How do you get your kid tested?

[Adaline'sMama]

I'm wondering how this is done. My DD is two, but we are thinking of looking for a part time preschool program next year or starting some kind of homeschooling curriculum. She has be doing this preschool computer program with my mom, just for fun and she is way past the level that the programs says she should be at. Her verbal skills are very high for her age and she has the ability to think about things in ways that many of her peers (at least the ones I know) dont.

I dont really want to push her to do anything, especially this young, Im just looking for some appropriate educational stuff for her (as opposed to just going with what is age appropriate, since that doesnt seem to be working). If we are going to send her anywhere, I feel like she would be really bored with the programs for her age. If there is no "test" or anything for me to figure out what level she should be in, I could just get cirriculum right above her age group and see if it was challenging for her.

[moominmamma]

double post

[moominmamma]

Curriculum varies so much in its level and content, even at the same purported level: you really need to look each program, either hands-on, or page-scans, or do a free trial, or look over a placement test. Though I admit I can't imagine why I would want to use a curriculum at age 2 ... we started with a first tiny whiff of curriculum (some gently structured math play) around age 5 and didn't add much more until age 8 or beyond, jumping in at whatever level the kids were at. Generally I found that almost everything that was contained within preK-through-2nd-or-3rd-grade curriculum was naturally mastered by my kids well ahead of time just by living life. We just focused on nurturing their social, creative and physical abilities with plenty of play, fallow time and appropriate access to music, art supplies, toys and such.

My kids were not tested from an IQ standpoint until their high school years.

Miranda

[KCMichigan]

At 2- just explore topics your DD is interested in - regardless of 'curriculum for age'.

From 2-4.5 at our house did thematic learning. DDs expressed an interest and we explored it until they moved on or I ran out of ideas! Themes included dinosaurs, space, volcanoes, birds, fish, ocean, body parts, seasons, leaves, etc.

For example:

For oceans we started with painting paper blue, adding precut fish then they dictated a story as I wrote it down (pasted in a book). Then we played with ocean cut-outs (magazines!) and magnets, read ocean books, sang ocean rhymes and rhythms, made up silly ocean names, checkout out books/videos/activities with ocean themes, made an ocean mobile, made ocean bookmarks, made/labeled ocean paper puppets, did ocean lacing activities, played with ocean figurines in a sensory tub, etc.

As they got older, I had them write the words. But at age 2- I printed them out for anything (dictated or cut/paste). We played with letters and numbers, map concepts (looked at a map), counting, color identification (not just plain colors- but silver, turquiose, crimson, etc) throughout the play.

This was fabulous since it was child-led, high interest and not a prefabricated curriculum. At 2- really what curriculum would be out there? I made it up as I went! 

Lots of art, hands-on, dictation, play acting, etc....

A few websites I utilized (by theme and not age)  were:

http://www.dltk-teach.com/

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/thematic-units/

http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Before_FIAR_Animal_Classification.pdf (fabulous pics to print with animal facts/book connections)

http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/

I also would google " ocean fingerplays" or "ocean printable crafts" to get specific ideas!

Have fun! 2 is a great age for sensory tubs, pretend play, dress up, songs, and field trips!

 As for preschool- look for a play-based one. That way the activities will be age appropriate socially/emotionally/physically and not have the academic factor that may be repetitive to kiddos that know the material.

At 3 & 4 my kiddos were reading/writing but really enjoyed play-based preschool. They did a lot of art, fingerplays, social games, physical play, pretend play, and science (collections, leaf prints, exploration tables, etc). It was perfect. It did not matter if they could/could not read/write/add- that was not the focus. They learned a lot of social skills and gained great background knowledge (great childrens books, folktales, rhymes, simple playground games, etc).

[marmat]

I'm new to the board. In search for forums for support system. I live in Mexico, so some things might be different.

I suspect my DD 2y3m is gifted, so we took to a specialized institution to assess her. She's going to be tested soon, but one of the things the Dr. told us is that most of the time, gifted children do better with a montessori system with a more flexible schedule and in a way they can interact with older children.

