Prepare for the GED test at home. If you are confident in your ability to study on your own, you can prepare for the test using a variety of educational materials. The GED Testing Service partners with Steck-Vaughn, Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and the Paxen Group to provide the materials you need to study for the math segment of the GED.
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) also partners with the GED Connection to provide videos geared towards helping students. You can get a TV schedule from the PBS LiteracyLink website.
Get practice tests from Steck-Vaughn or visiting your local testing center. You might also consider purchasing "Keys to GED Success" book on mathematics.
Visit your local GED instructional site. You may feel you need help brushing up your math skills before tackling the GED. If you want to study for the GED in person, you can find a location four ways. You can search by state, by zip code, call the toll-free information line provided by the National Institute for Literacy or you can look in the yellow pages. Libraries, literacy boards, community colleges or high schools in your area might have GED study courses. However, the yellow pages might not list the locations. You'll have to call them and request information.
Go online. While you can't take the GED tests online (beware any website saying otherwise), you can use the Internet to study the math section of the test. Prep materials are available at the American Council on Education's website.
You can also use the website to answer sample questions. After you respond, a window appears and tells you whether the response was correct. There is an answer page too.
You can find half and full-length exams online in English, French, Spanish and Canadian. Additionally, you can find a sheet of formulas, a video on calculator operations, examples of using the calculator and an alternative format gridding video. The videos are also in Spanish.
Review the math content of the GED. No matter what method of study you choose, make sure you cover the appropriate material. The GED's math section has two parts, each with 25 questions. You have 45 minutes to complete each part. However, for the first part, you can use the Casio fx-260 scientific calculator that the testing site provides, but not for the second part. The second part of the test examines your mental math and estimation skills.
The GED math test has four sections and you have to show proficiency in all of them. The test will ask questions about number operations and number sense, measurement and geometry, data analysis, statistics, and probability and algebra, functions and patterns. Eighty percent of the questions are multiple choice and 20 percent require you to write out your answer.