I am new to this forum. Please help me out. Anyway, I am considering in applying for DYS for my two sons. Does anybody know any inexpensive place for taking the IQ and Achievement test? I homeschooling both my sons and we live here in Northern Virginia. I am thinking of doing the portfolio for my youngest son but I not for my older son so I am thinking of them taking the test instead. Any information you could provide would be extremely helpful. Thank you so much.

Cristina

I do live in VA but not NOVA so I can't give you specifics but I did find a local university with a psychological services center that offered low cost testing (it was done by graduate students). Maybe you could find something similar up there? It cost us $250 for a full battery assessment including WISC-IV and WJ-III.

I got a question. I just sent application for my 7 years old son but they asking for 4 academic work including Math, Reading, Science & Writing. Dose everyone send those too? Or I can just send a video? Thanks a lot!

Has anyone thought about whether there is a point where having formal IQ testing might be dis-service to the child? Where if a child’s score is very high you may not want a record of it or it might be more harmful to have that information out in the world than to not have them tested. Has anyone with a PG child chosen not to test? Also with very young children who are very asynchronous could it be a dis-service to test before they even out or present an unrepresentative picture of who they are. We have several PG family members who were fairly odd children. Ha Ha. I have a young 6 year old and we are considering not testing him. We have a DD who is HG/PG and he is considerably more advanced. I am concerned that it would not be beneficial to test him at this point because of extreme asynchrony and general quirkiness. We feel we have learned a-lot of the information that’s out there about how to meet their needs and I am not sure testing him would be very helpful at this point. He is not in school and probably will not be any time in the near future, but I would consider applying for DYS at some point. We think the resources would be helpful at this point in our lives. This site has been extremely helpful to our family over the years. Has anyone ever chosen not to test a child?

I have tested my dc. You pose an interesting question. I really believe some of the danger lies in what you choose to do with information. We don't share the information with people other than by necessity. The school has seen the numbers and Davidson has seen them. Our family has not and will not seen them. My own dc don't know there numbers. I am not a fan of giving attention to my children for something they personally have no control over such as an IQ score. I would never allow media exposure over an IQ score. One of my dc has had very minimal media exposure of winning some different things, but nothing an normal developing child could not win as well.

I was a little concerned about opening Pandora's Box with testing. I am glad we did it and its been very helpful for me to understand them better. If you feel no need to do and feel you have a good grasp on your dc, I can total see not testing as well. I think a lot of us find it very informative. It's certainly not for everyone.

I don't ever understand why someone would not want to know something. It is just information. How you use the information is entirely up to you. I like making informed decisions based on as much information as possible.

Hello
My 6 year old daughter qualifies (IQ results) for the YSP but I am unsure of what to include in the portfolio of work. She reads 4-5 grade levels above her and her math is also about 3-5 grade levels above her age. She is an avid LEGO builder, can built LEGO for 16 and up; 800- 1000 pieces in few hours and her fascination are airplanes and rockets. Anyone can share their experience submitting the portfolio?

Thanks!

Hi, Willsher21,

I didn't submit a portfolio but I've read that parents often use video to demonstrate ability 2 or 3 grades above.

Hi KADmom!

Thanks for the input! I just want to understand a little bit more about what is it that they are looking for in a portfolio. In the website states that the applicant must submit 4 projects so maybe it is something that they have added recently.

Does applying and getting accepted to DYS help in any way for a student who is not part of the public school system (hence no need for advocacy)? I am asking because I would like to search for a tester and apply for my DS who is 6. But, I am unable to push myself to do it because so far I have not come up with a good reason to do it (and spend money on the testing) in our case. I am also left with the feeling that I am a slacker mom for not having done it yet. Suppose a kid goes to private school that more or less meets his intellectual needs and he gets afterschool enrichment where those needs are not met, does getting accepted to DYS help in any way? Thanks in advance for your input!