HTH

[Adaline'sMama]

I am interested in starting a computer- based curriculum (maybe "curriculum" isnt the right word...but something like that) with her because she has shown interest in it. That's pretty much the only reason. We do stuff that she is interested in all the time, but I WAH on the computer and she wants to "work" on it too. There are several programs that can be purchased, but I dont want to waste money if it isnt going to be challenging enough for her. Plus, I dont plan on starting it until she is three. Just looking at options right now. She's having plenty of fun playing.

As far as the preschool situation, montessori is an option, but it is 35 miles from my house, so I may look to just keep her at home. The other option is for her to go a few days a week to the city where my husband works and but that would likely require a scholarship since we are broke.

[moominmamma]

I would recommend staying away from pre-academic "curriculum", because it promotes a very simplistic style of closed-end-point learning. You know: royal blue and cherry red and lemon yellow, and none of the shades in between. The letter P is always in a bold sans-serif font. The answer is always right or wrong. There is no way to ask questions. You move sequentially through gradually increasing levels of complexity, with no provision for leaps of intuition, backtracking or experimentation with alternate interpretations of information. I think it's a terribly inappropriate form of learning for young children, who are hard-wired to learn by observation, mimickry, exploration, experimentation, hands-on manipulation, social interaction and by asking a thousand questions. I know that you are probably thinking "She'll still have time for that; it'll just be 20 minutes once or twice a day." But when computer algorithms are her primary means of introduction to numbers and letters and all the pre-academic skills, those experiences are likely to shape the way she greets all her future academic learning. 

If she must be on the computer at that age, I would encourage you to ensure that the sum total of her screen time (TV, computer and video time) remains below and hour or two a day. And I would provide her with creativity suites on the computer rather than typical school-readiness skill- and information-oriented educational fare. KidPix was one program that my kids found wonderful for open-ended, collaborative and social play at the computer when they were younger. (It's a very old program: we bought the first version when my now-adult dd was 4. There are probably plenty of newer incarnations out there now. I just mention it to illustrate the style of software I feel is appropriate.)

And since her natural inclination is towards screen-based activity, I would provide enthusiastic support and facilitation on a daily basis of social, physical, artistic and imaginative activities, rather than letting those be the things that sometimes fill time when you're not actively supporting her. Active parental facilitation sends a very strong message to children about what is important.

Miranda

[joensally]

Originally Posted by marmat 

I'm new to the board. In search for forums for support system. I live in Mexico, so some things might be different.

I suspect my DD 2y3m is gifted, so we took to a specialized institution to assess her. She's going to be tested soon, but one of the things the Dr. told us is that most of the time, gifted children do better with a montessori system with a more flexible schedule and in a way they can interact with older children.

HTH

I hope the assessment is inexpensive, as there is little to no reliability in testing at that age.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=AlknZbhbUPAC&pg=PT103&lpg=PT103&dq=nurture+shock+iq+point+variation&source=bl&ots=2m3OtRGeEv&sig=QVNke4LbAXzyybp7yJh3_Y_Rp5U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uYrfT_3NLI382gWv8-m-Cw&sqi=2&ved=0CFYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Montessori is good for many gifted kids, but not all.  It can also be very expensive.  In research, play-based preschool comes in a close second to Montessori in long term outcomes.

Also, what moominmamma said.  :)

[KCMichigan]

I agree w/ previous posters to limit screen time at that age. I think we started barely barely time at 3.5 or so.

a few website that are FREE and educational would be 

http://www.starfall.com/

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

http://www.abcya.com/

http://pbskids.org/

My kids also like the websites for Magic Treehouse, BigBig World, and Dinosaur Train.

But none are a set curriculum.  I have heard good things about readingeggs.com and MAth IXL, but have not used either. Too formal for us.

