Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Had testing, now what?

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I agree with MON.

My dd12 had similar scores. She was in a small private Montessori until the end of 5th grade, she seemed mostly happy but in retrospect there are steps we could have taken that I think would have addressed perfectionism sooner and been beneficial. She just skipped 6th grade in a large, competitive public middle school with a large population of kids IDed as gifted and is doing well (all grades high As in advanced classes). The skip is not perfect and I honestly think it still doesn't require much effort compared to what most kids in her classes are putting in, but it was the right choice. Thankfully she loves her English teacher which is wonderful.

I would encourage you to check out the SENG website and also take a look at the Iowa Acceleration Scale. I think sometimes gifted girls really need more advocacy than it seems because even if they are not learning and miserable about some aspects of school they can tend to blend in and still be compliant.

Good luck.

Me too.

IQ isn't necessarily a "this score goes in this box" solution. If you take a child-led approach and focus on your child's individual profile and learning needs, she'll likely be well served.

She should be engaged and not overwhelmed, but adequately challenged. If whatever instruction level she's been given results in near perfect scores (high 90s, 100%), that's a red flag that she needs to be given extra challenge.

It can be hard though. Sometimes a skip is the answer, and sometimes per-subject enrichment is the way to go.

For example, my DD10 is a voracious, a novel a day, reader. She's in the school's grade 5 reading challenge program and even though she's a late November birthday and is the youngest participant, and she was the first one finished reading all of the books. As a result of the volume of reading that she does, her spelling and grammar is in that 100% score range.

Her writing, on the other hand, is cursory and minimal at best (because of the anxiety attached to personal expression). There's a huge discrepancy between her language written intake Vs her language written output. A full grade or two or three skip would meet her reading level but result in rock bottom writing scores which would exacerbate her anxiety. Instead, segmented enrichment (ie reading challenge) is her solution.

It's taken me 6 years of public school to figure this out about her. Mind you, she has issues (anxiety & attention). A "regular gifted" kid with no behavioural quirks might be easier to place based in test scores (wouldn't that be nice )

I don't think there is a perfect solution, and what works for one child may not work for another.

Another example: my DS8 responds best to work that is more challenging than grade level. (His teacher, thank heavens, has noticed this too). He has an ADHD dx, so he is prone to... um... (sorry, what were we talking about?)

I'll use spelling as an example again. He has a language processing disorder, so he doesn't happily skip through pages and pages of prose like his sister. He does, however, score BETTER on spelling tests when the words are more challenging. If the words are too easy, his mind just kinda... floats... away...

He doesn't just study, regurgitate, study, regurgitate, study, regurgitate like the other kids. It has to be harder work to help him focus.

He is very distractable (no, really?) and needs challenge presented to him. "Here - do THIS." I can show him something challenging and he sinks his teeth into it and shines, but he needs me (or the teacher) to give the work to him. It doesn't seem to matter what the subject is - increasing the level of difficulty gets better results from him, but it has to be presented to him, and structured for him.

DD10, on the other hand, finds her OWN challenge, and you better stay out of her way. (Really, stand back... consider yourself warned). She goes through phases of mastery driven fixation about something or another, and good luck having her accomplish something else that's unrelated. (She has no diagnoses of any kind but I betchya.. there are a few letter combos like OCD/GAD that sort of fit.. and I also think she maybe in the same neighbourhood, maybe even on the same street, as Asperger's. She's a "shadow syndrome" kid - meaning she doesn't quite meet diagnostic criteria, but...)

Anyway. At school she glosses over what she's not really interested in and excels in whatever happens to fall under the umbrella of her current obsession.

So! What does all of this mean?

(Btw I'm sorry this is such a long post)

It means really, and truly, both my kids would be best served by being home schooled. DS8 is great with externally assigned stuff, but but there aren't the resources to adequately differentiate his curriculum. DD10 needs the scheduling freedom to delve more deeply into her passions while still having grade level objectives met.

So Jamscones to address your original post I guess I'm reiterating MON's comment that there is no perfect solution, but instead a least worst solution, and getting to know your own DD and her academic needs and profile is the best way to go.

Good luck & have fun! It's an interesting ride, that's for sure

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