Hi POJ,
Welcome!
I have gotten so much out of interacting with other parents through the YSP, and I encourage you to submit an application as is, and see what they reccomend. The alternative is go try a different achievement test, but I would, perhaps, advise waiting a few months and doing a bit of "catch up afterschooling" first, perhaps something as simple as using an online Math program to "Zoom" him a head in math. (
www.aleks.com is cheap, and has a free trial, EPGY is expensive, but the gold standard - either is good)
I've been reading Sylvia Rimm on reversing underachievement, and accorting to her, underchallenged kids look just as stressed as overpressured kids. I know that I went out of my way to avoid any suspision of "hot housing" my child, or being a typical pushy parent. I regret this now for a few reasons. ((Big Confession Time))
1) Kids NEED their parents to have reasonable expectations for their academic growth. In our population, reasonalbe expectations will look "really mean" to other families, but the result of not providing these reasonable expectations are disasterous. In our case, we had a stressed out kid, who didn't "know" himself, who was getting the unspoken, and unintended, message from Mom and Dad, "fit in at any price" "don't make waves" and "academics aren't that important."
2)Schools understand kids who can "do math" and "read at an X grade level" better than "kids who have memorised all the dialoge from Monty Python" and "kids who know every lyric from every Simon and Garfunkle song." I realize now, that in encouraging our son's attention to these "little side allyways" of intelligence, we did not help the school understand that he is anything beyond "we have lots of bright kids."
3)We actually planned to leave "school stuff to school" as in "giving Rome her due" in the hopes that Giftedness was some kind of taint that we could try not to pass on to our child if we worked really hard at it. We verbalized it as - we don't want him to be bored at school, so we had better not show him anything about math or reading. I am very grateful to my son and to the YSP parents for showing me that being Gifted isn't my fault. I didn't choose to have this style of brain. I hadn't been being obnoxious for wanting to learn at school. It was actually the adults responsibility to notice what I was ready to learn, and to provide it. Wow! I can remember being so impressed while I was dating my husband that he could "get along so well with such a wide variety of people." I wanted a marry a guy who could teach my future children how to "act right" and not be disliked because they were different. LOL! I'm glad my attitude has changed a bit since then. %)
4) Afterschooling teaches you how your child learns. Afterschooling relieves the stress of an "underfed hungry mind." Afterschooling to his readiness level increases the willingness to try something new. Obviously a tester who is good at working with perfectionistic gifted kids MAY be able to coax a few more points out of him, but to me, I wouldn't spend money and time on it when you, yourself (or a tutor 2x a week) can actually start fixing the problem. BTW - expect "tantrum" type behavior. I can tell you that an 8 year old who hasn't learned how to work hard at learning and finally gets a chance will "show" you exactly the depths of their pain, as you are leading them out of their little dark corner. I'm thinking of Harry Potter living under the staircase at the begining of the first book, with the spiders. Plan on some kicking and screaming. One little boy put it "I'm not having a tantrum - this is the sound my brain makes getting it's gears unlocked!"
In the long run, I think you would benefit from the YSP. I encourage you to apply, now or later. If your son doesn't qualify eventually, we are still here to answer the same questions you would ask there.
So - I invite you to decide not to decide about finding a tester right now. Even if you had qualifing scores in hand, you would be months away from an acceptance letter. Let me gently, i hope, direct you back to the "what's the thing that is within your circle of influence that is most pressing?" Of course, download a application and start filling it out, start handing out those letter of reccomendations, but for now, write back about what is your main concern right now. Is your son melting down at school? Do you want to start, or extend afterschooling? Is there some kind of emergency situation right now? Or are things lumbering down the wrong road? What has you up at night worrying?
Love and More Love,
Trinity