If you do start computer time next year, I second computer activities such as KidPix (yes, it is still out there!) and a new TIkaTok website (make a virtual story) for creativity. But I would suggest age 4 or so for both just for ease of use (they are meant for 6+ or so). My kids liked playing in Word to be honest, just typing words at first then stories. The changing the font, color, size ,etc is still a source of educaitonal fun for them. Plus I am impressed at the the typing skills they have mastered in such a short time. We go days and days without screentime to be honest. I figure they will get a lot of it when they get older. DH works on the computer all the time-- our kids are pretty understanding that DH is working and not playing. Though more screentime is requested, it is often denied and they find other ways to play readily.

FWIW- Montessori did not work for one of my DDs. Both did well in a playbased setting.

[Adaline'sMama]

KCMichigan,
Thanks for the links. We use starfall and pbs, but not the rest of those.



You know, I came to this forum (which I have pretty much never posted on because I usually see a lot of snarky posts every time I come here looking for something) asking advice about getting my child tested. I know plenty about screen time, open ended education, play base learning, hands on learning, parental facilitation, fostering imagination and creativity, ect. That is 90% what we do at home. I actively parent most of the time, and Im pretty sure it shows in her communication skills. But, several of my friends who have raised their children in this way have kids who do not know a lot of basic things that most 7-8-9-10 year old should know. And by "should" what I mean is that most of the people in their age group know those things. So, Im not sold on the idea that academics aren't necessary, and in the state I live in, where the education level is one of the lowest in the country, I see no reason not to get a head start if my kid is excited and interested.

My child thrives on yes/no answers, "winning", being "right" and playing games where there is a right and wrong answer. I don't think that it's good for that to be the primary way to educate a child, but I do think it keeps her excited about learning new things. I do these activities with her- so she will have ample opportunity to ask plenty of questions and a parent who also asks her questions about what she is learning. Not all children need to be raised in an educational environment that is 100% open ended, creative, imagination based. Some children like to be right and wrong and like a little more structure. And honestly, in life, there are lots and lots of right and wrong answers so I see no real merit in keeping that a secret.

But, the answer to my question about testing seems to be that testing at this point is not really accurate, so we will just wait. I'll ask my ped what she thinks. I got a preschool check list off of the internet and it seems that she is capable almost everything that is on the "most preschoolers can do this stuff by 4 years old" check list (not physically, she cant jump rope or do jumping jacks). So, I see no reason not to get the 3 year old computer program. We don't always have access to the internet (and our internet is super slow) so a program that saves on the computer instead of requiring the internet to work is better for us.

[moominmamma]

To be fair, while your subject line asked about getting kids tested, your actual post asked about "finding appropriate educational stuff for her" ... and so people gave their opinions on that, as well as commenting on the testing. Then you said that pretty much the only reason you were interested in testing was to find appropriate computer software ... so people gave suggestions about appropriate computer software and appropriate use of computer software in toddlers and preschoolers. Sorry if what I said made you feel defensive, but truly, I personally thought I was being helpful, suggesting the sorts of things that were helpful for my kids. If you disagree with me philosophically, that's fine, I'm not hurt: but don't read an attack in it, because it certainly wasn't meant that way.

Miranda

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

I know plenty about screen time, open ended education, play base learning, hands on learning, parental facilitation, fostering imagination and creativity, ect. That is 90% what we do at home. I actively parent most of the time, and Im pretty sure it shows in her communication skills. But, several of my friends who have raised their children in this way have kids who do not know a lot of basic things that most 7-8-9-10 year old should know. And by "should" what I mean is that most of the people in their age group know those things. So, Im not sold on the idea that academics aren't necessary, and in the state I live in, where the education level is one of the lowest in the country, I see no reason not to get a head start if my kid is excited and interested.
 

You will never see a post from me advocating unschooling a school aged child, which seems to be what you are talking about in this quote. But you don't have a school aged child -- you have a two year old. There is ample evidence that academic instruction is not appropriate for very young children. David Elkin and Jane Healy have researched and written extensively on  this. (If you want links, I'll dig some up for you -- this is a subject I spent a great deal of time at the library researching when my own children were young) There is a lot of evidence that getting a head start doesn't help kids in the long run.

