Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Quick answer - motivation issue

Thanks, 'Neato! I'll check out the Schonell test.

By the way, I think I solved the problem about the Bob book. The Flesch-Kincaid algorithm is heavily sensitive to the average number of syllables per word. I got a spurious result because the book I was looking at happened to have a few two-syllable names, each of which was used a number of times. In a book with relatively few words, that bumped the grade level much higher than it should have been.

BB

Try this test.

http://www.readingkey.com/athena/en/trialTest.php

I think it's quite good. It doesn't test comprehension though.

Thanks LMom! That one is much more detailed. I think you can feel better about your child's reading level with your test.

Did you think anything was a little off with the percentage rankings?

Thanks LMom! That looks like a pretty accurate test. When DS is up for it, we'll check it out.

BB

Please don't fold on this one, Wren, dear! If she can learn that you take her actions seriously enough to have consequences - what a great lesson. After all, she isn't being harmed by having to wait until age 6 for a dog.

Sure, you may regret that you made that particular goal, but if you have to suffer a bit waiting until she is six, perhaps it will be a good 'learning experience' for you too!

I do back down when I was being silly if it would hurt my kid, but never for convience. It's ok for you not to be perfect!

Smiles,
Grinity

I think it's fine, if it doesn't become your whole lives, which I know you - it won't. I say, that if a little hothousing up front can get her into an academic placement that will work - a big if I know - then I say "Go for it!"

I also think that some 3 year olds are precocious enough to get into bad habits. Some kids seem to be born 'addicted' to the easy answer. Character building happens from birth, and academics is just another area where one gets to practice building character. Just remember to praise every tiny little effort - no matter how small it may be - with a kid who is up against this.

Grinity

I think the ranking is completely off. May be it shows that people tend to give it to bright kids, or they may not use it correctly or may be there is a problem with the program. Lots of the results end with gr.0, which most likely means that people don't bother to do the 2nd part of the test or that they didn't do it correctly.

I look only at the grade level. We do it every few months and I save the results for future references. I've been using it with both of the boys. Having done the test a few times in the last few years I think the very first section should be a little bit longer since my feeling is that a word or two extra words in the first level makes for a huge difference in the overall score even though I don't feel the kids made adequate progress.

Does anybody know about a good spelling test I could use to measure DS5 progress? While I am typing this DS5 is creating his own crossword puzzle which includes words like oxygen, hydrogen, teenager, raspberries, submarine.

I totally agree praising effort or finding an activity for your child that would be challenging for them is all a very good thing.

I'm still a bit alarmed about that kind of tone when referring to preschoolers from a tester. I guess in my ideal world, 4 year olds could have a bad day, or show their true colors, and get a meaningful and appropriate school placement. Call me a crazy idealist!

Thanks for the readingkey link! DS had a lot of fun with that going for speed.

It was great for DD6! She gained a lot of confidence when I told her what her reading grade level was!

Confidence is something we have been working on with her, so thanks!