Don't worry, Slacker Mom, benigh neglect can be a good thing! Sometimes it's wonderful to simply leave our kids alone to learn what they want when they want. The fact that your DD wants to take the Explore should be the deciding factor. MY DS & DD both took the Explore when they were 8 and again when they were 9. The actual test is two hours with 4 30-minute sections. We didn't do any prepping either time other than the sample questions that were provided. It's a pseudo-achievement test because a high-ability kiddo can score really high without studying the typical middle-school curriculum. I would not wait because you don't know where your DD stands and it may be too late next year. DS hit the ceiling on the Explore (99 percentile compared to 8th graders) in 4th grade so if we had waited until 5th grade, the ceiling effect would have obscured the results.