In your first post, you don't mention that 90% of what you do at home is not screen based, so we didn't know that.

"My child thrives on yes/no answers, "winning", being "right" and playing games where there is a right and wrong answer."  Because she is very bright, possible gifted, and has this character trait, it is very possible that she will be perfectionist to the point of driving herself crazy. Encouraging her learning ways that do not exacerbate this character trait will serve her well in the long run.

"I am interested in starting a computer- based curriculum (maybe "curriculum" isnt the right word...but something like that) with her because she has shown interest in it. That's pretty much the only reason. We do stuff that she is interested in all the time, but I WAH on the computer and she wants to "work" on it too."

Although there is a lot of talk about following kids interests, there are times to do that, and times to redirect. Screen time for a preschooler is, IMHO, a time to re-direct. Just because a child shows interest in something, it doesn't mean that it is in their best interest, or that it shouldn't be carefully monitored.

As far as something for her to do while you work, helping her develop the skill to keep herself busy and engaged on her own is one of the best things you could teach her. When my kids were that age, we would make a fresh batch of playdough together (which is how they learned fractions and how to read a recipe) and then they would play with it while I got things done I needed to. I kept a bunch of cool playdough accessories in a plastic storage container for lots of open-ended and easy play.

A really wonderful resource is: Sandbox Scientist http://www.amazon.com/Sandbox-Scientist-Science-Activities-Little/dp/1556522487

It has directions for kits that you put together and then your child plays with in an open ended way. This kind of thing worked GREAT with my kids when I needed to get something done because getting out the kit was a treat -- something different to do. And then it got put away at the end of the day. They next day a different kid could come out, and things just rotated around..

[joensally]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 


You know, I came to this forum (which I have pretty much never posted on because I usually see a lot of snarky posts every time I come here looking for something) asking advice about getting my child tested. I know plenty about screen time, open ended education, play base learning, hands on learning, parental facilitation, fostering imagination and creativity, ect. That is 90% what we do at home. I actively parent most of the time, and Im pretty sure it shows in her communication skills.

I'm not sure if you're saying you felt snarked by the responses, but most of the responses were from long-term members who have been posting in PtGC for a long while and aren't generally snarky.  We've been where you are - how do I  meet the needs of my child, who is showing some out-of-norm abilities and interests?  This forum used to be extremely active and the responses you've received reflect the experiences of many people who have shared here over the years - there seems to be a general bias toward open ended learning while coaching your child to develop self-regulation skills.

As for testing, you could look at this, but it's not a gifted test as nothing with standardized norms exists before 2.5 (I think that's when the WPSSI starts), but there's a lot of evidence that testing is just not reliable until school age+.  It's also expensive.

http://www.asqoregon.com/

Sorry I can't help with computer stuff as I'm sure there's lots of new stuff since my kids were young.

[LitMom]

I homeschool, but both my kids have done a play based preschool. My daughter had some signs of giftedness at that age--concepts, verbal ability, artistic ability, pre-reading and early writing. My son may be gifted too, but he didn't have those kinds of signs at preschool age until he turned 4. At 2, 3, 3.9 years, and even 4.25, no one had any idea what he could do, including me. (He won't do anything until he feels he can do it to his own high standards, so he suddenly started writing and drawing at age 4. I suspect he'll start suddenly reading fairly well sometime this year, because I see him mouthing while "looking at books" but he insists he cannot read.) I wouldn't discount part-time preschool programs, especially multi-age ones. (Ours is ages 2-4). 

At home, we use a Waldorf-oriented program called "Seasons of Joy." http://ourseasonsofjoy.com/seasons-of-joy-store/ It's aimed very broadly, so for summer, we will do the activities as written for DS age 4 and DD will do more advanced work with the same material-- painting scenes versus color play; writing and illustrating summaries versus oral retelling with prompts. You could try something like that and just see what works for her.

