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In the current No Child Left Behind education environment, test taking is more important than ever. A must for parents helping their children understand the important thinking strategies in all test-taking areas, Gruber’s Essential Guide to Test Taking: Grades 6-9 helps them realize their child’s true potential.

Using the exclusive Gruber methods, this book will give parents and teachers strategies to “nip in the bud” any faulty thinking approaches when it comes to education and testing, and enforce the correct approaches.

Gruber’s methods are a true confidence developer for children. Parents often claim when working with these books with their children that they wish they would have been exposed to this material when they were in school.

“His methods make the questions seem amazingly simple to solve.”
—Library Journal

“Gary Gruber is the most prominent guru of test preparation.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Dr. Gruber is recognized nationally as the leading expert on the SAT and originator of the critical thinking skills necessary for use on standardized tests. His results have been lauded throughout the country and his personal presentation of his methods spreads 'contagious enthusiasm' like an epidemic with his audiences.”
—PBS

About the Author

Dr. Gary R. Gruber

Gary R. Gruber, Ph.D., is recognized nationally as the leading expert on the SAT, test-taking methods, and critical thinking skills. His books on test taking and critical thinking skills have sold more than seven million copies. Visit www.drgarygruber.com.

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Table of Contents
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Introduction to Parents
A Word About the Psychology of Working with Your Child
What Parents Should Know About Standardized Tests
Four General Test-Taking Skills

VERBAL STRATEGIES
Analogies
Analogy Strategy: Always Put Analogies in Sentence Form
Most Common Types of Analogies
Practice Exercises and Explanatory Answers

Vocabulary
Vocabulary Strategy 1: Learn Prefixes and Roots
Vocabulary Strategy 2: Learn Suffixes
Essential Word List for Grades 6, 7, 8, 9

Sentence Completions
Sentence Completion Strategy 1: Try All of the Choices
Sentence Completion Strategy 2: Look for Clues and Key Words
Sentence Completion Exercises and Explanatory
Answers

Reading Comprehension (Two Strategies)
Reading Passages, Questions, and Explanatory Answers

Writing Ability
Spelling
Punctuation and Capitalization
Grammar and Correct Usage
Choosing the Right Word
Diction, Style, and Sentence Structure
Logic and Organization

MATH STRATEGIES
A Note to Parents

Basic Math Strategies
Math Strategy 1: Know How to Approach Solutions to Math Questions
Math Strategy 2: Use Math Symbols for Words
Math Strategy 3: Know When and How to Approximate
Math Strategy 4: Reduce or Simplify Before Calculating
Math Strategy 5: Start with Last Choice When Testing Choices
Math Strategy 6: You Don't Always Need a Complete Solution
Math Strategy 7: Know How to Work with Problems Dealing with Averages
Math Strategy 8: Label Sides, Angles, Etc., with Numbers or Letters
Math Strategy 9: Subtract Knowns from Knowns to Get Unknowns

Quantitative Comparison
Quantitative Comparison Strategy 1: Cancel Quantities Common Both Columns
Quantitative Comparison Strategy 2: To Simplify, You Can Multiply, Divide, Add, or Subtract the Same Number in Both Columns
Quantitative Comparison Strategy 3: Use Common Sense to Answer Questions
Quantitative Comparison Strategy 4: Try Numbers for Variables/Try to Get Different Comparisons
Math Refresher/Review (Essential Math Skills)
Math Words, Concepts, and Rules Your Child Should Know
Math Shortcuts Your Child Should Know
The Thirty-two Basic Math Problems for Grades 6, 7, 8, 9

About the Author