Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school What age did you have your child tested?

I found this forum when my son was about 15 months because he was not like the other babies and I wanted some answers. My son recently turned 3 and he had to start daycare/PreK full time as I returned to work.

He is in a lovely play-based program that is probably most aligned with Reggio philosophy. It's all about the process and not the product, they are outside for at least two hours every day, and my son adores it.

I met with his teacher recently for his twice yearly progress report. The school uses a program to track developmental milestones (it's an inclusive school) through kindergarten level and my son was off the charts in literacy and math. Literally. The program did not keep going to track where ever he is. I assumed he was academically advanced but it was nice to hear it from someone else. He turned 3 not long ago.

The center wants to go ahead and move him up with the 4 year old children as soon as a spot opens up. This is fine with me but my son misses the cut off for Kindergarten by a few days and this would mean he would be in the actual PreK classroom for almost 3 years!

There are zero gifted schools in our area. There are zero options for any sort of gifted testing or programming until third grade in our district. I'm leery about IQ testing for the purpose of early entry into Kindergarten because what if they can't accommodate him? His center now deals with several similar children but would this environment be enough all the way through age 6?

It's so hard to know what to do for him. He got some markers for his 3rd birthday and I let him draw on his own while I nursed his baby brother. When I came back he had written "ROCKET" all by himself. I never taught him to write nor spell rocket. It was all in a line too and could have easily been written by a child in first or second grade. This is a pretty common occurrence in my house.

I feel like 3 is too young to do any testing and wouldn't accomplish anything anyway. What about 4? 4.5? Is it too soon to start getting documentation so I can advocate for him?

We waited until we had to test. By that I mean we waited until the results would immediately open a door, change something in their current setting or provide input into making a major decision. For DS we still ended up having to test twice because his first results at 6.5 weren't conclusive for his LD. His WISC scores were quite different as well likely because he wasn't the most cooperative kid the first time around.

Many schools around here want recent results and will totally ignore any testing older than 2 years. I suspect they would be even more likely to ignore it when dealing with a very young child or if it suits their agenda (as in they are highly resistant to early entrance and will then use that as an excuse). If you think that early entrance to K will be a help and that requires some sort of proof then I would aim to test shortly before you need to apply.

I will also add that in our experience we had less issues with play based curriculum than we did once the kids entered more traditional classrooms. At the end of the day it really boils down to the teachers and if you are lucky enough to have peer for you child (you hint that the center now deals with several similar children which could make a big difference). If that happens to be in the preschool and the teachers are wiling to keep up then a 3rd year there might even be better than an average K classroom. Hard to say.

We have not tested our DD5 (in K). We thought she was getting tested through her school on the WPPSI or the SB-5, but it turns out she was just tested on the OLSAT, which is a group "school ability" screener as opposed to a general IQ test.

She's in a play-based curriculum, and the gifted program in our school is just a once-a-week pullout, so for now, we feel that her high score on the OLSAT, her high MAP scores, the fact that she's in a play-based school, and the fact that her teachers recognize her ability is enough. She's pretty happy where she is. The teacher and I just push her a little harder on some assignments (having her write a sentence or paragraph when other kids are working on letters, etc.)

DS4 is another story. I don't know how he'd do on MAP or the OLSAT, and there is a possible visual-spatial issue with him. So we'll see. He has been tested on the WPPSI-IV, actually, but he was way too young in my opinion (close to his 4th bday). Also, he did not test gifted, which made sense at the time but he's recently blossomed in a way that is making us question that result. We're going to just adopt a wait and see for another year or two on him. He'll be taking the MAP next year in K, regardless, and the gifted teacher has already promised to test him one-on-one with the OLSAT next year. If the results seem to match what we think his ability and achievement levels are, we may leave well enough alone. Our K program focuses on literacy, anyway, which is not a strength of his (he presents as rather average in that department. It's math that is blowing us away).

We tested for DS at 3.5 only because we had concerns (preschool not going too great, and we wanted to rule out GT, although it ruled it in and as the reason for his issues) - and we had options to turn to when preschool did not work out (he misses cutoff for K by 1 day, and our local public school does not permit early entry). But for his younger sister, we have not tested yet - we have not had to since she is attending the same school as her brother... and because in daycare, her teacher knew exactly what she was dealing with and was able to work with DD at her level so DD did not have same issues that DS had.

If there is no actionable items for you to take if indeed testing shows results you expect, then I am not sure it is worth the time and money.

The center he is in now - would the teacher know what she is dealing with and work with him for the next 3 years (for instance, not repeating same materials/topics each year like some schools do)? It sounded like they already have others like him. You say no gifted schools around, but are there other schools around to look at that would be flexible about age/maturity (for instance some private schools are flexible with cutoff dates, and then after a few years, the kids could to public school at the grade level they were in the private school)?

Just because a school is not specifically for GT does not mean they may not be able to support your child during these years - we had DD in a Montessori school for a year until she was old enough to go to DS' school, and that was a very good fit for her due to the multi-age rooms and activities/pacing.

We tested at 6 because we had to for school. It is pretty unlikely that we would have done any testing at all if it wasn't related to getting into an academic program.

We did at 4 for DD, we haven't bothered for DS. I think if he is GT then there's a good chance the Ed psych can recommend resources that you aren't aware of yet. For example, when DD tested gifted we where made aware of playgroups that were not advertised to the general public.

If the teachers think he needs to go up he probably does. When that stops being enough look for a new option. Don't base today's decisions on what may or may not happen in 3 years time. Maybe you will move. Maybe a gifted school will open next door. Maybe you will decide to homeschool or start your own school. You don't know but you do know what is happening now.

My younger so was tested on certain tests at school at six and different (better) tests privately at seven.

My older son had some private testing (WISC and achievement) at 8 and repeated again at 13 with some additional scales for his ASD dx.

He also had some other testing for the birth to three program because he was developmentally delayed and some school testing at age six (to get off the DD label) Oh and something through the school to get into gifted program at 11 (a RAIS).

7 for both.

The older one was also tested at 9, 12, and 14 (he is 2E).

Personally I feel that if you test when your child is young, you might find yourself questioning the results if they don't come back showing what you expect. You also may potentially find others will question the results due to age when you try to use the results to advocate, unless you are applying for a program that requests the specific testing.

OTOH, it's never too early to start documenting what *you* are seeing in your child. Keep a journal/record of the things you see your child do that appear to be advanced. If you find yourself in a position a few years down the road advocating for your child you can share what you've observed.

Best wishes,

polarbear