Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Mailed off our DYS app today

Hi Kriston,

You may want to see if you can find a psychologist that would do the test at your house. When I first had my daughter tested she was only 4 1/2 and I told her a very nice lady was coming to play with her. She was enthusiastic and even waited for the psychologist by the door. Because we were at home, she felt very comfortable from the beginning.

Just a thought.

We had the SB5 administered for our 7 year old daughter. She is extremely verbal and the psychologist, who deals with gifted kids, offered us the WISC IV on the spot due to her strong scores in that area, so she took both tests back to back. It was a long afternoon. She has qualifying scores on the WISC for DYS, we have not done an achievment test yet. The WISC is a great test for highly gifted verbal kids. We are considering the EXPLORE talent search test in January. Has anyone done this route for consideration for DYS?

nnngoose,
Is the explore a group test? I think I read somewhere that the preference is not a group test if possible. Is that right, Trinity or Dottie?
Kriston,
Sounds like you have made a well thought out and reasonable decision. Good luck and hope DS has an enjoyable experience with the WISC, I'm sure he will, DD7 thought it was fun.
I think you are wise to include two qualifying test scores for his application.

Dottie,
which achievement test would you recommend for DD7 in terms of submitting to DYS?
Thanks,
Incog

I'm interested in this as well

Thanks everyone. We'll hope for the best.


There's alot of wisdom there, I think. I really doubted his WJ score at first. But the more time I spend with him, the more I realize just how bright he is. I assumed he was about on a par with his Dad and me; but DS6 is a lot smarter! Of that, I am certain. More motivated to learn, too.


Our big sleep problem was the fact that we were in a motel for the night, and DS6 NEVER sleeps well in a motel. It was stupid of us. We should have found another way. I even fretted about the chance of no sleep before the test when we were making the plans. We decided it would be okay. It wasn't. I'm still kicking myself...

Anyway, DS6 usually sleeps quite well at home, so I think a local test that lets him sleep in his own bed should solve most of that problem.

(But I will definitely steal the clock idea, too! Better safe than sorry!)

Thanks for the support. Keep me updated, would you?

LOL! I think it's safe to say that you had a lot on your mind at the time. Sometimes logic goes out the window when you're under that kind of stress. I know it does for me.



And I'm glad your DS did fine on the test. Sometimes things work out!

My basic life philosophy is to try to live life without regrets. If I make the best choices I can at the time given the info I have, I tend to give myself a pass because I know I did my best. It's those "How could I have thought THAT was a good idea?" moments that keep me up at night, though. I tend to have little self-forgiveness for those lack-of-common-sense decision that I've made.

Ah, perfectionism!

If you do the WJ, do make sure that the tester uses the subtests that will give a score that DITD accepts. DS had 9 subtests which produced 5 composite scores. Of all these (14 scores total) only one ( a composite) was accepted by DITD and that one (broad reading) was brought down by a fluency score of 105. Some of the other scores were >145, but none of these were acceptable. If I had it to do over again, I would have walked in with the DITD information and told them that I wanted all these subtests done!

Thank you ACS, are those listed on the site under qualification criteria?

Incog

Group test is fine for the Explore, because it isn't an IQ test. Iowa acceleration divides the many test into three catagories: Achievement, Aptitude, and Ability. The IQ test fit their ability catagory, and for their purposes, or Davidson's YSP it must be an individual IQ test.

Theres the tricky part, the Explore test, when give as intended to 8th/9th graders, would be a Achievement test. When it is given to the talent search kids, at a much younger age, it is an Aptitude test.

I don't love the lables IASM uses for the tests, but I do love how they break them down into the three groups. It finally helped me negotiate through the swamp of information!

Smiles,
Trinity