Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Rapid reading and math skills suddenly.........

It has never occurred to me until this week that my DC, age 3.5 might be in the highly gifted range. I was in denial for almost a year that he was gifted in the first place, having been our first child.
He is speeding through 1st grade books suddenly and his math skills are leaping as well. It's not the level that he's at that makes me wonder, it's how rapidly he'll jump a level when he's interested. It happens in just a day or two, he'll just "get" something. Something that takes many children months or a year to absorb.
From a testing standpoint, I assumed we would test him later when we needed the results for advocacy in school, but now I'm wondering if I should do it sooner. Does anyone regret not testing at 4?
In our state, CA, he cannot enter K without proof of being in the upper percentile. I have been stressing about this issue for awhile and I think entering K at 5.5 is what we'll do. But now with this sudden leap in skills, primarily on his own, now I'm getting worried again.
I am finally at the point of putting "homeschool in my back pocket" as many of the veteran parents on the forums have suggested. It does ease some of the stress but for me, it's so sad. I am sad that there is no such thing as a perfect placement for GT kids.
I took our son to preschool this morning and they were counting to 10 and again, I just left with a pit in my stomach. I can't seem to get over it. I'm losing the dream of my child being a happy kid in a group of fun friends on the playground.
Thank you for all of your ongoing support. These forums are truly helpful to us.

it's how rapidly he'll jump a level when he's interested

I don't want to scare you, but this is precisely the profile that we've always seen with my DD (now 15, and entering college this fall).

Looking back, she was very clearly PG even as a baby-- if I'd known what I was seeing, that is. I mention that because the rate-to-mastery indicator is (at least in my mind) so potent-- it's really a distinctive feature of very high LOG. Many educators have "heard about" this behavior/quirk, but have never actually seen a child who does it.

So please be prepared to hear something from a tester that exceeds your wildest imaginings (or fears, in some ways).

I know that sense of grieving for normal parenting very well. I was shell-shocked when I realized that there WAS no school placement for my 5yo who was already reading as well as many adults.



I love my daughter dearly, and she is interesting and engaging to be with-- but I would NEVER have homeschooled her voluntarily, given our personalities.

I don't think you need to make such major decisions now about school. Also, your DC CAN be happy in a group of friends - of various ages...in addition to the play-based schools suggested in your earlier thread, you might want to check out Montessori schools.

DS did an achievement test at age 4, because he needed it for a program.

I have 2 HG+ kiddos (one is currently a DYS)- they are happy, they attend school, and they play with other kids...really - I would try not to worry and focus on enjoying this time with him. Time will fly! Also, there is hope for happiness, friendship, and learning!

DD did an IQ test at age 4.5, because we were considering application to a private gifted school. We didn't apply; and her results weren't a true measure of her capabilities, likely because she spent a good portion of the test under a table refusing to participate. At age 8 she tested PG.

She entered K at the scheduled time and actually had a lot of friends in school which is super surprising since she's also very 2E with terrible social skills. Had our school been willing to differentiate curriculum in any way at all, this could have worked out just fine.

I'm considering having DS (5 in October) tested, and I have in mind that it might be good for him to skip a grade at some point. His birthday is so near the cut-off for his grade that he'd still be close in age to the kids who are currently one grade above him.

Our district does an ability test for people who want to enroll kindergartners early, but I think there is a small charge. They only give the option to those who have a birthday within a few months of the cut-off. DD had an appropriate birthday to enter early, and I knew she was advanced (she could read fluently in preschool) but I didn't want to be one of "those" parents who makes wild over-assumptions about their child's ability. I also was talking to other parents on message boards and they made it sound like half the kids go to K reading already. That turned out to not be the case (no one else in DD's class of 18 was reading). So at that point, when we realized what a terrible fit it was, we accelerated her from K to 1 a few months after school started and the school got their act and paperwork together. I wish I had just enrolled her early because it would have been so much easier, plus I would have rather that she did a year of full-day kindergarten than an extra year of half-day preschool 3 times per week. Even though the district has this option of enrolling early, I don't know of anyone else who has actually used it. The only girl in DD's grade who was her age moved in from another state with a later cut-off.

