What tests: SB-V, administered by a gifted specialist in our area who was referred to us by friends who have an HG+ kid. (We probably would have thought DS was just a smart kid if it weren't for this friend I met in early childhood classes. She kept saying "your son is so much like my son was at that age" and recommending that we have him tested.)
What age(s): 4.1
What questions you had in your mind: We wanted to know if DS should go to kindergarten early, and in our district, you have to prove IQ >130. We probably would have had to fight hard for early entry since DS is 4.5 months past the cutoff, and we wanted advice. We also thought, maybe he's just really smart, and we're crazy to put him through this at such an early age. I was very worried about the fact that I would be in a separate room while he was tested - DS had never been alone with a stranger.
What you learned: DS was very HG+, and we were not crazy. We learned that with his level of giftedness and personality, early K wouldn't be a great fit, especially since we have a preschool teacher who "gets" him. (This was a surprise and a relief for me - i was young in school and still very bored, so I thought the recommendation would be early k to move things along. Relief because we have more time to figure out how to work with the schools, get over denial, etc.) We learned that we will have to reassess DS's education quite often, and we will have to be flexible. We were reassured that we could do this. We were given info on how to work with the schools (and tons of other resources.) Also, we didn't "put" DS through anything - he loved the testing. We will go back for achievement testing next year so we can apply to DYS when DS is 5.
Interesting side effect: since the testing, DS4's confidence level has greatly increased. Re: games and "inventions" etc, we used to hear more "that's too hard" and now we hear "no! don't help me! I can do it myself!"
I am also so happy that I found this website before we took DS for testing. I got so much great advice about how to prepare my "never been with a stranger" kid for this long test. (Long for him - about 1.5 hours.)
