About ISEE Grade 2
Live online ISEE Grade 2 prep for Grade 2. The curriculum has 5 units, from Foundational Vocabulary in Context to The Creative Picture Prompt.
An admission exam administered by ERB used by selective private day and boarding schools nationwide for admissions and academic awards.
ISEE Grade 2 Exam Format & Focus
Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics Achievement, and an unscored Essay.
How Skillzy Young Scholars Prepares Students for ISEE Grade 2
Skillzy Young Scholars teaches ISEE Grade 2 in live online classes with vetted mentors who have completed 100 hours of training. The curriculum is organised into 5 units, with worksheets, quizzes, timed practice and mock exams. Progress is tracked in the LMS and shared with parents in a monthly report.
What ISEE Grade 2 Covers
- Four levels: Primary, Lower (grades 4-5), Middle (6-7) and Upper (8-11)
- Verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, reading comprehension and mathematics achievement
- An unscored essay that is sent to the schools
- No penalty for wrong answers, so every question should be answered
- Scores are reported as stanines, which compare students to others of the same grade
ISEE Grade 2 Curriculum
Classes follow these units. Every student starts with a level check, and the order and pace adapt to your child. Units that go beyond the exam's core topics are stretch material.
- Target Audience
- Students applying for Grade 2 admission.
- Total Time
- Approximately 53 minutes of testing time.
- Scoring System
- Stanine scores ranging from 1 to 9 (comparing students to a highly selective peer group). There is NO penalty for incorrect answers on the ISEE.
- Format Details
- The Primary 2 exam is exclusively computer-based and consists of age-appropriate sections:
- 1. Auditory/Reading Comprehension: Short passages assessing listening and reading skills.
- 2. Mathematics (Quantitative Reasoning & Achievement combined at this level): Assessing both problem-solving aptitude and direct math knowledge.
- 3. Writing Sample: 1 picture prompt (unscored, but sent directly to admission teams).
What the program focuses on
- Verbal Reasoning (basic vocabulary in simple sentence contexts)
- Quantitative Reasoning (aptitude-style pattern recognition and basic comparisons)
- Reading Comprehension (literal details and main idea in short texts)
- Mathematics Achievement (direct math content: addition, subtraction, simple number sense)
- The Unscored Writing Sample (structuring clear, simple responses to an age-appropriate picture prompt)
- Interactive, hands-on learning with continuous progress monitoring
Units
1 Foundational Vocabulary in Context
Students will learn to:
- Expand Early Vocabulary: Learn high-frequency, age-appropriate words used in typical 1st and 2nd-grade texts.
- Identify Word Relationships: Understand basic synonyms (words that mean the same) and antonyms (words that mean the opposite).
- Use Sentence Context: Fill in the blank with the correct word by using clues from the rest of the simple sentence.
ISEE Alignment - Verbal Section. The ISEE tests vocabulary not just through memorization, but through context. Students must be able to read a short sentence and understand which word logically belongs in the blank.
Learning activities:
- Interactive synonym/antonym matching and flashcard games
- "Fill-in-the-blank" sentence completion puzzles
- Picture-to-word association drills
What this means for your child. Your child will significantly expand their everyday vocabulary and learn how to use context clues to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words.
2 Basic Reading Comprehension & Literal Details
Students will learn to:
- Execute Active Reading/Listening: Read (or listen to) short, grade-appropriate passages (fiction and simple nonfiction) with focus.
- Extract the Main Idea: Identify what the story or paragraph is mostly about.
- Locate Specific Details: Go back into the text to find explicit facts and answers to basic "who, what, where, and when" questions.
- Understand Sequence: Put the events of a short story in the correct order (beginning, middle, end).
ISEE Alignment - Reading Section. For Primary 2, reading passages are very short. The focus is on ensuring the child actually understands the core narrative or facts presented, rather than just decoding the words.
Learning activities:
- "Find the Fact" highlighting games (locating evidence directly in the text)
- Main idea vs. supporting detail sorting tasks
- Story sequencing puzzle cards
What this means for your child. Your child will build early reading comprehension skills, learning how to read for meaning and accurately answer questions about what they just read.
3 Pattern Recognition & Mathematical Logic
Students will learn to:
- Identify Patterns: Look at a sequence of shapes, pictures, or numbers and determine what comes next.
- Understand Comparisons: Master the concepts of greater than, less than, and equal to using visual models and numbers.
- Apply Logical Reasoning: Solve simple puzzle-like math questions that require thinking about how numbers relate to each other, rather than just doing a calculation.
ISEE Alignment - Quantitative Reasoning. Unlike traditional math, Quantitative Reasoning tests a child's natural aptitude for problem-solving. This requires flexible thinking and recognizing visual and numerical patterns.
Learning activities:
- Shape and number sequence logic puzzles
- Greater than / less than sorting games with digital manipulatives
- Visual pattern prediction tasks
What this means for your child. Your child will develop foundational logical reasoning skills, learning how to recognize patterns and compare values without relying solely on memorized math facts.
4 Foundational Arithmetic & Number Sense
Students will learn to:
- Master Addition & Subtraction: Execute single-digit and basic double-digit addition and subtraction accurately.
- Understand Place Value: Identify ones, tens, and hundreds places in basic numbers.
- Apply Math to the Real World: Understand basic concepts of money (coins/bills), telling time to the hour and half-hour, and reading simple graphs.
- Solve Simple Word Problems: Translate one-step real-world stories into addition or subtraction equations.
ISEE Alignment - Math Achievement. This section tests what the student has explicitly learned in school. Absolute fluency in basic 1st/2nd-grade arithmetic is required to solve problems confidently.
Learning activities:
- Mental math addition and subtraction speed drills
- Digital coin counting and clock reading games
- Word-problem keyword highlighting (e.g., "in all" = add, "left" = subtract)
What this means for your child. Your child will solidify their core math calculation skills, ensuring they can perform basic arithmetic rapidly and solve real-world math scenarios.
5 The Creative Picture Prompt
Students will learn to:
- Analyze the Prompt: Look at a provided picture prompt (standard for Primary 2) and brainstorm a short story or description.
- Write Complete Sentences: Focus on writing clear, complete sentences with capital letters and periods.
- Express Ideas Clearly: Use basic descriptive words to tell the admissions committee what is happening in the picture.
ISEE Alignment - Writing Section. While unscored, this writing sample is sent directly to admission directors. It is used to gauge a young child's raw, unedited ability to form sentences and express creativity.
Always check the official exam organizer for the current format, dates and eligibility. We do not guarantee scores or rankings.
Every student begins with a level check so we can see where the gaps are. Private 1:1 students also get a full diagnostic assessment and a personalized roadmap. We teach the concepts behind each question type, practice under timed conditions, and review every wrong answer. We cannot guarantee specific scores, but progress is tracked in monthly reports.