Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
Somehow we went from our first year of homeschooling him in first grade to having a high school sophomore in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, I have to think about college, scholarships, transcripts, and college testing. I am not sure how time went so quickly, but I am grateful there are people and products out there designed to help me through this process. This month we have been reviewing the ACT Mom Online Class, a product from ACT Mom designed to help him prepare to take the ACT.
ACT MOM Overview
This online course is broken down into the four categories of the ACT:
-Science
-Math
-English
-Reading
Inside of each category are multiple lessons breaking it down into different topics. My son decided to do science first. There was an introduction to the course at the beginning (it is available in each category but only needs to be watched once.)
ACT Science Prep
Then there were seven sections. The sections were fairly short and he mostly completed a section each time he did a session. The first one was about how the science test worked and test taking strategies. There was a section about outside information questions, which are the science based questions that are testing your prior science knowledge.
Some examples of the test taking tips were reading the questions first to help you find the right information in the reading and stay hydrated, drink water and have protein bar in between the 2nd and 3rd sections
There were quizzes that checked for understanding of this material. Those were completed and graded online.
The rest of the science sections were broken down by the five sections that will be on the test. Each section had a science based reading selection and a set of questions. There was a 10 Minute video with each one that went over what section was about and then a timer for you to complete the section.
The course came with a three ring binder that had laminated sample answer sheets, graph paper, and other materials. When you came to these sections of the science lessons, you fill out the answers on the laminated answer sheets with a dry erase marker. This gives students a chance to get familiar with the layout of the answer sheets.
Students would answer questions for that section while the timer ran. They had 6-8 questions per section, and then there was a 2nd 4-5 minute video that explained the answers and where the answers were found.
Test Prep Overview
The other categories were set up similarly, with each one being broken up into different sections. For the math there were explanations of various math concepts with the digital quizzes and then at the end there is a practice ACT section. For that one she did videos that explain the correct answers and broke it into 10 questions per video so that you only had to go back and look at ones that you had trouble understanding.
Final Thoughts
Overall, while my son wouldn’t tell you that he enjoyed ACT Mom Online Class, he did feel like it helped him have a better understanding of what to expect when he takes the ACT. He felt like it was going to help him be more prepared and consequently score better. We plan for him to finish the program over the course of this semester prior to taking the ACT next year.
We do recommend this program for any high school student who is preparing for the ACT. I think it would be somewhat helpful for the SAT as well but it really targets the ACT set up and style.
Many of the Review Crew families took a look at ACT Mom Online Class and started with different sections. So be sure to click on the graphic below to see what they thought.
The Schoolin' Swag Blog 