Hi all,
Background
I posted back in October after finding this forum while trying to understand our DD7's Scantron Performance Series test results. She's a young 2nd grader, born in August (currently 7.5yo). Prior to taking the Scantron test, she had never been in a "real" academic setting. She was in a preschool program that extended through K/1st without a lot of rigor and more emphasis on social/emotional growth. We were shocked to find her school intake scores as 99% for reading, 90% for Language Arts and 93% for Math. We knew she was an avid reader, but she's our only child and we never considered the possibility she was gifted. (A real "duh" moment for us).
Now the shock/imposter syndrome seems to be wearing off, we've read a few of the recommended books on Hoagie's page for understanding gifted kids, etc. Our daughter was evaluated last week by a neuropsychologist and we're awaiting the results. Specifically, they are looking at IQ (WISC), and gross motor, fine motor, etc.
This week we also got back her 2nd round of Scantron Performance scores from Winter testing (taken 4 months after her initial test). Here's the results from that:
Sept Test:
Reading: Scaled Score 2871, 99%, GLE 6.0, SIP (Standard Items Pool Score) 97
Reading rate: "NM" - not measurable, too fast for computer or less than 5 sec per passage
Language Arts: Scaled Score 2344, 91%, GLE 3.4, SIP 74
Math: Scaled 2268, 93%, GLE 3.4, SIP 75
January Test:
Reading: Scaled 2960, 99%, GLE 7.6, SIP 98
Reading rate: 850 Words per minute
Language Arts: Scaled 2607, 99%, GLE 6.6, SIP 90
Math: Scaled 2414, 96%, GLE 4.4, SIP 85
Questions/challenges
1. Speed reading? We're glad to see this much growth in a short period of time. It was also interesting to see a reading rate for her since we didn't get one last time. We blinked a few times to make sure we were reading it correctly on the score report - 850 seems awfully high? I'm assuming that means she's reading 850 WPM on this 2nd grade level test, but surely that doesn't necessarily mean she reads 850 WPM for all texts? In my original post, we suspected she was a speed reader, but now I'm trying to understand what, if anything, we need to do in response? Her comprehension doesn't seem to be suffering - so I'm assuming its fine?
2. Handwriting, dysgraphia, etc.
Also in our original post was a note about how DD7 doesn't have grade level handwriting. It's often illegible and runs together. There are many times she can't read her own writing.. She *can* write neatly when pressed, but its rare. So far it hasn't hurt her academically, but I'm concerned it will discourage her from getting ideas onto paper. I thought it might be a fine motor issue, but the nueropsychologist thinks (prior to testing) that its likely dysgraphia. Is this a common issue with gifted kids? Any suggestions for what we can do to help?
I'm sure we'll learn more as we get the results from her testing in another 3 weeks or so, but in the meantime, are there any good resources you'd recommend to us as newly identified parents of a possible 2E kid?
We're lucky she's in an innovative private school environment where each student tackles core subjects at their own pace and then collaborate together on bigger projects. Thus, she's raced ahead in Language Arts into 4th grade work. For now its a great fit, but we're wanting to make sure we can continue to educate ourselves as parents.
