Approach

Every year, Bright Kids successfully prepares many students for the Stanford-Binet 5.

Our process for the Stanford-Binet 5 begins with an initial assessment to identify your child’s strengths and skills that need development and to create a personalized curriculum. We carefully pair our clients up with a contracted teacher who specializes in working with young children, and who can most effectively work with the student based on the assessment recommendations.

In our practice, we never expose children to questions too similar to those on the Stanford-Binet 5, as Hunter College Elementary School strongly discourages children with prior exposure to the test from taking the exam. We begin working with our students approximately three months before their test date, developing such areas as vocabulary, comprehension, visual-spatial and visual perception abilities, and quantitative reasoning.

Families outside of New York City, and/or our New York City families who are planning to tutor at home, are encouraged to view our Core Concept Series and Stanford Binet Parent Handbook, which are invaluable tools to the at-home tutor.

We offer additional tutoring sessions for the second “play date” round of the Hunter College Elementary School. Please inquire with our staff for more information.

Hunter Round 2 Preparation Tutoring

About the test

The Stanford-Binet 5 is an intelligence test required as the first step to admission into Hunter College Elementary School (HCES) in Manhattan. A licensed psychologist administers the Stanford-Binet 5. This IQ test is broken into five areas that are tested both through verbal and nonverbal tasks: Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, and Visual-Spatial Processing.

Every year, over 1500+ children take the Stanford-Binet 5 to earn a place in the second round of the admissions process for Hunter College Elementary School (HCES), a tuition-free, gifted school open only to Manhattan residents. Of those 1,500, only 250 are invited to the second round and only 48 students gain admission. Each year the Stanford-Binet 5 cut-off score for HCES has risen, topping at 149 in 2010.

Timing

For admission into Hunter College Elementary School, children must turn four by December 31 of the year in which they are applying. Testing begins in the fall after parents have submitted summer applications.

Parents will receive an appointment card for the child to sit for the Stanford-Binet 5, a list of approved testers, and a confidentiality consent form once they submit their application.

FAQ

My child will not even be four when he takes the test. Is it not fair that he is compared to children much older then him?

The children are grouped together in two-month age bands on the Stanford-Binet. Your child will be compared to children only in that two-month age group.

I am worried that my child will say something about working with a teacher and he or she will be disqualified.

There is nothing wrong with teaching children core skills they need to succeed on the test. We will never expose your children to the actual test, which is really what HCES is concerned about. In addition, the test has very specific puzzles and activities only found on the Stanford-Binet 5, which we do not utilize in our tutoring sessions.

Why isn’t there a workbook I can buy to help practice for the Stanford-Binet?

The Stanford-Binet 5 is a very complex test and activities children perform vary based on their ability level. The best way to prepare for the test is to develop your child’s core skills (e.g. vocabulary, analogical reasoning, patterns, quantitative reasoning, spatial reasoning). We have many books that help build these skills in the Core Concepts section of our online bookstore.

When do I start preparation for the test?

We recommend a couple of months before the test, but many children start earlier. We do not over prepare for the Stanford-Binet 5, as many concepts that are on the test are hard for children to grasp, even with preparation. The test favors children who can handle swift transitions, show above-average maturity, and possess strong verbal and quantitative skills.