Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I few more details about our situation. Our son has never been tested for GT, so I'm not sure if he would even qualify. My son's current school offers no GT services and the closest school is about 10 miles from us. The issues in kindergarten ranged from talking back, bossing his classmates, not following directions, and not letting things go when he thinks he had been wronged. The only way he made it through this last year was by primarily being the teacher's helper or helping his peers with their work. I feel the school has tried to make some accommodations for our son; however, the school can only do so much without being able to any assessments. My partner thinks he'll emotionally mature as he gets older and will level out academically within a few years. He feels that the most boys make friends through playing sports and he needs to spend less time on his other pursuits (chess, rocks, coins, music). If I knew that in two years that he fit right in with his peers, I would happily wait. It just seems that our intense little boy has diverge so much with each passing year from his peers.
I find it odd that schools are willing to explore expensive testing without first trying a few cheap "assessments".
1. Give the child increasingly difficult books from the school library. At what level does the child feel challenged? How is the child's behaviour when appropriately challenged? What is child's level of motivation to work at higher level? (Estimated marginal cost: Free. Students are presumably *already* going to the library. Just pick a book off a different shelf!).
2. Borrow math workbooks from higher grade teachers. Give child increasingly difficult work. At what level does the child feel challenged? How is the child's behaviour when appropriately challenged? (Estimated marginal cost: Free).
3. Have a discussion with child about subjects of child's interest. How does child respond? What is level of child's interest/knowledge? What is child's social response to at-level dialogue with an adult? (Estimated marginal cost: 20 minutes of teacher time.)
These initiatives should be common-sense, but sadly aren't.
In your shoes, I'd parse my partner's resistance and explore private testing.
