CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) Level F
The recommendations below are for the typical gifted child taking CogAT Level F in eighth grade. If your child has areas of particular strength or weakness then you may wish to adjust up or down a level. If you're planning ahead (thinking about testing next year for a seventh grader, for example) you may also need to consider staring at a lower level in some of these series and working towards the level recommended here. If you'd like recommendations for your situation please email or phone with some information about your child and we'd be happy to make suggestions.
For most children Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Figural, Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Verbal, Quick Thinks Math C1 and Self Scoring IQ Tests will be the place to start. Add other titles depending on your child's relative strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of testing, what they'd enjoy doing and what you've got time for. For each of the titles below you can get more information including a look inside at sample pages by clicking on "more info" after the brief product description.
The CogAT is a test of reasoning skills. It’s not like a spelling or a math test where if you know the words or the facts you can get 100% and there is little advantage is learning more difficult words or practicing more difficult math problems. There is no defined curriculum for the CogAT. An average child in eighth grade would not be expected to be able to answer the most difficult questions on the CogAT Level F. That's why the list below includes titles that are notionally for higher grades. A child who has prepared at this higher level is more likely to be able to answer the most difficult questions on the test.
The CogAT has three sections each with three subtests. Your preparation should cover verbal, non-verbal and quantitative analysis.
Building Thinking Skills Level 3 is our number one recommendation. This comprises two books at a Gr 7-12 level covering verbal and nonverbal reasoning.
The third set of subtests in the CogAT is the quantitative battery. For this we have a number of suggestions. Quick Thinks Math provides a variety of math problems to review your math knowledge and get you thinking fast about how to approach a variety or problems. The quantitative analysis battery in the CogAT is not about math per se but rather about understanding quantitative relationships and how numbers can be manipulated. Strong logic skills are also important here and Mind Benders is a good choice to work on this.
If you have doubts about your child's math understanding then you might like to consider Mathematical Reasoning through Verbal Analysis Middle School Supplement. This is a complete compressed math curriculum for Gr 4-8. A lot of it will be easy but you'll plug any gaps and ensure complete understanding. If your child is taking advanced math but you feel the need for more work in this area a higher level option is Scratch Your Brain Algebra.
Verbal Analogies are covered in the last chapter of Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Verbal. Think Analogies explains how different types of analogies work in detail and provides more examples. This is particularly important for children who do not have American English as their first language. They may miss some subtleties in verbal analogies without additional practice. Thinkanalogy Puzzles (software) provides the same material in a more interactive format.
We always recommend Mind Benders for any multi-choice test. These are deductive logic puzzles. This is the skill you use in multi-choice testing to eliminate (a) and (b) as impossible even though you don’t know the answer thereby improving the chance of guessing correctly. They are also great for practicing the type of reading required for multi-choice testing where every word matters. Many able children skim read. For testing they need to practice slowing down and taking account of every word. A3 would be a good place to start if your student has never done any deductive logic puzzles but B1 is the level you'd want them at prior to testing. There are 14 titles in the Mind Benders series so plenty of opportunity to provide your child with lots of practice if they need and/or enjoy these activities.
Finally we've included a traditional test preparation title in the list below. If your child hasn't had a lot of experience taking standardized tests, or if they tend to be sloppy and make mistakes when the material is easy, it can be helpful to work on this prior to testing. Spectrum Test Prep has questions in reading comprehension and mathematics skills. They were not written for the CogAT.