Kelly, here's my 2 cents - follow your gut instincts. I could not agree more with MasterOfNone! We struggled throughout 1st grade and most of 2nd as to whether we should test our ds (now 8). We initially thought we did not want him "labeled," as we were not seeking special funding, he attends a private school and there seemed to be no real purpose. Last year in 2nd grade, his teacher could not understand why our son would not sit quietly in the "high-reading group" and focus on a Flat Stanley book he had read to himself in kinder. And that is just one of many, many incidents. Finally, like you, we had to do something. Following the advice we received from a couple well-regarded outside educators, we decided to IQ test him and much to our surprise, we learned he is literally off the charts in his language skills. Long story short - he's now a DYS and we all have a much better understanding of what our little guy is all about. While his school has a "fixed" curriculum, they understand him a little better, although their curriculum does not really accommodate his learning style.
The IQ test measures the child's learning ability - what the child is capable of achieving. Our tester helped us understand how our child thinks and learns best. And it's amazing how much better we understand our son now that we have this information. And it's equally amazing how ill-equipped teachers are about giftedness. Many teachers think gifted kids just need "harder" work, but that's not necessarily the case. It's more about how these kinds of kids think about things, how deep they go into a subject or issue with their endless penetrating questions.
Our child's teachers don't have time to teach to this kind of child. They can't answer his questions or think about his ideas, and we understand why they can't do what is better for our child. We're now looking at schools that teach to gifted kids - schools that require an IQ test for admission. They focus on the child's ability, not what they learned so far. The bottom line - these kids are different and consequently, their needs are different. Based on the past few years, it's become clear that we need to find a school where our child fits in, and we need to quit trying to make the school fit our child. I don't think any one school is perfect, but just understanding the issues is a huge step toward giving these special kiddos what they need.
