I *do* use the phrase "test," because I think most GT kids are perceptive enough to hear Mom and Dad saying it once in a while, so we don't want to leave them wondering what's so awful we aren't telling them about it. What I say is that these aren't like tests at school -- you can't pass or fail them. It's like the Goldilocks story -- we're looking for some things that are too easy, some things that are too hard, and some things that are just right. The other metaphor I use is that we are like "learning detectives" -- we're going to see how you do different things, which are hard and which are easy for you, to get a sense of how you think and learn best. I like the idea that it's like a doctor's test, too, although that has more scary implications, and you can have "bad test results" from a doctor.
