Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Okay. I'm new. Help!

Wow. I envy some of you that seem so secure and knowledgable about their childs giftedness. I'm not so confident.

My husband and I decided not to do any testing for our Daughter (age 2 1/2) because she's still so young and may not cooperate, we may never need any "official" results in order to advocate because she will mostly be homeschooled or private schooled... and it seemed very expencive etc.. etc...

Well, I'm rethinking that. I seem to be rethinking everything on a regular basis. Sometimes I even wonder if my little at-home-diagnosis of her being GT is just a figment of my imagination... then she properly uses words like realize and phrases like "It will help more flowers grow in the future" and I confess to myself that I am falling into GTness denial.

I got a cupon (I know... weird... a cupon) in the mail for a local tudoring center. I spoke on the phone to the lady that does most of the pre-k stuff and she was really encouraging. She said she could do a full or partial assesment based on the California Achievements standardized test and it would (using mostly pictures and letters) tell us if she was comparable to like a 4 or 5 year old or... whatever.

Does this sound feasable? Assuming she'll cooperate with a stranger (chances are pretty good)... will this really help us know what we're dealing with?

Just as soon as I thought this was NOT going to be an issue for us and that we wouldn't need any assesments or preschool programs.... we are coming up against a couple of issues.

#1 some of the church's we're looking into attending want to put her in with the babies! No lesson, activities, or following directions.... just nursery care. Church being one of her only social, group activity, classroom times in the week I'm feeling it's important that we make sure it is stimulating. Since she's not in school yet this is one place we expect her to get some stimulation.

#2 after visiting (and thriving in) a pre-school for a day this last spring (at barely over 2 years old) she still talks about! She wants that kind of stimulation (she loved to listen in a group and do the activities witht the other kids) so I may be needed to advocate for early entry into a pre-school.
Other than that our option is to send her to this tutoring center (the one with the cupon) where they have a pre-k program.
Obviously they would expect that I have her assessed with their curriculem in order to grant her early entry and all. but what I like about it is it's pay as you go! You can go 4 days a week or you can go once a month... or ANYthing in between. There is no long term commitment (many of you said be prepared to change the plan very often because gifted children change so fast) So everything about that flexible schedule seems awesome! It's a maximum of 3 students per teacher and I can send her like twice a month since she is still rather young and does a lot at home. That way between this program, her gymnastics class, and my local MOPS group she can have a variety of learning and group-time opportunities without actually commiting to a year of pre-school.

So, to top it off this assesment is only $60 and the if I send her twice a month for the pre-k program I'll only have to pay $60-$90 per month for it.

But I have no idea what the California Achievemnent test is like and I don't know about any of this stuff!!!

So, any advice or ideas would be great!!!

I think she is going to need some extra stimulation and "learning time" this year because she is just HUNGRY for it all the time. So... I wanna do something... but what?!

Thanks!

Hi Brittany!

I'm glad we sound knowledgable. Stick around here and in a month or two someone new here will be calling you knowledgable!

Wow $60 for the CAT! That's a good price. The California Achievement Test is an achievement test that schools use to gauge learning progress. It is well known by most schools, I would say.

I wonder what age or grade they will test her with. I didn't realize they tested at 2 1/2 for that achievement test.

I wouldn't spend the money to have an IQ test for a 2 1/2 year old unless I had a compelling reason to. It can be quite expensive and can be inaccurate. I think I see 5 tossed around as the earliest age for pretty accurate results.

The monthly fee also sounds pretty good. Sounds like an active girl! You know, I've found almost anything can be a learning activity for a child as long as you are talking while you are doing it!

We've gotten to the point at our house where we talk about everything, in the car, at the grocery store! If you go to the zoo or the park you can do a little pre-work on the internet and get some facts to take with. Then as you see the elephants, or different trees in the forest, or whatever! you can tell her the names, interesting facts and have fun.

I read a book somewhere that advised that you talk to your baby like they can understand everything you are saying. Tell them what you are doing as you change their diaper, etc.
So I talked to them all day long!

She seems to like language so indulge her! Talk to her and throw in puns, poems, higher level speech in your vocabulary and just let her listen. If she asks what you mean, then tell her, but I'll bet she's picking up the understanding from the context in which you use the words a lot of the time.

I love that age! They are so eager to learn everything and just soak up the world around them!
Enjoy it, it seems to go by so quick!(I used to cringe when people said that to me, but, they were right. )

Hello Brittany! You found this fabulous site when your DD is a little younger than mine - when mine was 3 i started worrying about early entrance, etc. But I agree with Neato, that 2.5 is a little early for testing. We tested DS4 a little on the early side because we needed to know in the spring if he would be eligible for early k.

Your DD sounds delightful. I guess the pre-k deal where you can pay as you go sounds worth a try, and there may be some other places with interaction that are free or cheap, such as book-time at the library, zoo classes, community art projects, etc.

If she's yearning for academic stuff, you could try the educational games for PC, for pre-k or k-1 (that will also give you an idea of what level she's at). My DS liked those around 2.5-3.

And, like Neato says, this time goes by quickly, especially so if your kid is GT. It seems they pass through lots of phases, very fast. You're in for lots of fun.


Huh - I think we read the same book! when i was in GT denial phase, I thought, "oh, he just is early with language because of all that talking I did." Now it's all backfired - can't get the kid to shut up!

LOL!!!

