Note: This post is one in a series on how we prepared our homeschooled children to take various College Level Examination Program tests. The introductory post for this series explains why we take these tests, what parts of the preparation worked for us, and what parts of the preparation did not work.
The CLEP test: Freshman College Composition without the optional essay.
Primary study materials:
- CLEP Freshman College Composition by REA which includes three full length practice tests on an accompanying CD.
Secondary study materials:
Tertiary influences:
- Massive amounts of reading aloud, both parent and student performing the reading
- Sonlight Core Curricula: Core 3, Core 4, Core 5, Core 6, and Core 7
Discussion:
I think the kids performance on this test was more a reflection of their learning over the whole course of their home and school experience than any targeted study they performed to prepare for it. We were fairly systematic in the way we taught grammar, composition, and vocabulary during primary school. As part of those studies, the kids performed many formal and informal writing exercises. That meant that the preparation for this test was more a matter of a review than new learning. Notice that virtually all the secondary and tertiary materials listed above are common elements of many homeschool programs. These are the specific materials Kelly and Christian completed before starting test preparation with the REA book, but I am confident that Abeka, Bob Jones, Calvert, and many other programs would provide more than a sufficient base from which to excel on this test, too.
The REA book was a great tool to help coordinate the test preparation. REA recommends that students first take a practice test to understand where they need to concentrate their studies. Both of the kids passed their first test with scores high enough to get college credit, but with a less than comfortable margin for error. As this was the first test for each of them, we gave them a specific procedure to follow in their first pass through the book. That procedure was the following:
- Step 1 – Read two to four pages of the book (depending on their other homeschool workload) and hand write notes on each item that might appear on a test.
- Step 2 – Type the notes from the previous day into the computer.
- Step 3 – Study the notes that were typed the previous day.
After they worked their way through the book, they took a second practice test. The second test identified weak areas that they then reviewed for a week using their notes. They repeated that procedure with the third test and for a repeat ofall three practice tests. After that they took the test.
Results:
Both the kids took this test when they were thirteen years old. Kelly was in the eighth grade when she took it and had a scaled score that, according to the REA book, would give her an A if the course were graded. Christian was in the seventh grade when he took the test and also received an A score according to the scaled score in the REA book.
What we would do differently:
After studying for several tests, Kelly has begun to use 3×5 cards both to take notes and to create flash cards. She got good results on her recent CLEP Introduction to Psychology test using this method. The REA US History I CLEP study book had a glossary at the back. She believes if she could have included the glossary definitions in her flash cards, she might have improved here score. Because many of the other REA books do not feature a glossary she builds her base set of flash cards by using the boldface words, historical figures, dates, and definitions she can find in the REA book. She is scheduled to take the US History II test next month and the Sociology test the month after that, so we will report both her thoughts on how this method helped her study and the effect it had on her scores.
This is great Dad!!! But I’m afraid that only the US History book has the glossary at the back. It also doesn’t include everything that I need to know for the test, just a few of the main things 🙁 If all of the books had it though, it would definitely come in handy! Right now I am simply writing down the boldface words and their definitions for CLEP Intro. Sociology.
So, you have to study a little more than just the glossary? Surprising! 🙂 Did the Psychology have a glossary? I will add “if it exists” to the text of this post.
Note: I changed it. Does the last section read a little better, Kelly?
Daaaaad. Don’t be sarcastic. 😛
I don’t think Psych. does…. actually I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t! And yes the last section reads better! 🙂
To clarify a little, the method I talked about in the last section was the use of flashcards. The idea being that a good base from which to start making flashcards is by putting whatever glossary is available on flashcards, then adding other important found in the text. If no glossary is available, your method of using boldface words, historical figures, dates, and definitions from the text works well to establish a base set of cards, too.
I liked that. I think I’ll add it to the post, too.
my comment yesterday must not have gone through….so I will paraphrase if I can remember….
The Fresh comp test is really just a review of what any good homeshool program could cover in gradeschool. Have kids take practice test right off the bat then hone skills in areas where they are weak, take test again, hone further, take 3rd practice, then take the real deal.
Does the practice procedure cycle, meaning, on the second day when they are typing in their notes from the previous day, they continue learning new stuff on the second day also. Then on the 3rd day, they learn new stuff again, type on the computer their notes from the previous day and study the notes that they typed yesterday? Am I making sense?
Yes to all of this Ruthie, but I have been getting some push back from the kids on the three day note taking cycle. We are negotiating through that right now. Kelly seems to think it is easier for her to study if she goes straight to 3×5 note cards then studies them as flash cards. Kelly did exactly the procedure you described for Freshman English Composition and US History I. She did great on the Composition and fine on the US History, but not as well as we would have liked so she changed the procedure some for her Introduction to Psychology test. We are refining it a little more for US History II and Introduction to Psychology. I will try to describe that in some detail as I continue with the descriptions.
I think part of the performance differences are a result of the fact that some of the tests are easier than others, some require mostly memorization while others require performance of procedures to solve problems, etc., etc. So I think it is necessary to prepare for the different tests using different methods.
For now, as an intermediate step, Kelly is going to take her notes into a notebook, then make the flash cards from her notes rather than have her type them into the computer. After that, she will work the flash cards each day for the cards from the previous several days. When she takes a practice test, she will select out those cards where she needs work, add new cards that will help her answer missed questions, and study those cards most heavily.
She did it more that way with the Introduction to Psychology test. We are refining that now. Does that make sense?
Thanks very much for this detailed information. With Michaela, I need to keep her challenged. She’s ahead, I believe, grade-wise, and this kind of work will keep her ahead.
With Joseph, all language (speaking, then reading, then spelling and writing) has been so difficult I am just trying to make sure he has all the basics down before graduation. I feel confident he can “catch up” at some point, but these study tips are a great help to me in finding his weak areas.
Lynn
Do you have advice for me? I have a 12 yr. old and plan on teaching her in peparation for the composition and literature clep test this homeschool year.
Hello Lisa,
Both the kids passed the composition CLEP test when they were 13 years old. I do not see any reason why a 12 year old could not do the same. I think most could pass this test rather easily after a solid foundation in reading and writing with special attention to the specifics that show up on the test from a CLEP preparation textbook.
As for the literature preparation, we did not do that. Kelly to an English Literature sequence at the community college and did well, but I am not sure how we would prepare for CLEP because we did not do that.