This course prepares grade 3–4 students for the Elementary Level SSAT with structured instruction in Quantitative, Verbal, Reading, and the Writing Sample. It is designed especially for students who benefit from clear sequencing, explicit skill-building, and repeated guided practice.
Students begin with a diagnostic to identify current strengths and gaps, then move through a full progression of test knowledge, core academic concepts, and SSAT-specific application. The course teaches the underlying curriculum students need for success, not just shortcuts. Each major skill area includes concept lessons, worked examples, guided practice, independent practice, timed drills, cumulative review, and mistake-analysis routines.
In Quantitative, students strengthen number sense, operations, fractions, measurement, geometry, data interpretation, and word-problem solving. In Verbal, they build vocabulary through context clues, prefixes, suffixes, roots, synonyms, and analogies. In Reading, they practice main idea, supporting details, inference, vocabulary in context, tone, author’s purpose, and text evidence. In Writing, they learn how to plan and compose a clear short response with a beginning, middle, and end, then revise for clarity and correctness under time limits.
The course also addresses the practical side of the exam: section directions, pacing, scratch-work habits, educated guessing, test-day routines, and confidence-building. Students complete section-specific drills and full SSAT-style practice tests, then review results carefully to target remaining weaknesses.
- Target audience: Students in grades 3–4 applying to private or independent schools
- Core outcomes: Improved quantitative reasoning, vocabulary, analogy solving, reading comprehension, writing sample performance, pacing, and test confidence
- Instructional approach: Diagnostic assessment, explicit teaching, original exam-style practice, timed work, answer explanations, quizzes, cumulative review, and mistake logs
- Applied practice: Section drills, mixed mini-sections, full-length simulations, and performance review
By the end of the course, students will know what the Elementary SSAT asks, how to solve its common question types, and how to manage time and decisions during the test. They will leave with a concrete readiness plan and stronger skills that support both admissions testing and school success.