That's the spirit Zia's Mom!
Next question is - what kind of achievement test. The individually administered ones that are usually given with the IQ test have one type of drawback, and the group ones given at school have another type of drawback. Short answer - use the ones from the school. Here's why:
Tests such as Woodck-Johnson Achievement don't really give placement information. The problem with WJ achievement, is that they only ask a few questions from each level. The other problem is that the grade level equavalent that they give you, amount to something like: The children who would do as well as your child on this first grade test are in the 5th grade. It doesn't mean your child could do well on 5th grade work, only that they did very well indeed on the first grade material. ((Dottie help me if I'm off on this, ok?))
Talk to your school and see what they would want for a placement test. If there is "end of year" 1st grade material they can test him on, or see the work he does at home in his own handwriting that is likely to carry more weight. Now perhaps you can get the school to test him using whatever standardized test they use for 2nd graders, then they can see your child more clearly. Our school uses the ERBs, which are common for private schools. What are the potential problems with the ERBs and other group standardised tests?
1) if they are created for age mates, the may score poorly due to:
a) fell asleep
b) didn't settle down and take it seriously
c) overthinking the whole thing "It can't be this simple, there must be a trick."
2) if they are above level, (this is the best) the child with perfectionism issues may freak out that there are math symbols that they haven't seen before. If a parent explaines that the test is for many different ages of kid and has stuff that the child couldn't possibly know, and that they are supposed to guess, this may help. If the parent afterschool in advance (the dreaded hothoused child) this will make it easier for the school to recognise what's in front of them. I do reccomend this hot housing if:
a) time permits
b) it's fun for all involved
because it helps the school understand what they have. Even my wonderful new school didn't seem to understand the difference between missing easy Math questions because he had never seen the Metric System before and missing hard Math questions because he wasn't ready to learn Algebra quite yet. You can't count on the school really looking at the wrong answers and trying to understand where the child went wrong. The school wants "correct" answers to simplify their decision making. That's why the best placement is to give real grade level work and see if the child knows it or can learn it easily.
Remember that you can start first grade in September, and go to Second grade in October or November. He can take some classes with the first grade and some with second. He can do mornings in 2nd and afternoons in first. It only matters that he is getting his needs met 60% of the time, and that you are working towards a better fit. If he goes off to school glowing with happiness, well you know that something good is happening there.
((Ramble Alert:)) I was so pleased to see that after the grade skip, the end of year ERB testing revealed that DS was comfortably over the 50% score for kids in private school, but not "ceilinged out" by any means. So the idea is that if the teachers forget, or don't know, that he is gradeskipped, then they will "feel" like they have a socially immature kid who can easily get "B" if he follows directions, and if he streches himself, then he should be able to get "A"s in all his subjects. This is exactly what DH, DS and I want! It's not perfect, and DS will likely spoil the illusion from time to time by carrying around books like "The Universe in a Nutshell," (he looks at the pictures, and reads some of it) but I am so grateful to have it! It is good enough, and that is wonderful.
Sorry for the long post, but ((cheers!! The crowd goes wild)) good for you for being willing to accept the social put downs in order to do what is right for your child!
We dodge that "what grade is he in" questions all the time:
Other Mom: "So what grade is he in?"
Me: "Have you seen that new Simpson's Movie? I never laughed so hard."
Other Mom: "I can't believe they showed Bart's ....."
so you see, no need to answer friendly questions you don't want to answer. The weirdest was when a new friend cornered me and said that I just "had" to get my DS tested because he was seriously precosious. That I just "had" to do something for him because he wasn't getting challenged as a 5th grader in her son's very fine prep school. She was having middle-of-the-nights worry about my kid! I hadn't shared much of our struggle, but then I did, and we both cried and it was very nice, and it really helped me have the nerve to ask for the gradeskip. To me that is the most amazing, when the Mom of a same-age bright kid will say, "Your child is much different than mine, you must do something for him!" I know for some of the parents here, there kids collect lots of notice for being "smart" but somehow my DS only strikes most normal folks as "hard to understand." My friends who are gifted get it right away, but lots of people don't. Very strange.
Ok, now I have really really gone on long enough.
Best Wishes,
Trinity
