I'm struggling a lot with my DD right now--she's still throwing tantrums and is like an emotional hurricane. I'm working on fixing her diet and vitamins (we found out she has some MTHFR mutations, as do I--but that's for another post).

She's also a perfectionist, and I'm worried she will give up easily if I test her now... but I want to know what I'm dealing with. If she's gifted, I understand the emotional intensity, the mood swings, all of it--if she isn't, well maybe we have some other issues that need addressing.

What's the best test for a 4.5 year old, or should I wait on it until I get her moodiness / diet sorted?

I had DS tested at 4 years, 3 months with the KBIT2. This is just a screener, not a true assessment, but it served my purpose. It is VERY brief. At that age, I was unsure if DS would sit through a longer test.

I just spoke with a tester-- it looks like she offers these three: RIAS, WISC-IV, and Stanford-Binet-5... Are any of these good? I am also worried about DD's ability to sit through a lengthy test.

We did the WPPSI-IV which is for younger kids. The WISC-IV is for 6 and up I think?

Of those three, the SBV is probably your best bet for a good comprehensive. The RIAS is a reasonable choice because of its (lack of) length, which might be better for a little person. I wouldn't use it if looking for thoroughness. But if you're planning to test again within two years, and just want a general idea for right now, I would probably point you toward the RIAS, as that leaves your options open for future testing, when she may have settled down enough to be more testable.

Perhaps it would be as well to consider the emotional intensity and mood swings as items to manage regardless of the question of giftedness. Yes, it makes them easier to understand, but how would having a (probably not very valid) IQ change the way you support her on a day to day basis, if the emotionality gets in the way of major life functions? Being gifted, after all, is not license to throw tantrums! One of your options would be to take her to the public school system to be evaluated for the moodiness and perfectionism, and perhaps have some cognitive/academic screening done at the same time. This would have the advantage of 1), being at no cost to you, and 2) potentially connecting you to supportive resources.

we did the wppsi 3 (4 now) it was great. Btw if you are looking into diet do check the possibility of food intolerances. Eliminating a food group has had a profound effect on DD's personality and behaviour in general. You can do an elimination study although these can be stressful and hard for the child. We chose to visit a nutritionist who gave DD a "biometric" test (which I'm pretty sure is some sort of quackery) however, it did back up our own findings and gave us a starting point rather than just feeling around for answers.

Your daughter sounds like mine - I told her before hand that it was really important that she do her level best so that we could put her in the school that was going to be the most fun for her type of brain (we talked a lot about round pegs and square holes). We had a meeting with Ed psych before hand where we could explain our concerns and that helped her when dealing with DD, you should be able to the same.

DD was tested by 2 schools and while getting the results was very validating, it didn't offer any solutions.

What did help was letting her choose her own sleep schedule once school ended. Oh my goodness. She is a new child. She now goes to sleep around midnight and then gets up around 11:00 AM. For her, that was the underlying issue that needed to be addressed. I don't know what we're going to do about this once kindergarten starts but for now, I am going to enjoy our peaceful summer together.

it never occurred to me to do that - although I would prob worry about missing adult only time with DH (just the hanging out talking stuff!) He starts work early. No way DD would want to be by herself.

Yes!!! I'd examine nap needs, too.

People have natural circadian rhythms that dictate their best times. Mana's DD's day is similar to DS' preferred rhythm. (It has been since he was in utero.) He's in pyjamas by 9:30 or 10pm, and we read and talk until he's had enough. He generally sleeps by midnight (which can tilt as early as 10pm) and wakes around 9-10:30am (as early as 8:00am) with a 3ish hour nap in the afternoon. He can handle 6 hours of being awake before losing it and is not yet ready to lose or trim his nap. Granted during those 6 hour stretches he remains a handful, but a delightful and cooperative one.

ds6 would love that kind of pattern but I start work at 8.30 four days a week no matter what time of year it is so he is mostly used to it.

Just curious about the mthfr mutations. I have 1 and according to my doctor about 50% of the population does too. Wondering how that figures in here.

ITA with aeh


I'd lean toward *not* testing her now, for two reasons. First reason, imo testing for IQ alone isn't likely to shed any light on why she's having mood swings. A comprehensive eval might help with understanding the root cause, but unless you're seeing other signs that there is something going on with your dd, I suspect at 4.5 most referring drs (ped, etc) would tell you that "She's 4". With valid reason My suggestion re getting to the root of what's up is to start simple - keep a journal of behavior that includes time, date, location, what happened before the mood swing etc. Over a few weeks you might see a pattern that can help you think through - is it sleep, is it loud noises, is it diet, is it situational, is she not happy about not getting something she wants, is she in a new situation etc. Then, if you see something that is concerning - such as, whenever she tries to read she screams - you can investigate what to do re getting to the root cause of what's causing the emotional responses.

Second reason - you have doubts your dd will give the test good attention due to her age. Think through what's going to happen if you get back test results and the results don't tell you anything. You're thinking right now that if she tests gifted that would explain the mood swings. Suppose she doesn't come up with a gifted score. Would you then think the mood swings were caused by something else and seek out an answer? Or would you question the results of the test, thinking yes, she's clearly gifted so the test must be wrong? And what if it's wrong.... or right... does any of that ultimately change the fact that she's having mood swings and you want to deal with them?

Best wishes,

polarbear

All very good points. DD actually goes to bed really late and sleeps in, so it's interesting to hear it working well for others. No clue how we'll get her on a normal 8am schedule when preschool starts in the fall.

I honestly do really want to know where she tests at, but maybe it's still too early? We can get the RIAS for $200 and that's what I'm leaning toward right now since it's so short. But not if it's a useless test, which another thread on here suggests it may be.

Our local schools only have a one day a week pull out program for gifted kids and if she is, I want to focus on doing preschool just to give her something to do and then stick with homeschooling. If she isn't gifted, well... public school might be just fine, and I bet she'll like it. But I seriously can't have her dealing with the school experience I grew up with if she IS gifted. I have to homeschool or start planning on getting her to a better school now, even if it means saving money for that. I think it's really hard to get grade skips too in our district. :-\