Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment A thread for Jbell281 - are your children gifted?

IQ tests are only generally given for low students. Not high.

You might like this article. It shows generalized behavioral differences between high achievers (good students) and high intelligence. http://www.bertiekingore.com/high-gt-create.htm.

In general, children who have "enriched environment" in preschool years - that is to say children who are advanced because they had a head start being taught academics - will "regress to the mean" by 2nd grade. That's why so many gifted programs in schools don't start until 2nd or 3rd grades! They're trying to prevent accelerating children who will not be able to maintain advancement.

If your children are past 2nd grade, more than a year advanced, and the school has already identified them as gifted, I think you can trust that they are advanced. If your children's intellectual needs are met with their current program, no further testing needs to be done.

It's quite common for parents to experience denial about their child's abilities! I am just beginning to be able to admit to myself how advanced my son is. Even on this board I often underestimate or understate. I am stuck in my mind believeing initial (incorrect) testing and saying he is "moderately gifted" when he's actually "extremely gifted". I have trouble seeing him for who he is and not what the tests have said. I appreciate how IQ testing gives me confidence in the schooling decisions I've made, but I don't like how much it puts people into categories and how easily I get stuck thinking about how people within a category "should" be. I get stuck thinking "extremely gifted children should have XYZ trait" and when I don't see it in my son I get a little insecure. Had I not tested, I wouldn't struggle internally. However, had I not had him tested, his ADHD wouldn't have been diagnosed and he wouldn't have appropriately challenging schoolwork. The benefit outweighs the negatives for me, but I always encourage people to think about what IQ testing might achieve for their families before requesting it.

I am not familiar with requesting IQ testing from a school district. The first time I had my son's private IQ testing done, I stated the reason was investigating if acceleration might be appropriate. The second time, I stated the reason was to see if his results aligned with his school acheivement. At the time I was concerned I was pushing him too much academically. I think the reason statements on the forms just guide them for what tests to administer.

Thank you for your response. Yes that's exactly what happened with my boys. Informally pulled out until 2nd grade and then classified gifted and talented. I am a teacher myself but I teach K ina different district and we do things differently. I have a daughter as well in K but she is an average student I could swear my oldest has ADHD but it has never affected him at school but he can not sit still!! Studying with him is the worst. I have asked teachers and they said he fidgets a lot but it does not interrupt his work.
There are magnet programs available for middle school and high school that I would like to look into. My husband is not as interested. We are big into sports and he wants them to have a normal high school experience and I want them to get the best education possible.

You could ask the private school(s) if they honor the district's identification of gifted/talented. You can ask for their written acceleration policy. You might need further testing - might not. I think you'll find more answer in each school's polices and in your state's educational laws than you'll find in your children's IQ scores.

IQ testing may become of value if you find that a school's gifted/talented program is not enough. GT programs are usually designed for the "high achieving" student, and an extremely or profoundly gifted child is still going to find the pace is too slow and the material too easy. This is where determining "how gifted" a child is can help in advocating for further academic challenge.

According to your list they fall more under gifted. They do not study or put in any work. It comes easy to them but eventually the time will come where they have to study.

Private/independent schools typically have students sit for admissions exams and/or placement exams... often called ERB. These are achievement tests, not IQ tests. You may want to check the policies of any private schools under consideration.

Thank you. My younger son has had some behavior issues in the past. I think related to boredom but this year has been wonderful. His other teachers didn't enjoy having someone who was 2 steps ahead but this teacher loves him. But next year may not be the same.

If you suspect any ADHD, that's a strong reason to do IQ testing. A discrepancy between specific subtest scores on the WISC-V test can indicate ADHD. (ADHD is a diagnosis of elimination, since sleep disorders and other conditions have overlapping symptom patterns.) My son's teachers in elementary school scored him very low on ADHD behavioral assessments and were convinced he was " a typical boy" who was "good at reading". I would not trust his classroom teacher's assessment. However, if your son's testing did not suggest ADHD, then you would likely find "psychomotor overexcitability" to be an interesting theory. (The work it's from is outdated and not evidence-based, and the overexcitability concept is plucked grossly out of context, but it's still an accessible way to discuss differences in the way people experience the world.)

If sports are a big part of family, you might ask potential schools about subject acceleration versus grade-skip acceleration. Advanced children who are active in sports generally fare very well emotionally in school, and acceleration may limit the number of years he could participate in sports. Subject acceleration might meet his academic needs without limiting his access to peers and sports.

My husband is also of the opinion "just put them in normal public school" and he's just starting to figure out that's not going to work. It's tough to deal with that type of conflict. Raising advanced children is tough work, making education decisions is often gut-wrenching, and to do it with a skeptical spouse makes everything more intense. I feel for you there!

Huge red flag! Here's why: What Kids Don't Learn.

Yes I am concerned that no study skills will develop. If you read something once and know it it's hard to learn to study I am happy about the straight a's but it's. It the same as if they had earned them through studying, hard work, or effort. My older son stumbled a bit this year with organization but seems to have the hang of it now.