I was told that there were other posts/suggestions on what to tell your child before they are tested. I haven't found any. Please advise. My just-turned-4 DS is getting tested on Monday; and I would like some suggestions on what to tell him to possibly get him to cooperate. I spoke in depth to the psych doing the testing, and believe he will do his best; but is there anything I can do to motivate DS to share. He is not a performer, at least with this info. Maybe if the dr. put him on a stage?;) We need to see mostly if his behavior at school stems from being gifted. Thank you!
My son is being tested next week and I just found this-
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/test_prep.htmAlso I read to make sure they get a good night's sleep the night before and to give them a good breakfast with protein the day of the testing.
He was also tested when he was 4 and it went fine, so hopefully it will go well with your son also.
When we had ds-then-5 tested, I turned the clocks forward an hour to make sure he would go to sleep at a relatively decent time.
He likes to read in bed and would've wondered why he wasn't allowed to read as long as he usually did!
We told ds that the kind woman was going to help us figure out how he learned best, and that would help us make school more interesting for him. I don't know if that would work for your little one, but it was motivation enough for my little guy.
And yes, good breakfast. Good luck!
My DS7 was tested at 4 and at 6. The first time the neuro-psych used legos as a motivator and allowed my son to play with them during breaks. This backfired as my son LOVES legos and rushed to finish. He still scored high enough to be identified as gifted but the dr thinks his score may actually be 20-30 points higher. When he retested at 6 his score did rise a good bit but that examiner also used toys during break time and left them out in his view during the test.
Not sure if this helps you. I just know that when my son is retested I will make sure there are no toys around.
And yes - a good breakfast & lots of rest are key. I would add if your child appears to be getting ill - I'd reschedule. My son had a raging ear infection for his second test. Of course I did not realize this until he started to complain an hour or so after the test.
Good luck!! :-)
How is your son with strangers? My oldest is not the least afraid of strangers but my youngest was painfully shy. I would have to give my younger son "permission" to do his best and nod my approval before he would trust anyone evaluating him (doctors, nurse, teachers, etc...)
Mom0405,
I was in your position only a few short months ago. Here is a link to the post that I started where I asked the exact same question:
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....ring_your_child_for_testi.html#Post36379I hope this helps. Best of luck with your son's testing!
Thanks to everyone who answered me and the other D4 Moms and Dad's in the past year with questions. I wish I wouldn't have told him it would be games and fun. Someone told me it would be. I will show him a photo of the Dr. and just call him "Mr.____" to him. My DS doesn't like dr.s either, having been so many times with allergies/asthma; but at least it's been less frequent since we discovered his food allergies.
Wish us luck tomorrow!
We also had our son tested at 4. We were also concerned about behavior. I couldn't see how the psych would get the info out of him, but she did well. She told me that she had to use "her whole bag of tricks." We did get the info we needed--I hope you have the same experience! Good luck tomorrow.
My son tested at 4 as well (just a few months ago). I just told him that he would be going talk to a man who would play games with him and would want to see what he knows. I didn't go much more in depth than that. I sent him to school at his normal time on test day and checked him out right before the test.
My son has a very hard time focusing on anything for too long so I thought the test would be a disaster but he was having so much fun that he cooperated way more than he usually does.
Good Luck!
Thanks ladies. Right now I am just hoping that he sleeps through the night and isn't cranky.:)
Partial result. DS did great this morning...no behavior issues. He slept until 8:30am (yeah) so was plenty rested for his 12:30 appt. And we had two full meals in him before his appt. After the first 45 mins DS had to go (excuse me) poopy, and then he started right back in. He went for another 30 mins, needed a snack, then went another 20 mins. Then the sillies came out; and the dr couldn't get him focused again. We are going back in the morning to finish (hopefully). DS came out and said that "he was a good, fun, thinking dr." My DS isn't very articulate yet (his biggest weakness). But he said it without my asking him how it was. DS kept saying it was fun though. The dr said DS did great, and stayed focused; and obviously DS had fun. I asked DS if he wanted to come back tomorrow; and he answered with an emphatic "yes." The dr. was great, and a calm soul. We'll see how he did soon, hopefully. Thank you for all your advice. saw the dr.'s phone sitting on his desk with a very long cord on it (perfect for being pulled behind trucks, etc); so I asked him to hide it so that DS didn't get distractd by it. Otherwise it was just an office without toys; so it was perfect. Unfortunately, I feel that he probably wasted a lot of time starting from point 0, as I walked in after the first 45 mins, returning DS from the bathroom, and a capital letter A was set up on the flip cards. DS ran in and said "that's the letter A." I am so happy that he decided to share with the dr though. I told the dr that DS will need a snack at least every 45 mins-1 hour; so he said he thought that was a good idea. DS just turned 4 last week; and the dr said that he did great in concentrating especially at his age.
p.s. What questions should I ask the dr tomorrow before I leave? He will be out of town next week for two weeks; so I need to ask now. Thank you!
Just try to get an overall feel...
We had our 2nd (last) day of testing this morning. The dr said that he finished it; but I am unsure. Unfortunately DS had to sit in traffic for 1.5 hours before we got there. And the dr didn't have a bag of tricks. He came out saying at the end that DS has some compliance issues. duh? I told him that. And DS started manipulating him as soon as the dr got stressed about his non-compliance. So, after they came out the second time (1st for potty); and I asked DS what it would take for him to sit and work for the dr. He said "cookies." I had some animal cracker cookies with 2 grams of sugar per 8; so we said ok. He would get one or a different bite of his other snack for every 10 mins or so of work. He did focus for a little while longer; but the dr told me one of the tests that DS didn't get; and I was very surprised - very simple. So DS must have shut down at that point. The dr wouldn't give me even a ballpark number. He said DS was up and down; and he was usually wrong when he guessed. I have to wait until the dr gets back from vacation on the 20th. (he originally told me 2 wks) So we'll see. He used the K-SEALS test and the WPPSI. Thanks for your help.