Aug082017

Discover How Better Prep Leads To Better Scores On The SAT And ACT Tests

If you are getting ready to take the SAT or the ACT test then you may be wondering if there’s anything you can do to prepare for it in a way that will help you score better. For a long time, the College Board continued to express the idea that prepping for these types of tests will do little to boost your overall score. Despite that fact, there were many organizations that sprung up that offered students the opportunity to go through a preparatory course.

Over time it was found that the students who went through such courses did indeed score better overall. It is because of that fact that the College Board then changed it standing and now says that such prep can indeed improve scores. In fact, the college board says that preparing for the SAT over 20 hours or more can improve your average score by 115 points.

In some testing that was done, it was found that over 5% of those who prepared would actually have an increase of over 200 points on their SATs and other similar tests. While the overall average was 115 points increase for those that put in at least 20 hours, even those that put in less, such as 8 to 10 hours, often saw an increase of 80 or 90 points increase on their overall score.

Changes In The SAT

According to the College Board, the newly-designed SAT centers around questions and answers that are based on what high school students are actually learning in the classroom. A lot of the things that threw students off in the past are no longer part of it. In the past, if a student answered a question wrong they would have points taken from their score but now wrong answers do not count against the student.

These changes mean that students are allowed to guess, and if their answer is right, it helps them, and if it’s wrong, it doesn’t count against them. The test focuses on those things that they’re learning in school and for that reason, students that prepare for the test will likely see increases in their final score.

Powerful Prep

This organization helps students to increase their SAT and ACT scores. The company was founded by Matt Larriva who graduated from the Wharton School of Business Economics and he used his prior work experience to help formulate an ideal Prep School to help students. On average, the students of the school increase their overall score by 200 points on the SAT test. They average as much as 3.6 points increase on the ACT test.

There are students that are considered exceptional that actually increased their SAT points by over 500 points and those that increased their ACT points by over nine points. While these are exceptions to the rule it clearly indicates how this type of preparation can help to substantially increase students overall score on these tests.

Getting into the right College can make a substantial difference over the lifetime of the student. Scoring well on entrance exam test play a significant role in helping the student to get into the College of their choice. If you’re a parent or student, go to powerfulprep.com and see how they can help.

Dec232016

Music Room Floor Plans That Encourage Creativity

Do you aspire to be a big music star someday? Live the dream by decorating and arranging your music room to help get your creative juices going. Here are some ways that you can do your music room.

You can copy a successful artist’s music room plan. For example, Adam Levine’s music room in his house is simple. On one side of the room, he’s got grand piano with the seating and keys facing the wall. His guitars are not hung but are on guitar stands surrounding the piano. He seems to like his instruments close together in case some inspiration comes to him that needs to be on piano or guitar. In front of the piano sits a massive red and round velvety dimpled stool. Album covers are strewn about on the floor and on the stool. He has large heavy curtains that have the ability to block out the sunlight in the room. An amplifier is close by in case he wants to plug in one of his guitars. Above the moveable amplifier is a large framed mirror that makes the room look large. Behind the piano hangs a work of art. Beneath the piano, lampstand, and stool, a large rug is placed.

Another cool music room floor plan is to use the living room to double as an area for creative outlet and a regular sitting room. You can create big recessed picture frames that can hold and store your guitars and not pictures. They can be hung in the living room making the guitars double as decorative pieces. They can be taken down easily when you want to play.

If you want to have a rustic looking music area in your basement (if you have a basement), you can frame wooden slats to one side of the wall with a few inches in between each slates to create a barn feel You can hang white curtains from the ceiling on each side in front of this wooden wall and cinch them in the middle. You can strategically place lighting on this wall or have fairy lights on this wall for a real romantic feel. You can set up your stool in front of this along with your microphone and have your instruments surrounding you. It might also be good for the acoustics in the room to install a hardwood floor. You can hire a timber floor refinishing company to help you do this. It will also give your music room a country look.

Dec192016

The Benefits Of The Arts Like Music And Painting

When schools are threatened with budget cuts, usually the first thing to go are the Music and Arts programs. It is interesting that they are often not as highly regarded compared to other subjects like Maths and Language Arts. However, the Music and Arts programs in schools are vital to the development of children’s minds and should not be on the top of the list to be cut when schools budgets are too tight.

