I am located in CA and our school district offers GATE exam to the 3rd graders ,if qualified they are clustered inside the class and given accelerated works while those who didnt usually needs a teachers recommendations in 5th or 6th grade to get into AR or Honors class...This exam is also optional so those who opts out in 3rd grade gets to give it again in 5th grade..

I am not sure if my kids are in the gifted category but like every parent I would like them to sit for the tests & try but wondering which age would it be appropriate? In elementary or in middle school?
Your views on this please .

DS8 (3rd grade) sat for that this weekend for a couple of reasons.

1) An objective assessment.

2) Practice in taking the test.

This year's score doesn't really matter to me but the practice and familiarizing him with this process will help next year.

Which exam is it? The OLSAT? Or a different test?

My understanding is that if it is for Intellectual assessment (IQ) then between the ages of 7 and 9 are optimal.

That said, my HG child did not pass the OLSAT, which he took in 2nd grade. Also, if it is the OLSAT, I believe you are allowed to prep for it. You are not allowed to prep for an Intellectual Ability (IQ) test, but from what I've heard prepping doesn't work for IQ tests anyway.

My apologies; I had the Explore test on the brain when I responded earlier! DS8 sat for the Explore test last weekend for the reasons indicated in the prior post:

1) An objective assessment.

2) Practice in taking the test.