Long story short, every student should start preparing for the ACT and SAT in middle school.  Better yet, they could even start in elementary school. I know how crazy that sounds, so let me explain.

Grammar, reading comprehension, and vocabulary make up most, if not all, of the non-math sections of both the ACT and SAT.  This means that 50-75% of your score is directly related to those three skills. We get asked all the time about the way to improve in those sections, and the best answer is simply to read a lot. 

Reading is kind of a magical ACT and SAT trick since it simultaneously improves all three of those skills at once. You might not notice it, but every time you read, your vocab grows, your reading speed and comprehension increases, and your grammar naturally improves as well.  The only downside of this strategy is that it’s a long-term solution, not a short-term one. If you wait until you’re a junior or a senior to really start reading, it’s way too late. You can’t cram years of reading experience into one or two weeks before you take the ACT or SAT.  

So that’s where elementary and middle school students come in. The single most important thing those students can be doing to set themselves up to be better students and test takers is to read.  What should they read? It doesn’t really matter! All reading is good reading, so kids should try and find books they genuinely like. This way, reading isn’t a chore but is instead something that might even be fun.  

It’s important for parents, guardians, teachers, etc to really encourage kids to read and help them find books they’re actually interested in.  Their grades, vocab, grammar, speaking skills, reading comprehension, reading speed, and, yes, their ACT and SAT scores will all thank you.