or they had stayed up too late. A lot of times, I have students who go to take the test the next morning after getting back at 11 o'clock from the football game, and they've been traveling the football players and the cheerleaders and the people who went to watch the game. I'm from Texas. So football is a big thing there. And I always have I say, can you get a good night's sleep on Friday night before the test and they go, no, because we're going for hours out of town for football, we'll be back. So sometimes there are just weird things that happen during the test. I've had people who have gotten sick during the test or somebody has thrown up or the fire alarm has gone off. And so when something like that happens, the first thing I always ask students is what was going on the day that you took the test, because sometimes it's very clear, oh, there were external circumstances that affected it. Right. Sometimes what I find too is students is if they are scoring much lower than you would expect based on how they've performed in school. And historically on other tests, sometimes there are actually other issues going on, there may be an undiagnosed learning difference, or there may be some attention issues or anxiety issues. And so sometimes I do have conversations with parents about having their children tested for those types of issues, because often they have gone under the radar for a long time. And this is often the first time that students can not work, they they can't compensate for it. Because they might have discovered skills or strategies in school or extra credit or working with their teacher. And they've kind of maneuver their way around those issues. And this is kind of the first time sometimes that students have run up against something, they just can't maneuver around. And so there's also the possibility that there may be something else going on. And those are hard conversations to have with parents. But I always feel if something's going on, it's there, whether you name it or not. And if there is something there, to me, it's better to know, so you can do something about it. And also, if your child needs time accommodations for the test, you have to have paperwork or documentation for that. And that documentation can take a long time to get into place. And so starting earlier on that rather than later and trying to scramble at the end, is an easier thing to do. And so that's interesting, you say that, because I just interviewed someone on anxiety and ADHD. And there was a discussion about ADHD and how it can be difficult to diagnose if the hyperactivity is not part of it. So more like Edie, and how you may not even see it until high school. So that's, that's great that you said that, because that could be something that someone needs is just a little bit of extra time. And the extra time can make a significant difference for a lot of students. And sometimes I have students or parents say to me, they're like, Well, I don't want the stigma of doing this, or I don't, you know, there's this idea that there's a stigma around having an extended time or having a diagnosis. And there there is some of that in public opinion. But who cares. And I don't say that lightly, because I know it's a big deal. But if it's something that will help your child and they are legitimately qualified for it, why not use it, it's not cheating. And for a lot of students, it can make a significant difference in where they might be able to get into college, and that will affect futures and, and even though I said at the beginning, it's not the entire thing. It is still important. They these tests are important, unfortunately, and I don't I like to keep them because I think they're fun, but as a tool for society. They've got problems and I'm the first to acknowledge that but they are still part of the system at the moment. Yes, yes. That's the truth. Okay, so you had mentioned private working with someone privately Is that what you do and you do online and in person, I would assume or so, I do do individual tutoring. And right now I'm all online, I was in person for years up until the pandemic. And right before the pandemic, I decided, Oh, I'm gonna take my business online. And then I started to put some things in place. And I thought it would take three to five years to get everybody online, but three months in a pandemic, and I was online. So I work with students now all over the country, which has been really great because I can, I had been based locally in Texas, and I've got students on both coasts and all over the place. And so I do mostly individual, I go back and forth about doing group classes, but what I know is there's power in individual work, and I love the relationships that I can form with my students, because when we're working one on one, I have a few minutes to ask them, okay, you know, what's happened since I saw you last, and I meet their dogs and their cats on Zoom, I know about their sports. And to me, that's a really important part of the process, because one of the benefits of using an outside person is the outside person is not their parents. And, and so they will listen to me and they aren't, we just we don't have the battle of wills that, that often children get into it, their parents about these things. And they, they generally want to do well. And they they want to do well for me and make sure they do their homework. And so it's just it's different than with parents saying, Hey, did you did you do your digital New York, New York because they weren't. And then everybody fights and then everybody's unhappy. Some people do see good success in group classes, and they will work for a lot of people. Some people, though, will find that individual is just better. Okay. So how can we find you? How can we work with you? And where are you located in the way of, you know, online, in the internet, my business name is called in house Test Prep. and my website is just ww.in house, I n h o u s e test prep all one word.com. And on my website, I do have some free guide Parent Guides for the SSAT in the ice for the younger kids. And then for the SATs, AC T. And those are available for download from my website. And then I've also got information about testing and testing strategies. I have a blog with some information on that page as well. Okay, perfect. Is there anything if you could leave our listeners with one thing to help them with test prep? What would that be? I would say, probably still keep it all in perspective of what it means it is information, but it's just a piece of information. It is not a measure of self worth. And starting early is a good thing too. And there. I do tell parents don't start too too early. I have sometimes parents who call me an eighth and ninth grade, their children are in eighth and ninth grade and they want to start SATs and AC T prep. And I tell them no, because there is no reason to start preparing for the LSAT, in the eighth grade, you will burn out by the time you've spent four years. And with the test changing, I don't even know what's going to be on the test of four years anyway. And so with that being said, it's still important, as we talked earlier about maintaining your skills along the way. And one of the most important things I could probably tell parents is make sure your kids are reading. Because especially with phones and tablets, a lot of kids are not spending any time reading for fun or reading for leisure. And the reading comprehension section is the hardest one to change. Because by the time you make it to 11th grade, your reading skills are largely your reading skills and your reading speed are somewhat sad. And it is difficult to change that. So start your kids reading early and make sure they know their tax tables. Perfect. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day for this. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to our podcast. I hope that you found this information valuable. And I hope that you were able to immediately use some of the information that was provided. Make sure to go check out our show notes for all of the links that we discussed today. As a mom, I understand that at times you can feel alone and are looking for that sense of community. Here at formset. 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