NYC Gifted and Talented Program and Testing

If you’d like to receive free OLSAT sample questions or my free gifted and talented e-newsletter please email me at skipper646@gmail.com. Thanks – Michael

Here’s a really good OLSAT prep book:
Test Preparation Guide for Entry Into Kindergarten and First Grade (Instructions and Questions for Children) (Bright Kids Series)

Another holiday season is upon us as we head into Thanksgiving then straight into Christmas and Hanukah! This time of year offers so many ways to practice critical thinking skills that are needed to do well on the OLSAT test and ERB (and of course in school).

Here are some of the ways you can incorporate fun into the learning experience during the holidays for OLSAT test prep: 

• When decorating the Christmas tree make sure you count the number of decorations you’re hanging on the tree and explain the differences of each decoration to your child. Make sure you use words like neither/nor and either/or when asking your child to give you decorations to hang on the tree.
• The candle lighting ceremony for the menorah allows you the opportunity to practice how many candles will be lit in 6 days, etc. It’s a good visual representation that children can relate to.
• Candy canes always make good counting games since children can hold quite a few of them at one time. You can easily do “more than” and “less than” games with these. 
• When you see a Christmas tree stand on the street have your child point to the tallest, shortest, thickest, etc. tree. Also have your child group trees together that look alike by the different types and sizes. 
• Baking cookies or other Christmas treats is a great way to have your child learn mixing of ingredients but more importantly following directions! Read the directions first to your child and see if your child can remember the order in which you read the directions. Which ingredient comes first – the milk or eggs? What comes right after the sugar? These make great sequencing exercises that you can incorporate while baking holiday treats! 
• The best practice of course is with gifts! Ask your child how many gifts they received and have your child sequence the gifts largest to smallest, heaviest to lightest, etc.  It’s also fun to have the child to hand-out gifts to everyone and ask the child who has the most gifts, who received the biggest gift, etc.?

By providing these examples to your child allows them to see real-life examples of what’s presented on the OLSAT test.

If you’d like to receive my free gifted and talented e-newsletter please email me at skipper646@gmail.com. Thanks – Michael

Here are some great stocking stuffers for your kids – games and books for G&T:
Dr. Dooriddles Associative Reasoning Activities: Book A-1

Rocket Phonics

Alphabet & Number Puzzles w/Activities

Brain Quest Games and Workbooks
Brain Quest Workbook: Kindergarten

Brain Quest Preschool

Brain Quest Kindergarten

WORKMAN PUBLISHING WP-13771 BRAIN QUEST KINDERGARTEN REVISION O-F WP-11515

If you’d like to sign up for my free G&T e-newsletter just email at skipper646@gmail.com and let me know. Also, if you’d like some OLSAT sample questions let me know that as well. Thanks-Michael

I posted part 1 of the series Getting In…Kindergarten a few months ago and I was able to find the entire series of how neurotic New York City parents try to get their child into private kindergarten or the New York City gifted and talented program for kindergarten. I felt a little bit uncomfortable at times while watching – not really because of the parents and their actions but because I could see myself acting and thinking the same exact way. The focus on this series is about the ERB test for private schools, OLSAT test for New York City gifted and talented and Stanford Binet testing for Hunter.  I thought it was interesting they really didn’t focus on the ERB or OLSAT test prepping aspect for these 4 year olds but that topic would justify an entire series on its own merit.

Overall, I  think this broadcast was really well done and shows 3 very diverse New York City families.  The overarching feelings among all 3 families are the same – regardless of socio-economic status and background, which I found intriguing. It shows how NYC parents act and respond to getting their child into the “right” kindergarten (yes,  kindergarten!).  Here are the videos and each one is 6-11 minutes each. I’d love to hear what others think of this series and if they think it accurately depicts NYC parents’ mindset.

Getting In…Kindergarten:

On another note, here are some great activity books for you and your child. Our child loves these Brain Quest Games and Workbooks and they are great for travel. Check them out on Amazon: 

Brain Quest Workbook: Kindergarten

Brain Quest Preschool

Brain Quest Kindergarten

I also cross-post on Gothamschools.org. It’s a great site that focus on the entire NYC school system and provides great insights from a number of writers and content contributors.