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CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) Level B
The recommendations below are for the typical gifted child taking CogAT Level B in fourth grade. 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 fourth grade 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 higher grades. 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 2 is my number one recommendation. This is a Gr 4-6 product covering verbal and nonverbal reasoning. The software covers the same skills, with the same examples, but the presentation is very different. The choice of book or software is up to you. The presentation of the book is more like that of the test but the software is more engaging and can be used more independently. Exercises can be repeated more easily with the software enabling a fourth grader to rework areas they find challenging until they master them. Many of my customers choose to purchase both book and software.
For the quantitative battery Mathematical Reasoning through Verbal Analysis is my recommendation. This is a complete compressed math curriculum. It has more math than you need but it teaches the type of reasoning that the test is looking for. Book 2 is for Gr 4-8. Don’t expect your child to be ready to do everything in this book. Remember that is the reasoning behind the problems which is important, not the computation. Mathematical Reasoning through Verbal Analysis has a separate instructor/answer guide. You won’t need this for the answers but it has all the discussion points. For the CogAT it is this reasoning that is important and for busy parents it’s nice to have discussion points and vocabulary laid out.
An alternative to Mathematical Reasoning through Verbal Analysis is Math Blockout. Math Blockout teaches algebraic analysis which is one of the subtests on the quantitative battery. It is a very simple program providing practice with equation building.
For children who like software Think Ahead Games is an optional extra. Children find a path through a grid by matching game board pieces by color or size. Among the skills built are sequencing, classifying and recognizing patterns. These are all tested for in the nonverbal subtests.
Another extra is Think Analogies (book) or Thinkanalogy Puzles (software). Verbal Analogies are covered in Building Thinking Skills. Think Analogies explains how different types of analogies work in detail and provides more examples. This is particularly important for children who do not have American English as their first language. They may miss some subtleties in verbal analogies without additional practice.
Finally I always recommend Mind Benders for any multi-choice test. These are deductive logic puzzles. This is the skill you use in multi-choice testing to eliminate (a) and (b) as impossible even though you don’t know the answer thereby improving the chance of guessing correctly. They are also great for practicing the type of reading required for multi-choice testing where every word matters. Many able children skim read. For testing they need to practice slowing down and taking account of every word. A2 would be a good place to start but we have titles above and below this in difficulty.
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