Hi cadysmom,
I am not sure if I'd pursue testing at this point in time or not - I'd have to know your dd to really have a gut feeling about that - but I have a few random thoughts for you.
First, as the parent of two 2e children, I'd say that the most important thing to do *always* is to listen to what your gut instincts about your child are telling you. If you have your dd tested and you find out everything is a-ok and you're worrying over nothing, that's *OK*. It's actually a good thing! You won't have to worry anymore, and you'll still most likely get some good info on her strengths and learning style and needs etc. If you find out she does have a problem, you will be forever thankful that you tested when you did and didn't wait another year or longer. If there *is* a challenge, it's not going to just disappear until someone recognizes it and puts together a plan to either remediate or accommodate. Try to ignore people who are questioning your instincts and just move forward.
And some thoughts before testing - can you tell us more about what exactly your dd doesn't like about math? And tell us about what "math" means in her class at school (it can really be all over the place in early elementary, from drilling math facts to creating word problems to working in groups and mapping the school or charting which months birthdays fall i etc). I have a dd who thinks she absolutely hates math and is convinced she can't "do it" and throws royal tantrums every time she has to tackle a new subject in math (I am not quite sure how I survived the learning how to add fractions with different denominators portion of her childhood lol!). She'd been through a neuropsych eval when she was 8 for other reasons (reading - turned out to be a vision issue) and I knew there were nothing in that eval that would indicate she had any issues with the skills needed for math. Yet she totally bombed (and I mean *bombed*) her first set of state math testing in 3rd grade. We signed her up for tutoring to get her caught up and she still struggled tremendously and told us over and over again how she wasn't good at math and hated it etc - just getting her to start a simple assignment for her tutoring was like climbing Mt. Everest. So.... eventually though... when she actually calmed down and tried the new concept, she got it. Not as lightning-fast as a math prodigy might, but she's actually very capable and good at math. She is not accelerated in math at school thanks to her total lack of self-confidence over it, but she also complains now (6th grade) about how danged boring math class is because she already knows everything. Complicated situation to be in - and it has nothing to do with math ability, it's all about fear of math. I've tutored high school and college students in math and saw a lot of the same type of issue - kids who *think* they aren't good at math and that thought builds into a type of I-hate-math that works against success at math. The thing that works in that type of situation sometimes (it works for my dd) is to just get them through a type of problem that's causing them issues and help them see that they *can* do it.
Counting on fingers - my kids all counted on their fingers until 3rd/4th grades. My ds didn't really have his math facts down quick until he was around 11 - yet he's an excellent math student, as is my 4th grader who is also still counting on her fingers. The rote quick math facts don't kick in early for a lot of kids, but it doesn't mean they aren't good at math. It *could* mean, however, that they aren't having much fun with math at school if that's what the focus is on. Just my experience, but I wouldn't push fast math facts at that age at home just to get them caught up - my 4th grader's 3rd grade teacher really pushed the quick math facts drills - she had daily timed facts tests at home and in school and by the end of the year she could write out multiplication math facts quicker than a lightning bolt - all of them up to 12. By the time summer was over and she was in 4th grade, she'd forgotten almost all of them. I'm not worried about it, because she's doing well in her math class (which is accelerated by one grade), and I feel the math facts quickness *will* happen when she's developmentally ready.
I also wouldn't put much thought into the CogAT scores - jmo, but I've found achievement tests and innate ability tests such as the WISC etc to be much more reliable indicators of where my children are at. The CogAT is a learned ability test and it's timed.
And one last thought - re tutoring - I wouldn't bother with it unless you have a recommendation for it that comes from the neuropsych testing. Your dd really is very young, and if she already doesn't like math, why put her in a situation where she's going to have to work on something she hates when it's not during the school day and it's not necessary? It's easy for us to get used to our intellectually gifted children working ahead of grade level, but working at grade level in math isn't going to forever stunt her academic growth, especially not at her age. It's just my gut instinct, but I wouldn't be surprised if you eased up on math expectations (unless your dd asks for extra help and tutoring) and let her just be for this year, in a few years she'll find her own inner drive and she'll still be able to jump ahead of grade level at that time if that's what she wants to do.
Best wishes,
polarbear
