Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Where to start for preschooler?

Hi, my DD will be four by November. She could read by herself, almost finished Suzuki Violin Book1 (good memory and fast learning), has sequencial memory when she played mighty mind in same order and color pattern.

1) I am not sure whether she is talent.
2) Since she was born in November and will missed the Sept 1 cut off date, she will be with bunch of five years old when she was six in kindergarten. If she is gifted, wouldn't it be bad to sort of holding her back? (as I am not a big friend for red shirting)

Because of these reasons, I am wondering whether I should have her tested. I has approached a local tester and was recommended to have her tested on the WPPSI-IV for ability and WIAT-III for academic achievement.

Should I go to PISD to do some facts founding first or go ahead to have her tested so I know whether I am just being crazy or she is a smart cookie.

Do you guys do any practice before taking the test? Since I have no idea on those two test, a tons of training schools shown up when I google those test name on the web. I do want to get an idea of what the test is about.

If someone has experience in this area (pisd, missed Cut off date) , please give me some advice!

Not sure where you are located, but you could check school policy to see if they allow any kids to start Kindergarten a year early. Some districts have a policy that states that kids can start early if they are close to the cut-off (in our district I think they have to have a fall birthday--cut-off is 9-1). I dropped the ball and did not have DD tested to start early. She missed the cut-off by about 7 weeks, so was one of the older kids in the class. I wasn't really aware of how abnormal it was (in our district) that she was reading fluently. She was basically way ahead of all the other kids, plus older, causing a very poor fit. If I had known the district could have tested her to see if she met their achievement criteria to start early(I think 90th percentile),then that would have solved a big problem. I think they charge a small fee, like $95, but that's a lot cheaper than doing it privately and then trying to convince them to accept outside results. We ended up grade accelerating later, and for acceleration they demanded higher achievement results, like 98th percentile instead of 90th.

Welcome!

If having the tests done primarily for school, you may wish to read your school or district website to learn what tests they administer, whether they accept results from outside tests, and which outside testers/tests they may accept results from.

Gather facts to learn the process and procedures in your area.
1) Check your State laws and/or Department of Education to see whether early entrance to kindergarten is allowed. You may wish to do a web search to find this information.
2) Check your local school or district for their policy and practice statements. You may wish to do a web search to find this information.
3) Print collected information and save it, as process/procedure/policy/practice may change over time. One way to save and organize information is to hole-punch and place in a ring binder, possibly tabbed by year. If your child is 4, you may have many years of advocacy ahead.
4) Other recent discussion threads may also contain helpful information. Advanced toddler here, Q's about K here, and acceleration here.

In general, practice or prepping for an achievement test is considered OK, and practice or prepping for an IQ/ability test is considered not OK by many, with thoughts ranging from unethical (gaming the system or cheating) to questionable validity of test results. Widespread leaking of IQ tests or development of similar test-prep questions has led to districts verifying results by use of multiple test instruments.

We did private testing at 3:5 for our DS. I thought the whole thing was kind of a waste till we got the results - it really helped us and changed out thinking about the kind of programming DS would benefit from. We are in a similar boat age cut off wise - our DS will start at private kindergarten right around his 4th birthday (there will be a lot of other older 4s in the group and the class size is smaller so it is a little different from a public K).

We are going the gifted private route b/c of the age cutoff issue. DS would end up doing kindergarten 3 times if we used the public schools.

However you get it done - I think testing is very useful. Keep in mind that you can only take the WPPSI-IV once/year (or is it once every 2 years?) so it is important to do what you can to make sure you get a good result (good night's sleep - maybe test midmorning when kid is very alert, good solid breakfast etc).

You can take the WPPSI-IV (or any specific IQ test) no more than once every two years. Prepping kids for standardized testing really should consist only of making sure they are well-rested, properly-fed, alert, relaxed, and comfortable. For some children, trying to cram will make them more anxious about the process than necessary. It may also result in invalid results (and this can go either way--up or down). Even if you managed to pump up their scores by test prep, it would not be a realistic picture of who your child really is, and might result in an inappropriate school placement or program, which can be just as damaging if it's too high as if it's too low.

Also, keep in mind that most evaluators are experienced in explaining the testing process to young children, and in putting them at ease. If you go through the school system for testing, it will probably be someone who routinely tests preschoolers.

Welcome!

I do not live in DFW metro area but knows people from the area. Plano ISD has decent gifted program called PACE. Many schools in Texas have early registration for Pre-Kinder but only for low income and military families.

Your best bet is to enroll your DD when she is 5 and take credit by exam when you register (you may do it before the school starts) and start from 1st Grade or 2nd.
http://www.pisd.edu/parents/assessment.accountability/CBEKN.shtml

My DD went that route and starts in 1st grade. She was still miserable until we moved to a different school with better TAG program.

Testing WPPSI-IV and WIAT-III may open door for other resources like DYS program (if she qualifies). Texas local group is awesome!

Thanks for the reply. I am glad to know that we could only take the WPPSI�IV once every two years. Personally, I prefer not to do any test prep as it will made the testing result unrealistic.

Do you guys know anything about WIAT-III? Will it be too early to take the "academic achievement test" since she will not go to school until 2016?

I just found that we could skip kindergarten and go to first grade by taking an acceleration test in June 2016 for the the First Grade of 2016�2017. We are thinking about to home school her for PK , then put her in a good kindergarten next year. Then take the test for First Grade.

However some moms recommended me not to go for the acceleration route as the academic level in PISD (plano, TX) is above average. She said many First Grade kids in her elementary school has Third Grade level math and reading ability, and most of them will go to a magnet program instead of skipping a grade. I also heard that student could only accelerate once in the system.

Early in March, she had an hour long assessment done by a gifted preschool. I guess she just sit-in with some older kids and the teacher observed how her responded. I have no idea on what has happened as I was not allowed to stay in the campus. Anyway, the teacher said she is a smart cookie and at PK level.

I am very lost. Will the test serves some meaning at this point?

Btw, I really feel the love in this forum as we have been so lonely in searching....searching...and searching in the sea of internet.

We found the testing helpful (we did WPPSI-IV). It can help give you confidence in the plan you end up choosing.

She can take the WIAT-III as soon as she turns four. Unless you are looking at qualifying for DYS or other programs of that nature, though, achievement scores from this early will probably not help you for kindergarten/first grade entry. (Also, four-year-olds cannot obtain age-normed standard scores on the whole battery, only on specific subtests: oral language, early reading skills, not much in the way of real academics.) Even if they were to show that she is ready for first grade now (!), they would not give you current information for instructional placement two years down the road. Unless you are considering early entry to kindergarten for the 2015-2016 school year, in which case one year old data -might- still be useful. (What is your cutoff date for kindergarten entry? Is it five by Sep 1? Will she have missed the cutoff by two months next fall, or would she be going to kindergarten anyway?)