If you interview several children and ask them what some of their most favourite subjects in school are, likely they will tell you that it’s either Music or Art class. Some of them may even have the lofty goal of becoming professional musicians or painters some day. Children look forward to coming to school every day because they have fun subjects like Music or Art in their schedule. They get to work with their hands and minds as those subjects foster their creativity. They will be able to see the fruits of their labours right away. They to work in harmony (even literally) with each other through the playing musical instruments as a group or by doing art project collaborations. Through the skills learned in these subjects, their confidence in their abilities grows.

Music and Arts teach useful habits and encourage positive attitudes in children. Learning anything takes patience and practice. The Arts and Music teaches children the virtue of patience and persistence in practice. It teaches them not to give up when faced with challenging situations. These are important qualities for them to develop as they grow into adulthood. It will enable them to be able to face the realities of disappointments and yet still continue to dream big.
The Arts and Music encourage children to develop their thinking abilities to be able to make good decisions as they grow up. It helps them to be observant and appreciative of the beauty in life. They’ll learn to interpret different themes and how they can apply those themes practically in life. They’ll learn different points of view and develop their own opinion on things. Learning new music or different art methods is like learning a new language. Their brain is helped to develop good patterns in thinking like having better vocabulary and learning new ideas.

It is so valuable for children to have Music and Arts included in their education. If these are not available, it would be like cutting off an important part of their childhood that plays a vital role in their development. It is hoped that these subjects would be more readily available and continually available for children everywhere.

Nov152016

Soundproof Glass For Music Rooms and Regular Homes

Do you own a music school or have a music room in your school? Do you have children that are musically inclined but you feel they are too loud when they practice? Have you thought about installing soundproof glass in your home? It’s the solution to all your noise problems. Soundproof glass prevents the majority of noises from travelling to other rooms. They’re also great to install for houses that are close to airports or major roads. Though they’re excellent at cutting out noise, soundproof glass still does let in a little bit of noise.

Experts on glass like ALS Glassworks balustrades say that the thicker the glass pane, the better the soundproofing. Thicker glass prevents too much vibration. The bigger the obstacle, the harder it is for sound to pass through. Another way that glass can be soundproofed without having it too thick is by heat gluing plastic to it. There could also be a plastic lining installed between two panes of glass to give another obstacle that sound has difficulty getting through. This makes the glass panes stronger as well to give it good safety ratings. The lower end windows have soundproof rating of about 30 or less but the best rated windows are 40 or more. A rating of 40 or more means that almost 90 percent of sound has been blocked. The thickest glass would not be the most practical for regular home windows so get something that will fit in the windows yet is thick enough to block out most sounds.

If you own a music studio, it’s best to get ones that have plastic laminate on them and thick glass. The more protection the better. For home windows, double paned glass is great for noise reduction and it doubles as an insulator as well.

Soundproof glass is used to block out sound so that it doesn’t enter certain areas. Installation of soundproof glass requires excellent planning as it needs to be perfectly installed. A great sealant should be used. To get the most out of soundproofing, it’s best to also take other measures not just soundproof windows or glass panes. Insulating walls and floors are effective methods to help block out sound as well. If you can afford it, drywall or sheetrock are perfect walls for soundproofing.

Before buying anything, do your research to see if companies’ claims that their soundproofing products are superior are true. Make sure the products you buy for soundproofing will work in your home or studio.

Sep152016

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Stop by our forums if you have a question, or are just plain bored.

Sep152016

Trump and Clinton Win Dominating Primary Victories

Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump won impressive victories in Tuesday’s primaries and now hold commanding leads in the overall delegate counts. As the race towards the presidential nominations they now appear to be unstoppable, with Trump stating that he considers himself the “presumptive nominee.”

Trump won decisively in all five states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Clinton won in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut, with Bernie Sanders’ lone victory coming in Rhode Island. Trump won at least 142 delegates, and Clinton picked up at least 214 delegates. The Indiana primary takes place next week.

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