Thanks to all for the advice! I can see that it's a frought issue, so I feel better about being confused.
The main reason for doing the testing is to get a sense for what kind of learner DS is, what his strengths and weaknesses are, and on the basis of that to make decisions about his education. To be honest the gifted school in question isn't really a determining factor: although it looks like it could be very interesting, it is almost certainly too far away to take seriously. We're going to visit next week, but unless we're completely blown away by it I have a hard time imagining we will choose to drive an hour each way for kindergarten. Especially when he seems to be enjoying the French school across the street from our house. In any case, the WPPSI cutoff for the gifted school is 120, so it doesn't seem like that by itself would dictate one decision or another.
A possible final reason for taking the test would be to see about DYS eligibility. It's so hard to judge whether that will be an issue, though. DW and I would have made the cutoffs easily, and when I read the Ruf book DS seems to fit comfortably in level 4 with some level 5 thrown in. So that suggests the possibility. (I should add that, although DW and I would have easily made the official cut, it's not clear that either of us would have naturally been classed as a Ruf Level 4 or 5 at DS's age. I have no idea, for instance, when I started to read.) Another consideration is that we live among a pretty skewed population, and although there are a few kids a bit older than DS who seem similar to him, in general it seems to me that he stands out pretty clearly. Still, it feels presumptuous to think of DYS as a reason for doing the testing.
I think one of the reasons it feels presumptuous is that it's very hard to judge about my own kid what his abilities are. When I see him struggling with something that it seems to me he *ought* to be able to do, it always makes me wonder whether I've mis-classified him. For example, he goes to a math circle where they play lots of number games. There are two other kids, both just 5, who sometimes seem a bit ahead of him. They had been figuring the areas of rectangles and triangles, and then the teacher drew a cuboid. DS clearly had trouble understanding how to extrapolate from what he already knew to figure the answer. With some help, one of the others managed more or less to figure it out. I recognize this is probably not a standard thing for four and a half year olds, or even five year olds, to be doing. But still, it's so hard to put yourself in the position of not being able to see that connection. It makes me feel helpless to help him, and it also makes me wonder whether I've got an inflated idea of his abilities.
I am a proud papa, but I want to be realistic too. I know he is smart, but just how smart I have no idea. I guess that's really the main reason for testing. Perhaps that means SB-V or wait for the WISC?
BB
