Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Best test for a 4.5 year old?

Just curious about the mthfr mutations. I have 1 and according to my doctor about 50% of the population does too. Wondering how that figures in here.

ITA with aeh


I'd lean toward *not* testing her now, for two reasons. First reason, imo testing for IQ alone isn't likely to shed any light on why she's having mood swings. A comprehensive eval might help with understanding the root cause, but unless you're seeing other signs that there is something going on with your dd, I suspect at 4.5 most referring drs (ped, etc) would tell you that "She's 4". With valid reason My suggestion re getting to the root of what's up is to start simple - keep a journal of behavior that includes time, date, location, what happened before the mood swing etc. Over a few weeks you might see a pattern that can help you think through - is it sleep, is it loud noises, is it diet, is it situational, is she not happy about not getting something she wants, is she in a new situation etc. Then, if you see something that is concerning - such as, whenever she tries to read she screams - you can investigate what to do re getting to the root cause of what's causing the emotional responses.

Second reason - you have doubts your dd will give the test good attention due to her age. Think through what's going to happen if you get back test results and the results don't tell you anything. You're thinking right now that if she tests gifted that would explain the mood swings. Suppose she doesn't come up with a gifted score. Would you then think the mood swings were caused by something else and seek out an answer? Or would you question the results of the test, thinking yes, she's clearly gifted so the test must be wrong? And what if it's wrong.... or right... does any of that ultimately change the fact that she's having mood swings and you want to deal with them?

Best wishes,

polarbear

All very good points. DD actually goes to bed really late and sleeps in, so it's interesting to hear it working well for others. No clue how we'll get her on a normal 8am schedule when preschool starts in the fall.

I honestly do really want to know where she tests at, but maybe it's still too early? We can get the RIAS for $200 and that's what I'm leaning toward right now since it's so short. But not if it's a useless test, which another thread on here suggests it may be.

Our local schools only have a one day a week pull out program for gifted kids and if she is, I want to focus on doing preschool just to give her something to do and then stick with homeschooling. If she isn't gifted, well... public school might be just fine, and I bet she'll like it. But I seriously can't have her dealing with the school experience I grew up with if she IS gifted. I have to homeschool or start planning on getting her to a better school now, even if it means saving money for that. I think it's really hard to get grade skips too in our district. :-\