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LexiMap vs Wild Zebra

AI study companion for ISEE/SSAT by Test Innovators

Bottom line

Tools like Wild Zebra give your child cards to drill. LexiMap is the system above them — it adapts to what your child misses, teaches the word-parts that unlock new words, and shows you a skill map. Keep Wild Zebra for quick review; use LexiMap to run the prep.

FreeNo card16–30 questions, timed

Feature-by-feature comparison

FeatureLexiMapWild Zebra
Cost$99.00/mo or $249.00 season passBundled with Test Innovators packages
What it coversSSAT/ISEE verbal: vocabulary, analogies, context cluesISEE/SSAT concept explanations via AI chat
Daily practice10-15 min of structured daily practice your child completes independentlyOpen-ended AI conversation, unscheduled
Free mechanicFree timed verbal section, no cardNo standalone free tier
Parent visibilitySkill-by-skill dashboard + weekly reportNo parent-facing dashboard
How it teachesStructured curriculum with interactive exercisesAI chat conversation
Spaced reviewAutomatic review schedulingNo scheduled review
ISEE publisher endorsementERB partnership

LexiMap covers the verbal section — vocabulary, analogies, and context clues. It does not include reading passages, math, or essay practice; pair it with format practice for those.

See what your child actually does

SSAT Middle example

Stretch item

The question

typical : atypical

  1. Anormal : strange
  2. Bgood : bad
  3. Cmoral : immoral
  4. Dusual : odd
  5. Ecommon : ordinary

How LexiMap helps

Why this answer works

Atypical uses the prefix a- to negate typical, just as immoral uses the prefix im- to negate moral.

LexiMap check-up screen showing a real timed verbal question
The weekly check-up: a real timed verbal section
LexiMap parent report showing skill-by-skill progress
The parent report: skill-by-skill, after every week

Representative student data.

Which is right for your child?

  • Wanting an ERB-endorsed AI companion that explains concepts conversationally → Wild Zebra's chat format and character personas do that.
  • Wanting a curriculum with review that schedules itself and a parent-facing progress report → LexiMap: human-authored vocabulary, analogies, and context clues with automatic spaced review — Wild Zebra's AI-generated dialogue has no scheduled review and no parent dashboard.

Structured, human-authored curriculum — not real-time AI-generated dialogue — with review that schedules itself.

Real parent experiences

What parents tell us

Different families, the same goal: make verbal practice clear enough to keep moving.

Instead of memorizing random word lists, my son learned how words are built from roots, prefixes, and suffixes. The words kept coming back over time, so they actually started to stick.

David K

Parent of a seventh-grade SSAT student

The diagnostic gave us a clear starting point, and the weekly tests showed what my daughter was actually retaining. The dashboard made it easy to see where she was improving and where she still needed help.

Kristy M

Parent of a seventh-grade ISEE student

My daughter kept up with the quests on her own between tutoring sessions. Her tutor could see the weak areas and spend more time on mistakes, harder questions, and test strategy instead of checking workbook pages.

Lisa A

parent of a fifth-grade ISEE student

  • Foundational research suggests vocabulary is the #1 predictor of career success.

    Source: Johnson O'Connor, 20-year longitudinal study

  • Only 1 in 3 eighth graders reads at grade level — the worst reading scores on record.

    Source: NAEP 2024

  • Designed specifically to train five core verbal skill domains — vocabulary, relational reasoning, contextual inference, test execution, and metacognition — not just word lists.

    Source: LexiMap verbal-skills framework

Common questions

Wild Zebra is backed by ERB — doesn't that make it better for ISEE?

ERB's endorsement means they trust Wild Zebra as a study companion. LexiMap takes a different approach — structured verbal skills instruction with automatic spaced review and a parent dashboard. Both can support ISEE prep in different ways.

My child likes chatting with AI characters — will they enjoy LexiMap?

LexiMap's interactive exercises are designed to be engaging for ages 8+. It's a different kind of engagement — structured practice rather than open-ended conversation.

Want focused verbal practice before test day?

A weekly timed verbal section shows you exactly where your child stands — before test day does.

Take a real timed section — free