Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment I don't know what to do?

My hunch is this: If you homeschool your son for even one more year, he probably will be so far advanced that his achievement scores will accurately reflect him, even if the IQ scores never do.

As you say: How can we know what level Math he could be doing if he was never taught or shown or even exposed? If a Cheetah lives in a Zoo cage, and never runs at all, Is it still a Cheetah?

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Hi Kathy,
Do contact your local TAG group. You just missed the conference - it was in December with Jan Davidson as a guest speaker - but they offer several events throughout the year. TAG Texas Gifted
is reputed to be a wonderful organization. I think you would find some peers for your child. BTW, my DS also missed the cutoff and is in 3rd gr but could easily have been in 4th but for a few months. It is frustrating. Just keep challenging him best that you can - projects, nurture his passions, a bit of after schooling...
This is a long road and results won't seem obvious (something I keep reminding myself).
Good luck!

I didn't intend that as my subject line; I only intended to reply to the original subject line. I don't want to derail the op's thread, so I'll be as brief as possible. I've posted about dd here before. I really don't think that she is quite a DYS kid although I do think that she is more than MG. I meant her as an example of a child who is clearly more gifted (at least to me and on achievement tests) than her IQ scores indicate.

Her WISC 132 IQ score was a GAI. I do think that even the GAI would be a bit higher if figured now w/ extended norms b/c she had scores ranging from 8 to 19+1 on the PRI. The PRI overall with those disparate scores was at the 95th percentile. Her VCI was at the 98th. WMI, if I recall correctly, was around 93rd and PSI was 42nd. When I mentioned "on the cusp" DYS scores, I am referring to achievement scores. Her WJ-III scores at the same time as the WISC were close, but not quite there (even subtests weren't quite there). She took the EXPLORE in 4th grade as well. Her science and english scores more than qualified for DYS, but math was nowhere close and she kept leaving the room to go to the bathroom and cry during reading b/c she thought that she was bombing the test, so she didn't even come close to finishing that section. Reading and composite also weren't at DYS criterion for that reason. Reading is usually her strongest area.

We'll see how she does on the ACT this year as a 7th grader and I'll tell you if I've changed my mind on her DYS eligibility (although she is a very young 7th grader having skipped 5th and b/c she was already quite young for grade so I don't know how that effects how I should view those 7th grade achievement scores).

And, if homeschooling longer term is viable for your family, you can make this work even without the DYS support. My oldest is doing quite well with advocacy on our behalf and some modifications in her schooling even without DYS. There are a lot of gifted kids out there who aren't in DYS and whose parents are finding a way to make it work for them anyway.

I'd trust your gut. You may not have scores that tell you exactly how gifted he is, but you know who he is and his scores on a test don't change that.

My bad - I got confused!