Home-school notes: Preliminary SAT, set for this month, is valuable test

Written by Kristen Kindoll | For The Tennessean 

The Preliminary SAT is offered only once a year, during October. It is co-sponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corp. The NMSC is a program designed to award top scorers scholarship money toward college.
The PSAT provides practice for the SAT. (Many colleges require either SAT or ACT scores as part of admittance.) The PSAT measures critical reading, problem-solving and writing skills. The test will evaluate areas that need improvement.
Students become familiar with the general question structure of the tests. If qualified and have met the NMSC’s requisites, the test taker will be considered a National Merit Scholar. All winning finalists are eligible for $2,500, awarded on a state basis. Corporate and college merit bases are additional prize options. Students on a four-year high school plan qualify for the National Merit Scholarship their junior year. Students on a three-year plan would qualify their sophomore year.
Home-schoolers should contact a principal or counselor at their local public or independent high school to take the PSAT. The best time to do so would have been before October, but it’s probably not too late. All scores will be sent directly to the home address of the home-schooler. On the basic information answer sheet, the state’s home-school code must be entered. Tennessee’s state code is 994399. The test fee is $15.
The 2011 PSAT national exam will be offered on two dates: Oct. 12 and 15. The test is administered only through high schools and not through test centers. Online registration for the PSAT is not available. The student’s test score is valid for only one year. If an illness prevents the student from attending, there is a process that can be implemented. A letter must be written to NMSC, no later than March 1, requesting make-up procedures.
For more information about the PSAT and SAT, check out www.collegeboard.org. The National Merit website is www.nationalmerit.org.
Home-schoolers can save on Disney on Ice: 100 Years of Magic. The ice spectacular will be Thursday-Sunday at Bridgestone Arena. The school performance will be 10:30 a.m. Friday . All tickets are $12 per person.
If a home-school group can get together 20 children, two free teachers’ tickets will be included. Check out http://groupticketsplus.com to watch Mickey and the whole gang re-creating major Disney movie moments.
For more information, email nashville@groupticketsplus.com or call 1-888-305-9550.
Contact home-school mom Kristen Kindoll of Brentwood at homeschool@kindoll.org.