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.
)
