Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment DYS nominator?

Who did you use as your nominator? The child's teacher? DS6 meets criteria on testing. He's in a 1/2-day K program and I suppose I could ask his teacher, although I'm not sure she has viewed him as gifted to this point.

We used DD's occupational therapist, who wrote a great letter with specific examples of unusual behavior. I think it's nice if it's someone who works with children a lot, so they have a clear idea of normal grade level behavior, and it's good to pick someone who "sees" your child. Maybe a children's librarian?

I think if you have qualifying IQ and achievement it is not really critical so long as they genuinely know your child and are not a relative. We just had my son's tutor serve as our nominator. Nothing fancy. I think if we had been using a portfolio I might have chosen someone different (ie maybe with more credentials).

I'm sure his teacher would do it, and I think more recently she understands what an outlier his is, but she certainly didn't view him in this way until recently.

He has an OT but we just started and I do not feel she knows him well either.

I could certainly ask our librarian. She sees him in there 3x/week but I wouldn't call them "close"...

I have family friends who are educators who have known him since he was a baby, but I'm not sure that's entirely appropriate.

I think it's tough with a kid who just turned 6... he hasn't been in school long (and only 1/2 day) and he's still dabbling in various extra-curricular activities so it's not like he's done anything for "years" yet.

DD's school libranian did hers as DD had spent a lot of time with her whike researched why Pluto wasn't considered a true planet in first grade which was an early example of DD relentlessly digging in u til she found answers.

We had a teacher teacher nominate DS. She specifically teaches math, so it seemed like a good fit.

I think the rule is that family members cannot serve as nominators.

A librarian might make an excellent nominator- I hadn't thought about that.

Are there additional references? I think now the nominator serves as a letter of recommendation. I didn't read anything about references but maybe I missed it.

My concern is that the two adults who work in the school that know my son the best (his first grade teacher and the reading specialist) think of him as a nudge and they believe he's reading on a second grade level when he's been assessed on a 5th grade level. But, he's in K so perhaps it doesn't matter since he has DYS scores and is above grade level?

Am I over-thinking the importance of the nominator when you have all the other boxes checked? Perhaps I'll write a letter to go with it.

I used a therapist DD had seen when she was in Kindergarten (she's now in 2nd) who had also had PG kids and who really "got" DD. Her OT or Kindergarten teacher might have been reasonable choices as well--but not her teachers for 1st, 2nd, or sped, who all probably know she's gifted but don't really care to deal with it.

What about friends who are educators? I used to work in public school and so we often have play dates with other teachers. It was these individuals who helped me determine he should be tested for giftedness.

Yes, I think you are over-thinking the importance of the nominator. I think it's a good idea for it to be someone who works with kids, and who "gets" your son. Family friends should be fine, or a teacher, or a librarian, or almost anyone who's not a relative. If you have teacher friends who are able to say things like, "When he was five, I observed him reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to himself and he was able to discuss it with me," then use them. (That's a made-up example to give you an idea of what observation of out-of-age behavior might look like.) But if you have test scores, I really don't think the nominator piece matters much.