Child’s Interview Preparation Guide

Private School & Gifted Program Interview Prep

What is a “school interview”?

Private schools (and some gifted programs) invite children to an interview as part of the application process. These sessions differ by school, but often look like a group-play date.

Skills schools may assess

• Communication and expressive language
• Listening and comprehension
• Social skills and cooperation
• Readiness skills: fine motor, gross motor, learning/attention, and problem-solving

What Your Child Might Be Asked to Do

Communication & social interaction

• Recognize his/her name (find it among nametags)
• Greet the director (handshake, eye contact)
• Talk to a teacher (favorite activity, family, birthday, age, where they live)
• Demonstrate expressive language depth and vocabulary
• Social skills: interacts with other kids, follows directions, shares, listens

Listening & understanding

• Critical listening: story read aloud, then questions about what happened, why, feelings, or how it connects to their life

Creativity & readiness tasks

• Drawing: draw something (shapes, family, themselves, house) and “sign” the picture
• Fine motor skills: string beads, cut with scissors, fold paper; pour juice/get snack/cleanup

Learning and problem-solving

• Puzzles and blocks: complete puzzles, copy designs, build a block tower
• Counting, sorting, patterning: count up to a number, sort by color/category, continue patterns

Movement

• Gross motor skills: hop, skip, one-foot balance, jump (often through a game)

Test-like activities

• Some schools use activities similar to intelligence tests (even if your child isn’t taking the same test)

How to Prepare (practical ideas)

• Teach your child to write his/her name so it’s recognizable
• Practice recognizing and drawing letters, numbers, shapes, and knowing colors
• Teach introductions: handshake + eye contact (make it a fun game/pretend characters)
• Build expressive language: retell a story, share the funniest/exciting moment of the day, narrate play
• Use dialogic reading when reading together (ask questions and prompt responses)
• Encourage drawing and coloring; if details are missing, suggest adding them
• Provide craft practice: cutting with scissors, clay modeling, and other fine-motor activities
• Practice counting in real life (snacks, steps, daily routines)
• Practice sorting and patterning (egg cartons + small items; recreate patterns from memory)
• Play gross-motor games at the park: “Simon Says” / “Mother May I”

Make sure your child has plenty of chances to socialize with other children (classes, playground, play dates)