My daughter is currently in the 4th grade and is extremely bright per her teachers. She often expresses frustration about not being challenged enough. This has been a common complaint since 1st grade. We finally listened to her and had her tested with the Johns Hopkins program. She tested very well verbally and is now enrolled in the reading program for gifted children. She just recently tested in school at a post high school level with the Gates Reading Vocabulary test. My husband and I have been in touch with the pediatrician and now are just thinking about gettting her tested for "giftedness". Could someone please give us some insight on what steps we should take. There are no gifted programs in our school that she is currently in. Where should we go from here? We live in MA. Are IQ tests covered by insurance? How much do they usually cost? Does anyone have similar stories that might help us. Thank you.

IQ test are not covered by insurance and can cost $500-$800. We have had out oldest tested becuase we wanted medical documentation stating what his abilities were and what the doctor ( not the parents) recommended for him

Check with your insurance company and see what their particular rules are. Ask yourelf how far you are able to travel. Talk to the school about how frustrated she is at school and how happy the reading program makes her. Figure out what it is about the reading program that makes it work for her and try to figure out how thr school could modify what they already do to make it more like that.

Welcome!
Grinity

Are there gifted programs or guidelines for identification elsewhere in your school district? If so, I'd consider making a written request for her to be evaluated by the school district, which will cost you nothing.

If there isn't any method for identifying gifted students within your school district, you could talk to your pediatrician, let him/her know how your dd is frustrated by lack of challenge in school, and see if your ped would refer her for a neuropsych eval, then check to see if that's covered by your insurance. Getting an IQ test just to get an IQ test usually isn't covered, but if you have a referral from your dr it might be covered.

Do you have any options for private school in your area, and if so - is that something you can consider? We have put our EG and HG kiddos in private school (two different schools) and found it's made a world of difference in how much they enjoy school. Each school advertises that their curriculum is about one year advanced over public school and we've found that for the most part, it's very true. Neither school is specifically chartered as a school for gifted students, but ds' school both have academic standards that have to be met for kids to enter, and in ds' school the standards are high enough that most of the kids there are, I'm guessing, above 90th percentile in IQ. It's not the same as being able to put him in a peer group where all the students are above 99th percentile, but it has made a huge difference in how much he enjoys school! DD's school is more of a mix of abilities, but having a structured classroom where behaviors that are often present in her public school aren't tolerated and where parents are serious enough about school to pay tuition has made a big difference for her, combined with having more challenging work. She's still finishing work ahead of everyone else in class and subject differentiation isn't as good as it could be, but it is better than where she was - and for her, too, having that incremental "better" made a huge difference in how she feels about school. If there are private schools you are interested in but think you'd never be able to afford, ask about financial aid or scholarships - there might be a way to make it work.

Last thought - look forward to middle school - what is it like where you're at? Middle school here is somewhat better for kids who need challenge in school because it's where groups of students are tracked by ability and higher-achieving students are finally in class with only higher achieving students and class moves at faster pace, plus math acceleration happens for many of the high ability kids. It is also easier where we are to advocate for >1 grade level acceleration (by subject) in middle school based on proof of achievement - so we let our ds after-school in math and science (his areas of strength) as he wanted to during elementary, in a way that we could show proof of his ability and achievement when he entered middle school, and we were able to get subject acceleration beyond what is typical that way.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Thank you so much for your thorough response! The school does nothing for "gifted" or underchallenged children. They only test the children who need the help. I've been trying now since 2nd grade to get more challenging work for her. This is why I would like to get her tested to see where she is at. Her doctor did refer her to a neuropsychologist and I am trying to get her tested. Hopefully through our insurance. We have thought about private based on her academics, but not sure if we can afford at this point. Thanks again for your response, just wanted to make sure I was covering all my bases and you have just confirmed what I was thinking....

Debbie