ACT Discover

Most of you have heard of the ACT. It's that scary test you have to take toward the end of high school that seems to hold the key to your future success in college.

I've always feared the ACT for my children. We have spent the first 12 years learning things as works best for each individual child. Doing things differently, as best suits each child. But before they can go on to college they must pass through this scary test. Well it turns out the ACT people have some really amazing tools to make this transition much less daunting.

I was sent several items by the ACT people that I'll be reviewing over the coming months, but the first is the ACT Discover.

DISCOVER is a premier Internet-based career guidance system that helps parents help their children learn more about themselves, explore career options, and plan for the future.

It starts by taking your high school student through a rigorous online questionnaire that, when finished will show the student his academic bents, and based on that, career fields that would best suite those bents. But it does not stop there. My older son has taken these types of assessments, and really once he had the 'you're best for ________ type of work.' he was left there. The ACT Discover takes it further. From there the ACT Discover lets you check over the various career fields it suggests in some depth. With this information in mind, the student can then see what a good course of study would be for him to make in into the suggested careers.

Personally, I think the extra steps are what make the ACT Discover useful. As the parents of two teenage boys, I've noticed that it is sometimes hard for them to see how to get from where they are now, to what they want in the future. The path from here to there is fuzzy. And we all know that a directionless teenager is a recipe for disaster.

Both of my boys know where they are going and what is necessary to get there. They both have very specific career plans and the ACT Discover just reiterated to them they were on the right path and then gave them some further ideas on how they might accomplish their goals.

I think this is a great program and I recommend it.

Price: $19.95 for a three-month license, $24.95 for a six-month license.

You can go here to find out more about the ACT Discover program and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!