How to Master the ISEE English Sections | All Levels | 0-Anxiety Test Prep

The International Standardized Entrance Exam (ISEE) is an admission test that many independent and magnet schools use. Depending on the grade your student is entering, they'll either take the Lower Level (5th or 6th grade), Middle Level (7th or 8th grade), or Upper Level (9th grade and above).

As soon as you enroll in the class, I'll message you to know which level your student is studying for. I help students prepare for the Verbal Reasoning (vocabulary) and Reading Comprehension sections of all levels.

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Here's a sample of what the first class with a Middle Level student may look like:

Before the first class, I send a baseline test for both the reading and vocabulary sections. This test is not only important so that we can track your student's progress, but also so that I know which types of questions the student is missing. 

We'll spend a few minutes going over general strategies for the vocabulary section. We'll go over any questions the student missed. I'll explain to them that to build their vocabulary, I'll post 10-15 minute videos once a week for them to watch on their own time (see below). 

After, I'll walk them through the different passages on the reading test. If the student, for example, missed several questions related to the main idea or general points in the passage, I'll teach the student how to properly scan the passage for key information and how to notice red flags in the answer choices. Then, we'll go over any questions they missed on the pre-test. 

Extra class time will be spent on guiding the student through additional reading passages. 

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Vocabulary practice can take a lot of time. That's why (unless parents would like to specifically work on vocabulary in class) I created weekly asynchronous lessons which I post on the class page. 
In each lesson, students watch a video in which I explain 15-20 words which may be on the exam. The words are grouped either by prefixes/roots or meaning. Along with the asynchronous lesson, I'll post a link to a Quizlet for them to continue practicing the words, as well as a Google Doc filled with test-like synonym questions based on those words. 

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For homework, I'll send the student another practice test for them to continue practicing throughout the week. If you'd like to have several sessions to prepare for the ISEE, I may ask you to purchase a practice book. We can decide together which one is the best fit for your student.