ABOUT 1ST GRADE
The 1st Grade course is aimed at preparing students to excel in academics through advanced learning, review and practice of quantitative, verbal and non-verbal reasoning skills. This will help students improve their reading, vocabulary, math, reasoning, problem-solving, and figural/spatial skills, thus laying a solid foundation for better academic performance and higher scores in Gifted program qualifying tests.
The class meets once a week for 2 hours on every scheduled weekend. All course work will be complemented by quizzes, homework assignments and periodic tests.
QUANTITATIVE
In the Math section of the class, students will work their way through different skill sets. Topics covered include Numbers, Time, Money, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division. Students will learn quantitative reasoning, mental math, speed and review technique. They will gain competence in timed tests.
VERBAL & NON-VERBAL
In the Verbal section of the class, students will work on their reading and writing skills, improve their vocabulary, learn synonyms, antonyms, analogies, and grammar.
In the Non-Verbal Reasoning section of the class, students will gain competencies in areas like Figure Classification, Figure Analysis and Figure Analogies. They will learn how to recognize and complete patterns. They will learn how to identify relationships between shapes. They will learn to identify the shape that comes next in a pattern. They will work on spatial visualization problems, which will teach them how objects might look when they are rotated or transformed.
OUR IMPACT
As part of these classes, students will acquire, practice and review competencies that are required to perform well in tests like the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAt) and the Naglieri Non-Verbal Ability Test (NNAT). Students’ scores in these tests are used by Fairfax county and Loudoun county as one of the key criteria for acceptance into their respective Gifted/Talented/Advanced Academic Placement programs