Hello, everyone! I haven't been here in a while but remembered what a fabulous resource this place is.
My son is 5 and my daughter just turned 4. They both attend a gifted preschool (private). My son will be entering kindergarden next year which required some testing, and my daughter is enrolling in a summer program which also requires testing.
So I've recently received a heap of data on my kids, and my head is spinning. Let me also say this --- we are joyfully expecting our third child to be born in September. This is relevant because I am thinking the cost of private gifted education may be a real strain, especially if all three "need" it... but if they need it we can make a lot of sacrifices to make it happen. I'm an awesome coupon clipper.
Any insights you can give me will be appreciated. Let's start with my son...
My son took the WPPSI-IV. His overall IQ was only 99.7 percentile (I think the score was 143), but the verbal section of the test was 150 and which was over 99.9th percentile. I was looking at the Davidson Young Scholar criteria was was shocked to see this verbal score would be a qualifying score.
We knew he was bright - he is extraordinary with math and has an equally extraordinary memory. But he is a handful. He is restless, extremely stubborn and strong-willed, and can be difficult to manage in a classroom. He was kicked out of two preschool programs before we found a private school that specialized in gifted kids. Now he loves school, and his behavior in the classroom has changed 180 degrees.
I am hesitant to take him out of the gifted private school and put him in public. Our only reason to consider it would be financial. For now, he's going to do Kindergarten at the private school and we'll have to reassess after that.
My daughter, just this last weekend, did a KBIT and KTEA-II - both brief screenings for a summer program. I don't have the official results yet, but the tester did review the with me. On the achievement test, she scored over 99.9th percentile for reading (the score was 155 - but I'm not sure what that means, might not mean anything if it's just a raw score). She said DD was "way off the charts" in her reading, which wasn't too surprising since she started reading at about 19 months. (sounds crazy, I know...) Her math was a bit lower at 99.8 percentile. The KBIT, which was an IQ screening, scored her at 99th percentile. I can't remember the IQ number, but it wasn't that high - maybe 139?
Because of her ultra-early reading, I half expected high scores from her. I don't know if these screening scores mean much, though. Her temperament is completely different than her brothers. She is very cooperative, loves school, wants to please teachers, etc. She is an easy kid to test. Behavior-wise, I think she'd be OK in a public school. But she is so different than most kids. Even most kids in her gifted preschool (her teacher confided in us that she is just on a different plane than all the other kids - and these are all supposed to be gifted kids). She seems years older than the other kids even though she is the youngest girl in the class.
I don't want to short-change her education just because she is an "easy" kid.
Gosh, this is a loooooong post. I guess I just don't know where else to go with this information and these questions. We don't talk about giftedness or IQ scores with friends or family. I guess I want to hear from parents with similar scores - can kids like this thrive in a public school? Should we bite the bullet and keep them in the private gifted school. The private school is outstanding, so far... the teachers are just fantastic. It has been a huge blessing to both our kids to be there. They are very happy, and very excited about school. I hate to mess it up by switching them to public to save $$.
Do you think it sounds like my kids are *gulp* PG? I associate that with so many more challenges... Are grade skips practically inevitable needed with PG kids? (Not sure if public schools allow that...)
If you read any or all of the above, thank you. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have share - even if it's just to tell me to relax.
Thanks.
