Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Preparing your child for testing

Hi,

I'm a newbie to this forum. I am currently waiting for an appointment to have my 5 year old son tested to confirm giftedness, determine level of giftedness, and help us understand just where he stands so we can figure out the best options for his education. Being so new to this, I was unsure how I should prepare my son for testing.

So, for those of you who had your child(ren) tested, especially this young, what exactly did you tell them? (i.e., what the test was for, and why they were being tested?) I'm just curious, because I know my son will have a million questions about why we are doing it.

Thanks for any insight that you can give.

We were lucky in that DS (then six) had participated in some research studies before his testing... mostly things for the audiology department at our local univ., so not really like the test itself, but the situations were similar: the person administering the test would have some specific things they could say and do and specific things they couldn't say or do because they had to make it all the same for everyone who took it or it wouldn't be good science. And I couldn't tell him anything about the stuff they'd ask because they had to only do the test with people who hadn't seen it before or it would mess up the results. Also he had to do his best because that's what they were testing for, but not to worry if he couldn't do everything because of course to find out everything he ~could~ do they couldn't stop until they got past that...

Apparently I played up the "can't tell what's on the test" part a little too much because he steadfastly refused to tell me any details afterwards because I had said no one can know until they take it! LOL

We never really discussed what it was for or anything, and I think he just assumed it was part of another study. It's been three years now and although he definitely remembers going, he never asks about it...

I just had my 5 y.o. DS tested too (SB-V and WIAT). I told him basically nothing, mostly because I didn't know what the tests would involve anyway. I told him in the morning that we'd be going out in the afternoon, then when we got in the car I told him where (to see Dr. X who isn't the kind of doctor who gives shots), and that she would be asking him questions, and that it would be fun, and that I would be nearby but not in the same room. And I told him to answer her questions for real and not with made-up replies (he likes to be silly), and to do what she said. -- which was unnecessary, because as it turned out he liked the tester a lot and was going to do what she asked anyway. So, essentially no advance warning, and he took the whole thing in stride and did very well on the tests. And he is not the sort of kid who likes new experiences or being away from me in a strange location.

edited to add: I should mention that he has overheard me talking about the school hunt and at one time seemed to be getting anxious about it, so since then I have purposefully avoided that subject around him. That's why I didn't tell him anything in advance or that this was to help choose a school: I didn't want him to brood over it.

Hi - we had our DS tested at 4 on the SB-V. I will see if I can find the thread where I asked your same questions! Right now, DSnow5 will be taking the WJ-III, and I've been trying to figure out what to tell him about that, since it's different from the IQ testing. DS thought the SB-V was very fun, but I'm not so sure he'll think the achievement testing will be fun, since it involves some writing, which he hates.

For the SB-V, we told him (after lovely advice here) that he would be in a room alone with the tester, that he could ask for as many breaks as he wanted, and that he should try to answer all the questions, even if they seem silly or easy, because that's how you get to the more interesting questions. We also had some good bribes for afterward if he cooperated.

Here's the thread from last year:

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/9953/1

There is good on-topic info in the first couple of pages. After that we all went crazy with myers-briggs stuff, so you can skip that.

There is an article at Hoagies' titled: How Can I Prepare My Child for Testing?

the link:

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/test_prep.htm

mtgts, I ran into the same question about 3 months ago with my daughter. After her K teacher recommended we have her tested and consider a grade skip. My DD5 had been telling me she wanted to do some "real math" and read something other than baby stuff, learn how to read and write spanish not just learn the words ect... I told her the person who would be testing her was checking to see if she was ready for those types of things. I know every child is different but it worked for her.

Hi,
We just told DS that he was going to be asked some questions to help them decide what tricky work they can give him. He loves being asked questions so it went smoothly for him. Other than that we did nothing else (I didn't even know what the test entailed). He had the SB-LM.

Hope it all goes well for you.

XX

When we took DD4.5 for her testing (SB-V and WIAT-II), we told her that she was going to see the "learning doctor" and that she would be asked questions, play some games, etc. so that the "learning doctor" could see how she best learns. DD is sometimes apprehensive (at least initially) in new situations, but the educational psychologist made her feel very comfortable from the start, and it turned out to be a great experience for her; in fact, she sometimes still mentions that she would like to go back to visit the "learning doctor"! Other than that, we just tried to make sure that she got a good night's sleep and ate a good breakfast beforehand--I don't think that there is really another way to "prepare" for such testing...

GOOD LUCK!

When dd (then 5)was being tested the school did Key Math and an IQ test, so I just told her they needed to know what she could do so they knew how to help her learn more math. I said she needed to try to answer all the questions but though some will be easy for her, some will be hard and it's ok if she doesn't know the answer, just give it her best guess. When it was all done she told me that a lot of the questions didn't have anything to do with math.

Unfortunately this last weekend I think I gave her some bad advice for her SCAT test. After she came out from her break she announced proudly, "I finished it in 8 minutes!" Urgh! Makes me wonder if she even read all the questions! So when she was going back in for the second part, I reminded her that she has a full 20 minutes and she should use it to check over her work if she finishes early (she likes to race through tests). When she came out of the 2nd part she's was really upset because she didn't finish it- she spent too long on one question she didn't understand and didn't have time to answer the last 3!

Phew! Then I can stop feeling bad about giving her bad advice!