As to testing, you could first ask your pediatrician. We are testing DD over the summer for dyslexia, after teachers at her homeschool program noticed the same issues I was noticing at home. The pediatrician was able to refer us to someone, I think an educational psychologist? Who can do an official diagnosis and IQ test, etc. She's never been IQ tested, and I don't feel the dyslexia is impeding her badly in day to day work, but it will be nice to have a formal diagnosis when it comes to standardized testing should she need more time because of the dyslexia. And I think the psychologist will be able to give us some tips and direction for helping her do her best in day to day as well. 

[Adaline'sMama]

Linda- I didnt think about the perfectionist aspect of it. That may become an issue, because she is already quite the perfectionist.



I guess I need to find out what qualifies as "pre-academic" because I see nothing wrong with my kid learning her her ABC's and numbers. I'm not talking about teaching her to read on the computer or teaching math. But, the app she has played with on my dad's ipad is educational and it's great- it teaches her words based on the picture of the item. For example- cauliflower, wheelbarrow, hand trowel, lawn mower, cucumber, vegetable basket (its the farm app) and it's basically just like a puzzle. She picks an item and drags it to the slot where it fits and then it tells her what the item is. She likes puzzles, but she gets bored with them and once she knows how to do it she will just take the puzzle and dump it upside down to hear all the pieces make a noise when they hit the ground. So, being able to get a new "puzzle" for free once a week is great. We have a few challenging physical puzzles, but the require her to really be paying attention and she cant do them by herself (which is pretty much the dealbreaker these days. She wants to do everything herself.) As far as entertaining her while I work goes, she usually plays in her kitchen or draws during that time. We only have one computer, so she isnt working along side me. But she often wants to sit in my lap and type, and Ill tell her that if she waits until Im done we can play starfall for 10 minutes. And she is very patient about it.
joensally- I didnt feel "snarked" on really, just that I 100% expected to have everything I was doing picked apart as opposed to just "here are some awesome programs for toddler", "here is how you might look in to finding out what level she is at" and "you might look in to xyz preschool if you think she wont do well in age-based activities." It's just the general assumption that someone isn't actively participating in their child's education and is just looking for a computer program to do their job for them. When I was writing my OP I was short on time and I actually thought to myself, "If you don't add stuff about limiting screen time Ill bet you get at least three responses about limiting screen time and not one link on how testing." And I did.

Litmom- Thanks for the link! I am looking towards some kind of part time preschool programs. She is super social and likes to be around other kids. She showed signs early on, but I thought it was just "every kid is different" - not that she was particularly "gifted" or especially smart. Now she is just never satisfied for long- she often doesnt want to "play" she wants to do adult activites. She won't let us read to her- she wants to read to us (which is cute, but doesnt help with calming her down for bed. it just gets her hyped up.) n

[KCMichigan]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 


My child thrives on yes/no answers, "winning", being "right" and playing games where there is a right and wrong answer.

 

 I'll ask my ped what she thinks. I got a preschool check list off of the internet and it seems that she is capable almost everything that is on the "most preschoolers can do this stuff by 4 years old" check list (not physically, she cant jump rope or do jumping jacks). 

Speaking from a preschool teacher point of view, the right/wrong- perfectionistic tendencies are  fairly typical for the 2-5 year old set. They really are rule , black/white, yes/no orientated. It is developmentally how they classify things- it has to fit into certain parameters. (Generally speaking of course) It is hard to explain things that fall in 'grey' area/exceptions to preschoolers!

Verbal kiddos also become experts at finding verbal loopholes to bargain WHY they are right/wrong. LOL.  Though it can absolutely be emphasized by both personality and GT traits.  So a perfectionist, type A personality kiddo that is GT can really really emphasis these traits. Laid back kiddos may not be as insistent on rules/ right or wrong, but still may be GT.

On the Pedi---- I would walk that discussion with caution. Most Pedis are not trained to look for GT kiddos. They are trained to look for kids that fall below the developmental guidelines.Plus a few vists a year are simply snapshots and not regular contact with a child. A shy child may not talk to a Pedi and be overlooked for both delays and advanced skills simply due to personality.

