Technological advances in the workplace have made a high school diploma essential for almost all workers. If you want to obtain employment or advance in your career, you will need to demonstrate to you employer that you have at least a high school education. If you never finished high school, the GED exam will serve as proof that you have acquired the equivalent of a high school education on your own.

If you are comfortable reading newspapers and you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide without a calculator, you're halfway there! This course will help you develop the additional reading and thinking skills you'll need to succeed in all five GED test areas: Writing Skills, Social Studies, Science, Literature, and Math. After completion of this course, you should be well-equipped to take--and pass--the GED!

Important: Some GED Testing Centers require proof that you have passed a GED preparation course or the official GED Practice Tests (OPT's) before you can take the official GED tests. Before enrolling in this course, please check with the official GED Testing Center where you intend to take your tests to make sure that this course will meet their requirements.

Recommended Courses:

Students who enrolled in GED Preparation were also interested in the following courses:

Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

GED Basics and Reading Strategies: How many GED tests are there? How much time do you get for each test? Where do you go to take the GED test? Do you get to use a calculator on the math test? Do you need to know algebra? What if you can’t spell perfectly? What kind of an essay do you need to write? In our first lesson, you'll learn the answers to all of these and a few more frequently asked questions about the GED test. After you're clear on what to expect, we'll brush up on your reading skills. Since reading is one of the most important skills you'll need for all five tests, this first lesson will provide you with strategies that will help you improve your reading comprehension.

Friday - Lesson 02

Today we'll focus on Part 1 of the Language Arts, Writing test. Part 1 will test your ability to find and fix problems in sentences and paragraphs, so in this lesson, you'll learn the grammar skills you need to edit and revise GED passages. You’ll also get to see and practice with the three types of questions that you'll see on the multiple choice part of the Language Arts, Writing Test. With your newly sharpened grammar skills, you'll be ready for Part 1 of GED Language Arts, Writing Test.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

The most feared part of the entire GED battery of tests is undoubtedly the essay part of the Language Arts, Writing test! For that reason, we'll devote an entire lesson to helping you master this important topic. In this lesson, I'll illustrate a step-by-step process that will help you put your fears aside and enable you to write a top-notch essay.

Friday - Lesson 04

In our first Social Studies lesson, we'll focus on the history content area, plus I’ll let you know what historical documents you may encounter on the GED Social Studies test. Since 40% of the test is related to history, you can see how important this lesson is. You'll get to go through some practice passages to give you a chance to experience the type of questions you’ll encounter. And we'll outline the key events in United States and Canadian history so you’ll know exactly what background knowledge is important to know.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

We'll continue with Social Studies today, but in this lesson, we'll shift the focus to the content areas of civics and government (both United States and Canada), as well as economics and geography. There’s a lot to cover in this lesson! You’ll be busy learning to understand, analyze, and evaluate information that will be presented to you in passages, graphs, cartoons, workplace materials, and maps.

Friday - Lesson 06

We'll kick off today's lesson with a discussion on using the scientific method to answer science questions in a logical manner. This is what scientists use to solve problems, so it only makes sense to give you the same tool. Then we'll use the scientific method to get acquainted with the life science topics, such as plant and animal cells and the systems of the human body.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

We'll cover more science topics in this lesson. We'll start with chemistry, which should get everyone warmed up for when we move on to the other content areas of physics and earth and space science. You’ll find these science topics are closely related to your everyday living. Ever add sugar to your coffee? Then you used chemistry. Ever use a pry bar to lift a heavy object? Then you applied physics to a problem. Concerned about tomorrow’s weather? Meteorology is part of the earth sciences, and it certainly applies to everyone every day!

Friday - Lesson 08

The first order of business to prepare for the Language Arts, Reading Test is examining ways to read and interpret fiction. This process begins with learning how to analyze the elements of fiction as well as applying these elements to the short story and the novel. Today we'll read sample passages that will help you practice locating these elements within fiction.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

Besides the short story and novel, you'll also need to be prepared to read poetry and drama, so in this lesson, I'll introduce you to these two forms of literature. On the GED Language Arts, Reading test, 25% of the questions you'll see will refer to nonfiction passages, so we'll conclude our study of Language Arts, Reading by examining three different categories of nonfiction.

Friday - Lesson 10

In this lesson, we'll take an overall view of the GED Math Test. To be successful, you not only need to know math, but you need to know how to answer the math questions using the special answer grids and the special GED calculator. We'll review those basics today, and then we'll begin math study by looking at notation, and I’ll introduce you to a step-by-step approach you can use to solve word problems.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Do fractions worry you? Don't be concerned! In this lesson, I'll help you gain control over those odd-looking numbers. Next, you'll see the best way to add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals. We'll wrap up the lesson with a super simple way to figure out those pesky percent problems. Finally, I’ll show you how fractions, decimals, and percents are all related.

Friday - Lesson 12

What is the probability that you'll be able to find the hypotenuse of a right triangle using the Pythagorean Relationship? Does this sound like Greek to you? After this lesson, you'll not only understand how to figure the probability of an event, but you'll know all about triangles, angles, and other geometric shapes. Algebra sounds tough, but you’ll soon see why this very useful tool can help you with those geometry formulas. You may be surprised to discover that you already use many of the math concepts in this lesson in your everyday life!

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Barbara Rolston.

Barbara Rolston holds a master's degree and has been teaching GED preparatory classes since 1975 in a variety of settings, including adult schools, community colleges, and large corporations. She also was responsible for administering the GED exam in a correctional facility for two years.

Requirements:

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

Student Reviews: