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The recommendations below are for the typical gifted child taking the K level of the CogAT in Kindergarten or Pre K.

For most able kindergarten children Building Thinking Skills Level 1, Can You Find Me?, Mathematical Reasoning and miniLUK Challenger are the titles we recommend most frequently.   Add other titles depending on your child's relative strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of testing, what they'd enjoy doing and what you've got time for.  For each of the titles below you can get more information including a look inside at sample pages by clicking on "more info" after the brief product description.
 
           Can You Find Me K-1     Mathematical Reasoning Level B/
 
If your child has areas of particular strength or weakness then you may wish to adjust up or down a level.  If you'd like recommendations for your situation please email or phone with some information about your child and I'd be happy to make suggestions.
 

The CogAT is a test of reasoning skills.  It’s not like a spelling or a math test where if you know the words or the facts you can get 100% and there is little advantage is learning more difficult words or practicing more difficult math problems.  There is no defined curriculum for the CogAT.  An average child in K would not be expected to be able to answer the most difficult questions on the CogAT.  That's why the list below includes titles that are notionally for grades higher than K.  A child who has prepared at this higher level is more likely to be able to answer the most difficult questions on the test.
 
Building Thinking Skills Level 1 is our number one recommendation.  This is a Gr 2-3 product covering verbal and nonverbal reasoning.  The software covers the same skills, with the same examples, but the presentation is very different.  For a K child I recommend the software in preference to the book.  A K child is likely to be learning these skills and will benefit from the opportunity to repeat difficult exercises in the software.  If you are concerned about your child's ability to answer a pen and paper test then you may wish to purchase the book as well.  There are questions in the book formatted very like those on the actual test.  Don’t expect your child to be able to provide written answers to the questions that are not presented in a multi-choice format.
 
If Building Thinking Skills Level 1 looks too difficult for your child then Building Thinking Skills Primary is the place to start.  Building Thinking Skills Primary uses manipulative blocks to teach nonverbal reasoning.  The verbal section uses illustrations of everyday objects to teach verbal reasoning.  If your child is bilingual it may be important to expose them to additional examples of the language they will be expected to be familiar with.
 
Usually the numerical component of the test is less novel for children because if they're good at math they are given extension math activities in the classroom.   Mathematical Reasoning is a national standards based full math curriculum.  It teaches the reasoning tested for in the CogAT but has more math than you need.  Level B, which is a Grade 1 book, is recommended below.  If math is not your child's strong subject you may wish to purchase a grade level math title rather than an above level title.  Mathematical Reasoning A is based on first grade math standards.
 
The test will be administered orally with instructions and questions read to the children.  Can You Find Me? is a collection of logic riddles in different subject areas.  Your child listens to you reading the riddle and then identifies the correct picture.  It is great practice for the type of listening required during testing.  Your child will find some of the questions very simple.  Most adults find at least a few of the questions challenging.  This too is great practice for the test.
 
Other options for practicing listening skills are Mind Benders Warm Up (deductive logic) and Dr. Dooriddles A1 (associative reasoning).  These are designed to be done orally.  They are not illustrated.
 
Math Analogies presents figural and quantitative analogies in a format not used in any of the other titles.  If analogical reasoning is something your child needs practice with this title could be a good choice.  The presentation of some of the questions in Math Analogies is similar to that of the CogAT.

The LUK Learning System was designed in Germany to build children's cognitive skills through adaptive play.  The miniLUK Challenger Complete Set will be particulary helpful with the nonverbal questions on the CogAT.  Unlike many of the other titles recommended here it can be done independently (your child even checks their own answers using the controller).
 
Finally you'll see the Spectrum Test Prep and Spectrum Test Practice books in the list below.  If your child has never done a multiple choice test before it can be helpful to expose them to this type of testing.  The Spectrum Test Prep Gr 1-2 is written for parents with information on the skills, strategies and techniques necessary for success in standardized testing.  It includes a few questions formatted like those on the CogAT but the series was designed to prepare children for standardized tests of reading and math rather than cognitive ability tests.  If you feel the need for more questions than are contained in this title then get the Spectrum Test Practice title as well.  We recommend the Gr 1 level for kindergarten students on the assumption that you've got a gifted child.  Grade level questions are unlikely to challenge them at all.
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Dr. DooRiddles A1
Dr. DooRiddles A1
Place your order by 10am Pacific for same day shipment
Our Price: $10.99

Grade(s): PreK-2
Activities: 120
Pages: 48

Dr. DooRiddles develops students' fluency and understanding of word meanings and associations as it improves their spelling, vocabulary, reading, and problem-solving skills.