We tested at 3:5 and the results were very helpful. However I think if you do the WPPSI-IV after age 4 there are more subtests and richer and possibly more instructive feedback?

That said testing was helpful and really helped me get my mind right about what kind of path we were going to take. We are in private school now - if we waited for the public schools it would be 2 more years before he could start kindergarten and he is already reading.

At preschool we accelerated him from the 3s room to the 4s room which bought us some time (and he got to play with the 5s which was what he really liked).

Agree with HowlerKarma here. One of the hallmarks with my 2e/pg ds8 is that he can make quantum leaps and rapidly accelerate through stuff when motivated and engaged and vested in the material.

Ds did take the g/t test at age 4 when we were living in NYC. He didn't qualify for the program. I don't regret him taking that test though because it was free and it did give us some valuable information.

Within a year, we were living in MA and were being told by a private gifted school that ds was pg and the school could no longer accommodate. He had went through the pre-k/k/1st grade curriculum within 2.5 months. I had withdrawn him from a public, special needs pre-k program for the private gifted school because 1) ds was bouncing off the walls, 2) had started to write three- and four-letter words, and 3) naively thought the private gifted school could accommodate him. I didn't really know that he would go through the curriculum so fast since he hadn't been placed in a more academic setting until that point.

With pg kids, I think you'll find that some kids are ok being in public/private schools. Other kids, like my son, do not tolerate it and need a more individualized education which un/homeschooling affords. I don't know if any testing will help you pinpoint those details. I think it more depends on temperament, internal/external motivation, social/emotional needs, etc.

Please go to your local public K's website or call them for a copy of the K curriculum so that you can set your expectations correctly. If your child is advanced and PG, you may be surprised that the K curriculum is not much different from an average preschool curriculum (in the "strong" school districts in CA). They talk about "number sense", finger strengthening activities like coloring, art, craft, sight words, rhyming words and maybe, if your school district is very strong, they might do a few hands on science experiments and a few field trips.
What we needed from them was help with learning to write legibly (which was my DS's weakness), but they never taught how to write the letters correctly and instead gave them sheets of paper with letters to trace without monitoring or helping them.
I suggest that you have a backup plan in case you choose to send your child to public school - which was after schooling in our case. We taught from curriculum and used many online programs like Dreambox, EPGY etc.
We then switched to a rigorous private school that accelerates DS in Math, Science and LA. We feel that he finds the math too easy, so we after school math now.
Testing at 4 is a good option - it shows you what the strengths and weaknesses are at an early age.

No, I do not regret not testing at the preschool age. In fact, I think that going to K and skipping first (if you need a skip) is a good idea rather than skipping K, and in that case, you buy yourself some time.

DD11 was, and is, very similar to this as well. Learning is in quantum leaps, after periods where you really can't tell anything is going on with her. We noticed it early, but didn't test until after 1st. At 7, we got reliable and helpful results that I'm not sure we would have gotten earlier.

There was a point where we had to let go of what I call "The Ramona Quimby fantasy." The one where DD walks with her little friends to the neighborhood school every day. DD continually pushed us to think more and more outside the box in terms of education.

DD is homeschooled and about 3 years accelerated. She attends classes, but it's nothing like a normal school. But that doesn't mean she loses out on having friends. She has friends at or near her age and gets along well with all ages of kids. She's really good at taking people where they're at and enjoying their company in context.

Yes, when she was little, it was difficult for her to relate to other youngsters. But it was WAY more difficult in the educational system that didn't work for her. In fact the more appropriate DD's educational environment is, the better she feels about herself and the better her social interactions are.

I guess what I'm saying is that homeschool solved her social problems, it didn't cause them.