I am looking for someone to administer a WISC to my 8-year-old son. We live in Fairfield County, CT but I'm willing to travel (within reason) to get this done. If anyone has a recommendation to share, I'd appreciate it.

I can't answer your question, but I used to live in Brookfield! Hi

Hi Riley,
Welcome!
Are you thinking your son is 'regular gifted' or 'far out gifted?' That certianly influences how far I'd reccomend you drive. Any 2E issues to make the picture extra fuzzy? How is school going for your son? What questions are you hoping to get answered through testing?

Smiles,
Grinity

Hmmm...I am honestly not sure what flavor of gifted he is. He's the kind of kid that strangers meet and say "Wow. You know he's really smart, right?" (We have far-out gifted in the family, so it's certainly possible.) He goes to private school and has never had a standardized test and has never been compared to his peers, so I have no gauge that way. No 2E issues.

School is a mixed bag. He goes to an academically rigorous school and has always done well with little to no effort. The issues lie in motivation and self-confidence. He had less-than-supportive teachers in Kindy and 1st grade and never learned to groove on learning or think highly of himself in school. (His 2nd grade teacher was much, much better.) He would prefer not to go to school at all.

I want to get him tested for my own information, to begin to clarify what we're dealing with here so that I can get him the best kind of school environment and enrichment for him.

I'm thinking that in Western Connecticut it really matters if the strangers are saying that in Westport or Fairfield. Impressive anywhere really.

I would strongly recommend joining CAG, and attending some of their 'Minds in Motion' activities.

2 schools that come to mind are
Easton Country Day School
www.phoenixacademy.org/mission.html
and
Pierrepont School is Westport.
www.pierrepontschool.org

I would take your child there to be 'looked over,'even if you have no intention of sending him to either place, as I've really learned more from interviewing schools than I have from IQ tests.

If you haven't read '5 levels of giftedness' by Deb Ruf, get a copy. Level's 3 and up I think a drive to Aimee Yermish in Boston-Area is worth it.

If you are really thinking level 2, or really hate driving, I've had wonderful conversations with both

Laura Seese, Ph.D. - Educational Psychologist
Educational Advancement Associates
15 Schoolhouse Landing
East Granby, Connecticut 06026
860-413-3778 - www.edadvancement.com

And
Susan Berry, Ph.D. Glastonbury
799 Hebron Avenue, Second Floor, Glastonbury, CT 06033,
phone: 860-633-3006

It's frustrating to have a bright child who hates school? It makes no sense! And yet we see this all the time here. Post more if you wish. What have you tried so far? What seemed to help a little? What are summers like? Has he done Summer Institute for Gifted at Fairfied U summer camp? When does he seem happy and engaged?

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Grinity
Wow - I just googled mapped how far it is to westport - those schools look fabulous!! Just hearing two separate schools with missions focused on asynchronous learning, and Latin! I want to go!

Yippee!
Check out St. Anne's in Brooklyn. Might be closer to you.

Thank you. I had already contacted both Pierrepont and Easton Country Day for visits this fall!

I hate that he dislikes school, but I get it (I was a gifted kid who disliked school until high school.) I still want to change that for him as best I can, though. Summers and vacations are great. We make an effort to have a family adventure every spring break and DS is a wonderful traveler who is very much at ease anywhere (except school, that is). I've been enrolling him in various themed summer camps for a few years -- Lego and science camps, mostly. He loves those and does great. I have bookmarked a number of summer institutes and other camps for next summer, when I think he will be ready to step it up a notch.

He's also excellent at entertaining himself -- he makes up his own games; builds with Lego and creates whole playsets for himself; LOVES video games. Today he made himself some science experiments involving his Mighty Beanz and we also played Bean Hockey in an arena he built from blocks. He took up skateboarding this summer, and although he is not naturally talented at it, he's been working hard at it with a teenaged teacher. He's been studying karate for three years and will get his brown belt this fall. He often says that a problem with school is that "it takes away from my free time."

We chose the school he is in because it is challenging, with a focus on the three Rs and also really good instruction in music and art and science. (I should say that he adores science class in school. His science teacher is great and DS looks forward to science every day.) I am starting to wonder if maybe it's still too slow-paced or otherwise not right for him, though. I feel like getting a handle on whether that is actually the case is important before I go looking for something else.

I will pick up "5 Levels" tomorrow and add it to my reading...

Thanks again. This is certainly an interesting journey...

Your son sounds like a cool kid. I love that he entertains himself. I'm wouldn't be at all surprised that he loves science even though it is too slow - our kids don't need a 'custom tailored' education, just something of a general size that fits, at least sort of.

Very Nice to met your family,
Grinity

Hi Grinity,

How much do those two sources charge for the IQ test?

Also, on St. Anne's. I was not impressed and 30K. I did the school tour and you get a decent peer group but I heard reports from parents in the middle school that got very concerned about the math and science programs.

Ren

I have no idea - details, including numbers, don't stick in my head.
Sad to hear that about St. Annes.

One general caution: On the Davidson lists it very often happens that a school that is wonderful for one of the PG kids is terrible for the next one. Doesn't that seem weird?

Ren, I am not surprised about what you heard, it does seem like self directed could for some allow too much concentration in the area the student enjoys rather than what they need for college or something like that. The pierrpont one sounds like learning at all levels is encouraged but it had more of a structured curriculum but that is just based on web presentation so its likely just an impression

Do you know how the citywides and Hunter deal with different learning levels? Its starting to dawn on me that simply doing K or 1st faster is rather meaningless when you are doing 6th grade reading - but still doing K math. I think I am going to be stressed all year and then still worried about the result no matter what happens!

DeHe

Funny to find this thread here, when I'm dropping in for the first time in months and months! We used Sherin Stahl at Yale. Now that we're through our crisis-gale, I feel like it would have been fun to have someone who's a little more gifted specializing to go over the 'what do we DO with him now' confusion - that looking for ultra-expert guidance thing I think is common among parents of kids like us! - but she was just excellent in dealing with our son's school. It's entirely her doing that our school changed from hostile and dismissive to trying to please...the meeting we had with her there is still one of my most satisfying memories. Her testing seemed comprehensive and good, her rapport with our son was very good, she seemed to have him having insights into his thinking very quickly (he was six, and anxious and depressed from school). She also seemed to be careful in thinking about what labels are useful and which are not. She was not rapid in her testing or results.

I am a mom of kids at Pierrepont, so feel free to email me if you have any questions. It is an amazing place for the right kid!