Thanks guys! This is helping!
I had initially ruled out the possibility of testing of any kind this early. One of the reasons I am reconsidering is because when I asked what kind of assesment they do at this place, and what it involves... she explained all that to me and it all sounded like stuff my DD can do! She then asked how old the child was and I figured that as soon as I said 2 1/2 she would be like "oh that's way to young we can't get a good assesment at that age" but I told her a little about her and her skill level and she said "well, I could do a partial test that is for the pre-k but it sounds like she would do just fine at the full kindergarten CAT!"
I'm not sure. But maybe it's worth a try for $60. I think since it is a low enough level test that it can place 4 year olds she would probably place on it somewhere and give us an idea of where we're at. I get the impression that it's all based on how much they know and have learned... rather than like... and IQ test or something. I KNOW I'm not gonna do an IQ test or anything like that this young... maybe never.
I think this CAT is a whole different animal though (ha ha.. get it?) Any further info on that test would be helpful. What do you guys think? Is it possible that a skills assesment test like this would be a decent gague for where my DD is at rather than something as unreliable as IQ testing a 2yo?! I don't wanna do it if it's totally pointless...
Anyway, based on her peers and my past experience with kids I would say my dd acts like a bright 4yo... if that helps.

Also, on the talking with your kids as though they can understand everything. I have ALWAYS done that! I think that's one of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard! My dad did that with me and that's what he reccomended to me when my first was born. I think it's really paid off. Last night my husband and I found ourselves discussing past, present, and future with our 2yo and the concept of time travel. I'm scared to say.. I think she understood most of it!
We make sure to talk talk talk and she has just absorbed it!

Thanks guys. Any further info on the CAT and difference between these skill assesment tests and intellegence assesment type tests would be helpful. I know that the intellegent assesments aren't worth it right now but I'm still wondering about the other? What's everyone's experience with that? Is it worth my time?

I gave my daughter the kindergarten CAT (which is the youngest version of the test I have been aware of) when she was 3.5. That was several years ago. I don't have a copy of the exam, as I had to return it after administering it, but I remember that she knew some things I didn't expect her to know, and there was one area which she'd never been exposed to and she got all wrong. I don't want to give specific examples lest I invalidate the test, but it was eye opening. She did very, very well.

I don't know why you'd need to pay the test center to give the CAT. You can pay less and do it yourself by ordering through Family Learning Organization online. You do need to state that you are a homeschooling parent, but it sounds as if you qualify.

good luck!

I use Family Learning Oranization to get our test from too. They only charge $35 for the test. (And if you order in the off season you MIGHT get a discount. -- I'm not sure if they are still doing off season discounts. The on season is the end of the school year.)

As to putting your dd in an advanced Sunday School class. Let me share some questions that I was asked when my dd was your dd's age. Do you want her in the Youth Group (or whatever your church calls the teen group) a couple of years early? Do you want her in a class where she can be a leader, or because of age, she is always trying to fit in? If she is homeschooled, she may be sheltered from a lot of things that Public School kids are not. Do you want her exposed to those things early because she is in an older class?

On the other hand, putting her with older kids in the tutoring school will not be a long term thing, so I would not worry about that. Could you talk to the teachers at the Sunday School? Will they have time to spend extra time with her? Could she spend an extra year in the next class up?

I am new to this board too, but I have hung out on a homeschooling board for a long time and learned a lot of things there. Your answers to these questions may not be the same as my answers, but they are worth thinking about.

Yeah... having her in with older kids (like freshmen when she's only 12 or so) is something to think about.
Sundy school and whatnot is usually broken up by a few years though... like if she moved up to the pre-school class now I think she'd be in with 3-5 year olds (or at least 3 and 4 year olds)... which is PERFECT for her. However, we could keep her in there until she really is old enough to move on or we could advance her to the 6 year olds when she's 4 or 5... whatever ends up working best. I think eventually (by 3rd or 4th grade) we'd put her back in with her OWN age group... so, yes, she'd spend an extra year somewhere to fit back in so that she's not exposed to "teenage" stuff at like 9!

The thing of it is... she's in that age where she LOVES to learn! I want to take full advantage of that and provide her enough stimulation that she doesn't get bored. I don't want her to think of school and church as boring because she is constantly understimulated.

So for now in these tender years when she's eager... I'd like to see her move on (IF, and ONLY IF, she wants to) so that she can enjoy learning... then when she's older I would expect her to assimilate back into her own age group while getting more stimulation at home and learning to just DEAL WITH it if she's bored around her peers. I think that's easier to expect later than now.

Very good things to think on!

Thanks!

Hi Brittany -
This is my best guess also, it is easier to deal with some bordom if you are an older child, AND if you are motivated by enjoying the social interaction. And by then you will have found a good balance between academic needs and social times. For sure it doesn't work the other way around, I've tried that one!

I'd take the 60$ CAT, and see what the tutoring center can offer. Flexability is the name of the game, and if she is having fun, then you know it's the right thing. Any gifted program could be right or wrong for any gifted kid - the ideal thing is to have a test that chooses kids who will benifit from the program. In a way, this tutoring center 'counts' as a gifted program for your daughter as long as they place her in a group that is learning at her readiness level.

Welcome,
Grinity

Keep in mind what I'll write in just my experience not a you should...

I think by 18 months we knew. I bought my first gt book by 2. But I'm thankful we didn't test earlier than 4. Whatever we were doing must have been fine. They were happy and so was I. We did lots of crafts and adventures and books. I didn't know anything about kids so I never took the age limits on products seriously (in terms of puzzles etc.). For the first 6 months after being tagged hg+, I stressed out about "enrichment" and "education". Keep in mind, I don't work so a little pre-schooling for social benefit was fine (if it was to be 5 days a week... we would have needed more).

But I stick with I don't want any more tags on the kids until I need the proof for school. There are many times I wish we didn't find out at all ;-) but formal schooling would have been a shock if we didn't learn exactly how different the kids are. but for me, i'm glad i just wondered without stress.