Students carefully read through clues in each riddle, analyzing connections within and between clues to figure out what is being described. Solving the riddles requires students to evaluate homonyms, synonyms, homophones, prefixes, roots, and suffixes in order to deduce and spell whole and partial word answers.
miniLUK Challenger Complete Set
miniLUK Challenger Complete Set with Controller
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Our Price: $86.49

Age: 5-7 years
Activities: 2352
 
The complete set of 14 miniLUK titles together with a controller. 
Can You Find Me K-1
Can You Find Me? K-1
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Our Price: $17.99

Grade(s): K-1
Activities: 80
Pages: 101

Can You Find Me? develops skills in reading readiness, science, math, and social studies using five basic thinking skills: similarities and differences, sequences, classifi cations, analogies, and logic. Each riddle requires identification of two or more clues to deduce the answer. Activities may be enhanced by teaching additional information about the animals, objects, shapes, letters, and numbers used in the riddles.
Mind Benders Warm-Up
Mind Benders Warm-Up
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Our Price: $9.99

Grade(s): K-2
Activities: 78
Pages: 30

Deductive reasoning puzzles teach children logic and improve reading comprehension and test scores. This level differs from the others in the series in that it is designed to be done as a read aloud. The majority of testing of children prior to 3rd grade is done orally. This is a great preparation for the listening and reasoning skills required for test taking.
Math Analogies Beginning
Math Analogies Beginning
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Our Price: $11.99

Grade(s): K-1
Activities: 48
Pages: 42

Understanding analogies and the ability to reason analogically are important problem-solving skills. There are few resources to assist children in the explict use of analogous reasoning with quantitative and spatial information. This series fills that void.
Building Thinking Skills Level 1
Building Thinking Skills Level 1
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Our Price: $29.99

Highly effective verbal and nonverbal reasoning activities to improve vocabulary, reading, writing, math, logic, and figural-spatial skills, as well as visual and auditory processing. This exceptional skill set provides a solid foundation for academic excellence and success on any assessment test.
Building Thinking Skills Level 1 software
Building Thinking Skills Level 1 Software
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Our Price: $36.99

Grade(s): 2-3
Activities: 800

Building Thinking Skills®provides highly effective verbal and nonverbal reasoning activities to improve vocabulary, reading, writing, math, logic, and figural-spatial skills, as well as visual and auditory processing. This exceptional skill set provides a solid foundation for academic excellence and success on any assessment test.
Mathematical Reasoning Level B
Mathematical Reasoning Level B
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Our Price: $39.99

Grade(s): 1
Pages: 272

Mathematical Reasoning™ helps your child devise strategies to solve a wide variety of math problems. These books emphasize problem solving and computation to build the math reasoning skills necessary for success in higher level math and math assessments.

These highly effective activities take students far beyond drill-and-practice by using step-by-step, discussion-based problem solving to develop a conceptual bridge between computation and the reasoning required for upper-level math. Activities and units spiral slowly, allowing students to become comfortable with concepts but also challenging them to continue building their math skills.
Spectrum Test Prep Grades 1-2
Spectrum Test Prep Grades 1-2
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Our Price: $9.99

Boosts confidence and helps learners improve test scores by offering children the preparation they need for standardized tests.
Spectrum Test Practice Grade 1
Spectrum Test Practice Grade 1
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Our Price: $15.99

Practice with both content and format on standardized tests.
Play by the Rules
Play by the Rules
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Our Price: $15.99

Grade: 2-6
Pages: 109
Activities: 50
 
Original activities to sharpen listening and direction-following skills.  You will encounter all sorts of unexpected challenges, ranging from instructions which will produce extremely sophisticated designs to listening games guaranteed to keep children on the edges of their seats.
Smart Snips
Smart Snips
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Our Price: $15.99

Grade: 2-6
Pages: 109
Activities: 50
 
Children follow written directions to cut paper in precise ways. A great title for your child who rushes to finish and makes silly mistakes. This is a fun way to get them to slow down and pay attention to the specifics of what is required.
Going Places
Going Places
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Our Price: $16.99

Grade: 2-6
Pages: 109
Activities: 25
 
Take an imaginary trip to the zoo, to a fair, to the mountains, on an airplane and to City Hall. Students work on activity sheets as you read from a script. Builds attention spans and provides excellent analytical thinking and listening practice.