I'm home schooled and haven't handwritten in 4 years, but I need to take the SATS in a week. What do I do?

Question

Am I screwed or is there something I can do about it? Or should I just start practicing.. think there's enough time? Otherwise I'll be just sitting there printing out "t.. h... e... r... e...."

Answer 1

Just spend the time that you would otherwise spend on the internet on practicing your handwriting and it'll come back soon enough.

Answer 2

Just write every day. Build it up so that your hand doesn't cramp up.

Answer 3

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/lo...

Apparently this problem has nothing to do with being homeschooled.  Public schools are not requiring cursive and teaching students at university have frequently not even been taught to teach cursive handwriting.  

Do not give up.  This is just an issue of applying yourself and practising.  Set up a time schedule of practise.   Write essays at home for 1/2 an hour at a time.  Have your parents think up some prompt questions, or use prompts from the SAT prep guides in the library or on line.  Then just practise, practise, practise.  Don't give up!  You are not alone in this problem and rather than looking to assign blame----take the bull by the horns and "get 'er done."

Curious:    Have you been homeschooled your entire school career or were you ever in public school?

Answer 4

I dont know much about SATs but do you HAVE to take it in a week?? What is so terrible if you got into college a little later in your life? Practice your handwriting and then take the SATs. That is if your handwriting truly matters on your SATs. I suspect if you have an exceptionally immature handwriting (due to lack of practice) that may make a bad impression, but i dont know.

You brought up an interesting point. My son likes to write stories, and i encourage him to write it by hand in his notebook. He says "Why cant i just type it??" And i say "I think it's important to practice your handwriting." But i've been sort of questioning the validity of this in this age of computer technology. After reading your post, now i know why i think it's important for kids to sometimes pick up a pen!

Answer 5

Guess what!!!  Good news for you.

I recently saw a news report that many colleges are not requiring SATS or ACTS.

Check this out:

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/artic...

Answer 6

Have you ever taken a standardized test? they usually say to to write to far toward the edge, use a #2 pencil, and only write in the spaces provided.

For purposes other than the SATS, perhaps you should have taken initiative to handwrite sometimes at length during the last four years. You handwriting is probobly terrible, or below grade at least.

Answer 7

Well, start now. Even if you just spend 15 minutes a day working on your handwriting, in seven days, you'll have spent an hour and forty-five minutes solely on improving your handwriting.

As long as it's legible, you're fine.

EDIT: A few tips:

Don't hold the pencil too tightly. Your hand will cramp up really fast if you do.

Try to use the muscles in your forearm to help guide the pencil, instead of trying to draw each shape with your fingers. Again, it's a good way to avoid hand cramps. It's also a bit complicated and you might not be able to get it down in a week.

You might find a pencil gripper useful. Personally, I prefer the big triangular ones. They make it much easier to grip and write. It will also be easier to control if you're not used to a pencil.

Don't stress too much about spacing. Just make sure nothing overlaps, and that nothing looks like a separate word.

Don't do anything too fancy with your letters.

Don't stress about consistency. Each letter doesn't have to be the same height every time. It just has to be recognizable as the same letter in each sentence.

If you're having a lot of trouble, write in capital letters. I know a few people who do that and did fine on the SAT. If it makes it more legible, do it.

Remember, the SAT people know that you're a nervous teenager who's writing a first draft, with a time limit. They're not expecting Proust.

Answer 8

You can't simply forget how to hand write. It's like riding a bike once you can do it. You surely know what letters look like. If the problem is that you write too slowly, that's easy to fix. Do it the way children practice writng. Get out a book (something interesting) and oen it to a random page. Get a piece of paper and a number 2 pencil and copy what's written on the page. Use a stopwatch to time yourself, and try to go faster and faster each time you do it while still keeping it neat. If neatness is a problem as well, go to walmart and get one of those handwriting books that children use for tracing letters and trace SLOWLY until the movements are second natue. Once you can draw the letters perfectly without the dotted line to trace on, start working on speed using the method above. If comfort is a problem as well, you can start with something very smooth like a dry erase marker on a white board. Then move on to a magic marker on paper, then a pen, then a pencil.  Move gradually from one to the other as one gets comfortable3, and if all else fails, you are allowed to take one of those rubber pencil grips with you to the test and slip it on to your pencil. Take a break from some of your other subjects and work on this consistently. Do handwriting for a half hour to an hour every day until you see improvement, then continue practicing until it's time for the test. Good luck!

Answer 9

I agree with nrassm, you clearly know English!  :-)  That is a plus.  You know how to "write" so this is clearly an issue of handwriting and handwriting only....which btw, for you naysayers, is not a sign for lack of intelligence.

This may require some "pride" swallowing but I would download or purchase a basic handwriting book.  If you spend just a few hours practicing between now and your test, you'll be good to go.  Opt for 4th or 5th grade levels though so you can work on smaller cursive.  

Keep us posted on how well the SAT's go for you.  :-)

Answer 10

Do you mean you haven't written by hand? You clearly know English, so you must have learned it before.

Try practicing all the letters first, then single words, then sentences, then more complex sentences. All the while try to increase your speed.

You'll be surprised how fast it'll come back.

Answer 11

Practice, practice and practice.

I wouldn't worry too much about neatness or style -- just as long as it's readable; no point writing the best answers in the world if no-one can read them! -- but concentrate on going for sheer stamina.

If you really haven't bothered with hand writing anything for all that time, chances are you're going to find it pretty tough going on your wrist. You should be prepared for your wrist to ache/hurt like ******* after all this time.

You might want to consider taking some ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatories into the exam room with you - that's the main tip given to students if they're not accustomed to writing by hand esp when you're going up against the clock at the same time, by the uni attended by my older brother and sister.

Answer 12

Ask your parents, "Why the h**l they home-schooled you?"  Good luck rookie.

Answer 13

there's still time.. you can still practice..

Answer 14

like cursive?

just write normal letters and connect them. they dont judge your cursive. all the instructors or whatever they're called i had when i took the SATs just said bs it if you have to. thats not anything to stress over

Answer 15

Most of the SAT involves filling in little bubbles.

On the questions that do require a written anser, such as the essay questions, just print.  As long as its legible it won't matter, what will matter is the content of your essay questions.

You could practice by writing a few letters and practice essays by hand, but I seriously doubt that you forgot how to make your letters.