Math Workbook for ISEE, SSAT & HSPT Prep

Book excerpt: Cardinal Education is an educational consulting and tutoring company based in Palo Alto, CA. Guided by a philosophy of fulfilling students' academic potential in a way that boosts skills and confidence for life, we work to maximize successful middle school, high school, and college admissions outcomes. While some of our methods defy "conventional wisdom," we have a proven track record with a broad range of students: the Ivy League bound to those wishing to avoid community college, the self-motivated to the intransigently jaded, and the profoundly gifted to learning disabled. We have a passion for expanding students' dreams and helping them attain their goals.Cardinal Education believes in the social value of a strong public education system and sponsors pro bono programs to bring private sector expertise to bear. However, government fiscal policies are shortchanging public schools of opportunities: activities, sports, variety of classes, advanced classes, student: teacher ratios, and counseling departments. The "private school imperative" means that despite economic trends, admission to private school is becoming so competitive that it necessitates standardized testing excellence.The philosophy of this math workbook is rigor and drill. Because this is the first test students take that actively tries to trick students at every turn, students who sit for these standardized exams need reflexive familiarity with computation (math facts), problem types, and strategy. The entrance exams are the first standardized tests for which budgeting time is a significant issue. Students need to spend the majority of time on analysis to avoid getting tricked rather than computation. By building skills, speed, and confidence, we hope to eliminate anxiety and give students a solid foundation on which to build excellent scores.This book is intended as a supplement for our highly trained staff, so it does not include strategies. However, motivated students can use it successfully with occasional help from a teacher or parent. Each chapter is comprised of units, with each unit comprised of 4 problem sets of difficulty, increasing in a logically progressive manner. Students should do as many of the 4 problem sets for each unit as it takes to achieve a 90% accuracy rate. Students taking lower level exams should complete problems 1-10 in each set. Students competing for high school admissions should complete each problem set in its entirety. Questions or feedback: [email protected]