Some Pedis will be good resources and others will not. A good resource would be your local GT chapter or if your state has legislation- your school system when your kiddo turns 3. Preschool teachers and/or educational personnel that come into contact with your child on a regular basis might be good contacts.

Having used checklists--- they are usually what most kids at a certain age should be doing, so that 80-90% of kids have mastered that skill by that age. So for jumping jacks at age 4 (which seems an odd one to be honest) most kids will be able to do this at age 4, which means a large percent should master it at age 3. For developmental screening, kids that missed skills on checklists (such as cutting a somewhat straight line with scissors or standing on one foot for 5 seconds age 4) warrant further evaluation. Just to let you know- after doing evals on 3/4 yr olds for while. The basic preschool evals (DIAL-3, LOLLIPOP, Denver, Ages/Stages, etc) and checklists are valuable in that they let you know if a child is missing skills expected for a certain age, but aer not generally helpful in firmly  identifying kids ahead of skills (a child who just met the skill will get the same check as the child that has mastered the skill a year or more ago).

FWIW my kiddos just learned to jump rope at age 6.5. They have always had an inbalance in physical skills/gross motor and cognitive/verbal skills.

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

Litmom- Thanks for the link! I am looking towards some kind of part time preschool programs. She is super social and likes to be around other kids. She showed signs early on, but I thought it was just "every kid is different" - not that she was particularly "gifted" or especially smart. Now she is just never satisfied for long- she often doesnt want to "play" she wants to do adult activites. She won't let us read to her.

Most kiddos at that age like to imitate adult activities! It is completely developmentally appropriate. You can easily have her help you fold laundry (count towels!), sort socks (great matching activity!), wipe down tables (good for building gross motor muscles in shoulders!), pick up, etc. 

The drive for novelty is often a sign of advanced/intelligent kiddos as well.  It is personality driven as well- but an outgoing child is often social and enjoys the novelty of people and interacting with them!  

Our library has 'busy buckets' that you can check out that include a puzzle, activity, book, puppet, etc that are based on a theme. It would be a great way to keep novel things available for free! Also we used to rotate puzzles (put some away and bring them back out a few weeks later) to help keep things fresh. Large floor puzzles are also a lot of fun (and much easier to pick up!) and even if they know how to piece it together- the act of manipulating the large pieces is a different challenge than small pieces. Or puzzles with the locks/latches/buckles are great. There is a neat interactive puzzle at Target that has 12 different 'keys' to open doors- 3+ but a 2 year old with good find motor skills and an eye for detail could do it.

Remember, your DD is 2. She is still very young! You are still 'early on' from a chronological point of view. Attention span for this age is short, a long attention span would be more unusual than a short one. The 'dont let you read to her' is likely a phase- have you tried short books on tape? Or interactive books (since you said you have access to an ipad)? They are a lot of fun and a great option for kids that crave multi-sensory input.

Have you looked for a playgroup, music class, activity?? Our local library, zoo, museums, and parks all have multi-age activities that are educational and play-based for ages 2+. That would be great and appeal to your DDs social nature, have some academic components, and also provide enrichment. We dropped playgroups about age 3 due to differing parenting ideas and the group, but from 2-3 it was a nice outlet for field trips, park visits, and activities. 

As far as testing: with the exception of testing/screening for delays (which can occur in GT kiddos as well- my two had/have delays at different points of their lives) most institutions/people will not test a 2 year old or even a 3 year old due to the inaccuracy of testing. I think that is likely why you did not get much information on testing.

I have found this group to be really non-snarky as a whole to be honest. I respect and appreciate that we all have different experiences and points of view but are all facing having kids that dont fit into traditional boxes and checklists. It really is a great place to bounce/gather/get ideas from parents who have been there. It is also been a great resource to really 'read' about different GT options, which vary so much by state/city/county.

Also personally, it is one of the few places I have found that has families that have/are going through the 2E process (a child that is both likely GT/advaced and also has special needs)- which has been invaluable for me as a source of support and information.

Welcome and I hope you find the information from everyone helpful- not snarky. It is often meant in a 'here let me share my experience' way not a ' THIS is how to do it'. Sometimes that may get lost in translation via internet.

