ACT & College Preparation Course for the Christian Student Review!

By Upatdawn @lisakeva

ACT & College Preparation Course for the Christian Student
A few months back, I reviewed the SAT College Preparation Course for the Christian Student from New Leaf Press.  Thinking that the ACT version would be nearly the same, I figured there wouldn't be much to write about.
I was wrong!
The author, Dr. James Stobaugh, not only intends for this book to be used as a preparation tool to score well, but also to prepare the student for life's journey.
"Come to Mt. Moriah, young people, where God demands everything and nothing must be taken for granted.  The ACT is a great opportunity, but first, join me on Mt. Moriah!
Hebrews 11:17 (the first commentary on Genesis 22) says, "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.  He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son."  This man Abraham was called by God into the Promised Land.  And he went.  He was promised many descendants.  And he waited - even into his nineties.  And God gave him a son...but now he must go to Mt. Moriah.

Dr. William Willimon tells of a congregant who said to him one day, "I am looking for another church because when I look at that God, the God of Abraham, I feel I'm near a real God, not the sort of dignified business-like...God we chatter about here on Sunday mornings.  Abraham's God could blow a man to bits, give and then take a child, ask for everything from a person and then want more.  I want to know that God."

Do you know that God?  A god who means business?  Not some existential reality grounded in warm fuzzy feelings, but a God who brings chills up your spine.  Not the God whom we meet on the silver screen, full of maudlin aphorisms, who can barely manage happy endings.

No, the God of Mt. Moriah is the God Abraham meets in Genesis 22, the God Moses meets in Exodus 3 in the bush that is on fire but does not burn, the God who does not make polite conversation.  This is the God who struck Annais and Sappirah dead for their lying and intrigue.  This is the God who Abraham meets this day.  This is the God who is leading you in this new century, in the post-Christian world.  He means business, young people.

This is the God you will meet in this ACT preparation book..."

Each of the 50 lessons within this ACT preparation course includes:  Devotional that can be journaled, Test-taking Insights, Test Practices, Math, Vocabulary, Reading, English, Writing and Science.  This book also has a through explanation of what the ACT is, what the test measures and how it compares to the SAT which serve to complement the study materials.
Ideally, this course is to be used everyday for about 50 days (1 lesson per day) OR for a year (1 lesson per week) depending on when the desired testing date is scheduled.
As in the SAT review, reading is emphasized as the best way to build vocabulary.  Students are encouraged to read 50 pages a day from books suggested on the supplied reading lists.
Now that I own both books, I feel very well equipped and confident in helping my soon-to-be-high schooler.  Our next step is to figure out his target colleges and their admissions test requirements!
I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.This post written and property of Homeschool Circus and can be found at: www.upatdawnreadytowork.blogspot.com . If you are reading this from a source other than www.upatdawnreadytowork.blogspot.com you are reading a scraped copy!