So, we had a very interesting meeting over the weekend with a prominent author, educator, and evaluator of gifted kids. We had been thinking about pursuing an assessment for DS4.5 to help us understand his strengths and weaknesses, to get some sense for where he is on the continuum, and to make decisions about his schooling. In the back of our mind was the DYS option if it became relevant.
Her recommendation was that we wait until DS is 6.5 or 7 to do the testing. Not surprisingly, that seems like an eternity to us. Still, her reason was interesting. DS has been enrolled in an immersion French school since he was 3, and she felt strongly that although being bilingual will eventually increase his performance on the various tests, at this stage it is likely to decrease it. The idea is that he's spending a lot of his mental energy learning the second language, and that gets in the way of his development in other areas.
It makes sense. I have often wondered about the disparity between DS's math skills and his reading skills, and thought that perhaps learning a second language was taking up some of the reading part of his brain. (DS does math at something like an 8 or even 9 year old level, but reads only at something like a 6 or 7 year old level.) I'm certain that unless we have big problems in school we'll plan to follow her advice. But I do wonder whether anyone has had any experience with this kind of issue themselves. In other words, has anyone found interaction effects between bilingual education and IQ or Achievement testing? Especially differential effects depending upon how far into the second language the child is?
One clarification: although he speaks it rather fluently now, French is definitely a second language for DS. We lived in France for 3 or 4 months when he was an infant, but neither DW nor I is a native French speaker, and the primary language of the home is English.
Any thoughts or experience greatly appreciated.
BB
