Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment anecdoctal evidence

Great idea. I've thought about audio or videotaping-- but why do you tell your child you are doing it?

How do you explain the DYS application? Or don't you?

Well, our camera doesn't have a red light, so I just turned it on, set it on the table, and ignored it while we worked on math. He didn't even know if it was on or not. Tricky, eh? (I didn't end up having to send this video, since we didn't go the portfolio route. But I think the technique worked pretty well, FWIW.)

I don't think seeing the kid mugging for the camera is a great idea, so anything you can do to avoid that is probably good. (Though I'm sure other kids have mugged, so it's also not the end of the world.)

Pehaps just filming A LOT would help. If s/he gets used to the idea that for a week, mom just always has the camera on, the mugging will end pretty quickly. And with digital, this is not a big deal to do anymore.

I don't think I kept the DYS application a secret from my DS, but I don't remember having a big talk about it either. I think we talked about it a little when we were going for testing. He was kind of sick of testing, and so I explained that if he did well, there was a chance that we could be in a group with other kids he might like. That was enough to get him back on board and made it so that I didn't have to explain what I was doing or why much. I just reminded him about the kids, and he was cooperative.

I don't know if that helps...

At the suggestion of someone from DYS I videotaped DS doing a crossword puzzle. I would never have thought of doing this as spelling/writing is not DS's strong point, but one of our recommenders noted that DS6 loves to do them. I think they want to see the "how" of what they do because they already have much of the "what" from the testing scores, KWIM?

Jool, I think the crossword is a good example of something that would distinguish a 6yo HG+ child from an MG- child. That's exactly the kind of stuff you want to capture to show DYS what your child is capable of.

BTW, it's good to know that DYS is recommending video. Thanks for that. It made good sense to me and it's on their list of acceptable submissions, but it was really just out of my own common sense that I have been recommending it to people who are having trouble showing what their kids can do because of writing issues and the like. It's good to get DYS confirmation!

Keep Bloom's taxonomy in mind-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom's_Taxonomy

Probably not the best source, but it's short and I think pretty clear.

I love the idea of the dice to generate the Math Problems - I'm always looking for an excuse to use those multisided dice. Did you know that for about 10$ you can get them that go all the way to 100?

Speaking about anecdotical evidence:

We came from the supermarket the other day, DD, DS (22 months) and me. While I am putting the TV to DD, DS disappears into the kitchen and is looking for something. He comes back with three 'actimels' (taken from a package of 4), and gives me one, another to DD and another one for himself.

It was not random, he went deliberately looking for them and came with a triumph face carrying the three of them.

Sweet!