Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment DS4's scores...which lead to more questions.

I would love to hear thoughts, opinions and advice from those of you who may have dealt with this before.

Background: DS4 taught himself to read at 2.5, has always blown us away with the math, and simply makes huge leaps in processing data that sort of astound us. We are in a public district that offers 1/2 day K with approx 26 kids per class, no GT programming or identification until 3rd grade and we have sort of figured out that we need to move.

We decided to have DS4 tested in Oct by a tester very familiar with gifted children. DS was 4 yrs 2 mos at time of testing. Here's what we got back.

WPPSI

Verbal 127
Performance 108
Processing Speed 140
Full Scale 122
General language 116

When we got those, I actually relaxed...I mean bright kid, will do well in school, but nothing that can't be handled by anywhere he'd go, right?

Then we got the WJ Achievement scores:

Brief Achievement >99.9% 162 Grade equiv. 2.1

Broad Reading Skills 99.6% 140 2.9
Letter Word ID >99.9% 184
Reading Fluency >99.9% 152
Comprehension 99.5% 139

Broad Math >99.9% 180 3.6
Calculation >99.9% 157
Math Fluency 99.7 141
Applied Problems >99.9% 167

Brief Writing 92% 121 K.3
Spelling 82% 114
Writing Samples 97% 129

Academic Skills >99.9% 161 2.1

Academic Applications >99.9% 158 1.6

We asked the Dr. about the discrepancy and he thinks the FSIQ is not accurate due to DS age. he recommends re-testing in 2 years to get a more accurate picture of the IQ.

Here's my question to all of you...what do I make of these scores? By that I mean, that the Dr. basically flat out said that no regular school would work well for DS, in the Dr.'s experience. He suggested 1) homeschooling, 2) a local private school for gifted children or 3) Montessori for a few years.

So I guess my question is what don't I know. We toured the local private gifted school and although his FSIQ was below their admission minimum, the head of the school offered admission and even suggested starting him now (we are exploring options for fall 2010 when he would be K age). There were definite pros to the school, and we saw a lot of kids there who were like DS4, but the environment left something to be desired and it's incredibly small.

We also toured a fabulous private school that is K-8 with small classes and an amazingly warm and welcoming feeling. They said some good things about challenging him, but I'm just not sure.

So help?!? When you look at all this, what do you see and think? I really appreciate your help.

I don't know a thing about test scores, but this could just as well describe my son's school, which has been a wonderful fit. I wouldn't rule out a school based on its physical appearance, and in our experience, small = more individualized attention, more field trips, and more interaction with older kids, which DS4 loves.

Thanks Dottie, I appreciate your input. Yes, his scores were normed at grade K. I do see that on the report and the Dr. talked about that.

I really like what we're calling the "whole child" option...the regular private school with small classes. I hope we can make it work through some extras because I think it would be an amazing place for him as a kid, not just as a gifted student, if that makes any sense.

One more question for those of you with DYS kiddos. The Dr. mentioned DYS specifically, and I've looked at the website, but can't figure out if DS might qualify based only on the WJ Achievement scores or if he needs to have both the Achievement and the FSIQ to be admitted? When I asked the Dr., he said that DYS might very well call him after reading his full report to discuss the discrepancy, but he encouraged us to try.

You make great points. In fact the one thing that keeps gnawing at us is that we started this whole process after observing that DS didn't really "connect" with the kids in his pre-school class. After we toured the gifted school, we both looked at each other and said...wow, DS would so TOTALLY be friends with those kids.

I think that counts for a whole lot right now.

I hate being a grown up sometimes.

I just have to say that we heard from lots of people that "regular school will never work for your DS." I can't even tell you how many times I have heard that and had people ask "where are you going to send him to school...you can't do public school" I work in public schools and I too couldn't figure out what schools would do with a profoundly gifted child. I was very hesitant, but for us private school was not an option financially. On the flip side, I had also heard that for some children with exceptionally high IQ's, that private schools and gifted schools are not the answer because they assume they are meeting the needs of the general gifted population, but often fall short of meeting the needs of profoundly gifted. Anyhow, I also heard lots of negative school experiences from families of gifted kids...but realized that was from gifted kids in all settings, not just public school. So...

DS5 was tested at 4 yrs 7 months. He scored well above the criteria for DYS, we approached the school district and sent them the report. They met him and suggested skipping K and starting first. They also admitted that they would need to do additional acceleration. (also want to mention that we live in one of the 8 worst states for gifted education...there are no mandates and we live in a school district that has no gifted funding or obligations at all). So he started first this year. We have had ups and downs, but they have differentiated his spelling and reading and math. He works on a computer program for math and reading since he is way above 2nd grade in those areas and the school only goes up to 2nd grade. He also meets with someone once a week for math and meets with another student for reading that is an advanced reader. DS enjoys school. So at this point things are going well for us. They see him as an individual and are trying to meet his unique needs and I truly can't complain at all. Also we have him enrolled in odyssey of the mind through school as well which he enjoys. Anyhow, just wanted to share our experience...because I remember stressing so much and feeling like a bad mom for not paying for private schooling or montessori. Things could change in the future, but for now I am going to sit back and relax a little and take it a day at a time.

Good luck to you in your future planning, keep us informed in what happens!

Yes, I don't really think any blanket rule (except this one--LOL!) works for HG+ kids.

Some schools really try hard to make things work for HG+ kids. Some HG+ kids are quite patient with boredom. Some HG+ kids get the stimulation they need through afterschooling and use school for social time that they enjoy. Etc., etc....

I think kids who look like educators expect gifted kids to look tend to have more success in public school settings. That means fast, mature, teacher-pleasers, etc. Again, not always. But I think kids who fit in well every way/most ways except academically are going to do better with public school. But too much depends upon the specific child and the specific school to make a blanket statement like "No public school will work."

I think it really comes down to how hard would you have to work to make public school serve your child's needs, and is that more work than you care to invest? For us, homeschooling was simply less effort, so that's what we chose.

Thank you so much for your input on this....it's exactly what we needed. We have been expending a lot of time worrying about this and I needed outside perspective from parents who have been in the trenches so to speak. I have to admit that when we started discussing the school options with the Dr., I started to cry because of how he made it sound.

We are willing to do the work wherever he goes to school to make sure he gets what he needs. To Kriston's point, our DS does fit in well in every way except academically so maybe our school choices are broader than the Dr. made them sound.

I really do appreciate your feedback.

This thread has been very helpful to me as well. Listening to everyone who's been there already is nice.

I have been wondering what school would bring for my DD6 since she was three. I can relate to your wanting testing at an early age. I've second guessed myself a lot, and last year in her final year of preschool, I decided to just forget it all and let her just enjoy "playing" in preschool, despite the nagging feeling I kept having. Now in Kindergarten, we've hit the wall, so to speak. I can no longer sweep her under the rug. After a month she came home crying every day. School is hard she said. "Not in the too hard to finish way...in the life is hard way." (her words). She feels like it's just another year of preschool and she's tired of everyone learning to read (she's been reading for 3 years now).

So...applaud yourself as parents for taking the initiative to help your child...despite the fact that it's easier to ignore it another year. Now you go into Kindergarten armed with facts on paper. You can adapt the environment right from the beginning to work. I think it's important to view everything as fluid for these kids. What works one year, may not work the next. Be open and ready. Well, and it sounds like you are. I don't think a parent can be anything but adaptable with a child like this! LOL. I can really relate to your story so I look forward to watching the outcome.