The Pattern Test
Can he find a hidden rule in pictures with no help? Pure thinking power — no reading, no language.
He points to what comes next. Never explain the rule — finding it is the test. Q1 is a warm-up; the rest are meant to be hard.
The arrow turns the same way each step → points left. If he can't, re-show before judging the rest.
Two rules: shape changes down, colour darkens across. Answer = dark triangle.
Three things change at once: the arrow turns, gains a dot, grows. Answer = left arrow, 4 dots.
Copy the relationship, not the picture. Box 1→2: arrow turns a quarter, a dot appears. Apply the same to the circle. Answer = circle, up-arrow, one dot.
Two simple rules, side by side.
The arrow turns a quarter-turn clockwise as you go left → right. Each new row also starts a quarter-turn further round — so row 3 reads down → left → up. The third arrow points up.
The dots only ever sit in two spots: left and right. Rule: keep a dot in the third cell only if it's in one of the first two — not both. A dot in the same spot in both cells cancels out. Row 3: cell 1 has left + right, cell 2 has left → the shared left cancels → only right survives.
So the answer is an up-arrow with one dot on the right = d. (a puts the dot on the wrong side; b keeps the dot but forgets to turn the arrow; c keeps both dots instead of cancelling the shared one.)
The Learn-Fast Test
Teach him a rule he has never seen, then watch how fast he owns it. This one matters most.
The rule: two pictures combine — but a dot in the same spot in both disappears. Almost no child gets it cold. The point is how fast he learns it.
Top-left is in both → cancels. Left: top-right, bottom-right.
Note how much help he needed — the less, the better.
Bottom-right is in both → cancels. Left: top-left, top-right.
Top-left is in both → cancels. Left: top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right.
Same rule, new shapes. The bottom-left triangle repeats → cancels. If he still cancels the repeat, he learned the idea — not the pictures.
The Memory Test
How much can his mind hold and rearrange at once? Needs nothing but your voice.
DoOne number a second. Go longer until he misses twice at a length.
DoHe has to hold and sort in his head — the real separator.
For youScore each tier = the longest list he gets fully right. (Green = the answer, for you.)
The Qur'an Test
His ḥifẓ is the best memory test there is. You're checking how deep and organized the memory is — not how much.
You're the one most equipped to test someone's strength in ḥifẓ. Just a friendly reminder: don't start a sūrah from the beginning — drop him in the middle of a sūrah and āyah and tell him to continue. And grade him on self-correction and confidence: this speaks a lot about their internal data processing.
The Ambition Test
How far does he reach? You're listening for the size of what he wants — the kid who aims at the world, not the room.
DoAsk these three aloud, one at a time. There's no right answer — stay quiet and listen for reach, not cleverness. Let him talk; the best answers grow when you don't interrupt.
If you could build one thing that the whole world would use, what would it be?
Listen for: reach past himself — a tool, a cure, a city — not a toy for his own room.
Imagine a whole year with no school and no rules. What would you teach yourself to be the best at?
Listen for: a real goal he owns — something to master — not "play" or "nothing."
What's one thing grown-ups say is impossible, that you think you could do?
Listen for: nerve — he names something and believes it, instead of agreeing nothing can be done.
One strong answer beats three safe ones. Reach is the signal — a child who aims at the world, not the room, is rare.