Edited by KCMichigan - 6/19/12 at 6:22am

[Tjej]

www.poissonrouge.com is a fun site that is free. 

[NellieKatz]

Thank you for mentioning this site. We love it!

Originally Posted by Tjej 

www.poissonrouge.com is a fun site that is free. 

[ChristaN]

Originally Posted by moominmamma 

My kids were not tested from an IQ standpoint until their high school years.

Miranda

Not to drag this too far OT, but how did that work out?  I've heard a lot about ceiling issues when testing older kids.  My dd13 will be a sophomore in high school in the fall and was IQ tested on the WISC-IV at seven after some significant schooling problems that led to us trying to figure out what had gone so wrong.  While she was gifted per those scores, the tester felt that the scores were an underestimation b/c dd was uncooperative and completely refused to complete parts of the test that were timed like block design.  That led to scores ranging from the 25th percentile on that test to the 99.9th on other parts of the same subtest and a composite MG/HG score (GAI & FSIQ).  I've been giving some thought to retesting to see if she'd qualify for DYS or so she can at least have a set of scores done by a licensed pysch not a doctoral student like last time so she can use them should she ever want to apply to Mensa or something.  

Did you feel that the scores were fairly accurate at that age?  We wouldn't need them for school advocacy efforts at this point in that she's gotten a lot of accommodations with the scores she has and performance. 

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by ChristaN 

Not to drag this too far OT, but how did that work out?  

Fine, I guess.

We did testing for dd because she was wanting schooling from a higher grade-level which put her in a more generous and flexible school funding model than her age would have predicated (just a quirk of the way school is funded for K-9 vs. 10-12 here)... and the school felt better if they had some paper-work to justify placing her ahead in case they were audited. They had no prior academic record, dd having been completely unschooled prior to that, and they were willing to advance her without testing, but they asked if we'd be willing to go with the testing, just to cover their butts. We weren't really curious about the results; we didn't have any questions we wanted answered, nor was my dd particularly curious. So the whole affair was pretty meaningless to her and to us. We didn't bother getting a copy of the report. All I can remember is the approximate full-scale score (150-ish) and that she was pretty even, with slightly higher verbal than non-verbal scores, very close to ceilings in some cases. The school just filed it; they never did get audited.

For ds, we asked to have him tested for dysgraphia, and they went ahead and did a whole IQ test because they didn't have an OT available at the time we made our request (though they hired one shortly thereafter, so he did eventually get the OT consultation). He showed some major uneven-ness, particularly in visual processing speed (a four-standard-deviation spread from strong to week scores) and came close to the ceilings in verbal areas. It actually helped elucidate some of his dysgraphia issues and his struggle with music sight-reading. Unlike his sister, he was very interested in the whole metacognitive aspect of "how do I learn?" and "how are my thinking processes unique to me?" and all that. He really enjoyed talking to the psychologist about what his strengths and weaknesses meant, and was thrilled to have validated some of the things that he thought were just idiosyncratic hang-ups of his, to see that they had a sort of scientific basis that was measurable. He asked for a copy of his report, so somewhere in a file cabinet we have all the numbers and the subtest scores. Where we live gifted is considered 135+, which he did score (and much higher, if you calculate his GAI) but there was nothing about the criteria or the label on the report, and he wasn't at all curious about that end of it. He really took everyone at their word when they told him the testing was to help tease apart how he learns best, and his strengths and weaknesses. There's no gifted program here; no one talks about giftedness, the school is one of those tiny unusual ones full of creative buck-the-system teachers, where all students are essentially on unofficial IEPs ... so being gifted or not was a non-issue for him.

So anyway, our aims were not the usual aims in testing. We weren't trying to find evidence of high academic potential to show anyone. The kids were tested sort of by accident. I'm not sure whether the results were accurate, but no one was traumatized, everyone ended up happy and in the case of ds, there was a bit of a sense of having some of his quirks explained in a helpful and meaningful way.

Miranda