Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Davidson Young Scholars

Sorry if this question is silly.

I booked a testing appointment for my son already. Just found out that DYS requires the student to be a US citizen / permanent resident. Really shocked. We are Asians living in the US, not a permanent resident yet, but our green card is under process. Will that help?

Thanks.

I think it is great that you desire for your family to become permanent residents of the USA by obtaining a green card. Following the links provided on that webpage (While your green card application is pending, USCIS Processing Times, Historical Average Processing Times) may provide you with information to help manage your expectations about the length of time remaining until you receive a decision on the green card. From prior posts it appears that your child is about 8 years old, so there is not a time crunch to apply to DYS... there are about 8 more years to apply.

Is potential application to the DYS program your sole reason for having your child tested?

It seems a bit unusual for a member of the forum for more than two years not to have seen the information on the How to Apply - DYS Eligibility Requirements webpage prior to scheduling an appointment for assessment. The same webpage states:

You can always have him tested now and DYS will accept qualifying results within the last 2 Years. You probably would get your residency status by then. Once you receive your green card then you can apply to DYS right away.

Thanks a lot for replying.
Yes, totally agree it is unusual. I seem to have missed that part, somehow. All along I have been only thinking about age and the score qualifications.

The purpose of my testing was to apply for DYS if he qualifies. He is already into the school district's full time gifted program. I am not sure if I should go ahead and get it done anyways or drop it. The Green Card processing times can take up to decades and I am confused about whether to do the testing or not. Could doing this testing be useful in any other way?

Thanks for responding, I may not get the green card in 2 years considering the application queues from my nationals is pretty long. Really disappointed right now.

Testing occurs for many reasons, including:
- parents seeking to understand something out-of-the-ordinary which they may be observing about their child,
- learning about strengths and any relative weaknesses,
- gathering data for potential future acceleration (grade skip) or for advocacy,
- qualifying for a variety of memberships, summer camps, and other programs.

Does your child have a particular need which you are hoping to address? There are usually several approaches to help meet a student's needs. Some thoughts to consider:
- What does the gifted program at your child's school consist of?
- Is it a good "fit" for his interests and abilities?
- Is he experiencing academic growth?
- Is he happy?
- Does he have friendships with his classmates?

I doubt very much that Davidson will allow you to join DYS without a green card. However, you are still free to take advantage of the many other benefits that they offer, such as the Gifted Database and (when your child is older) the THINK Summer Institute.

Personally, I would not get the testing if you do not have a reason like the ones that indigo lists above.

The full time gifted program at school provides 1 grade acceleration in all subject areas. I am sure he is benefited out of it and is happy. He has a lot of friends and is very social. He loves reading and reads middle school and high school level novels all the time. He loves his math and can handle much more than what the program can offer. At home, he always does math that is at least two grades ahead.

I am not clear on what else I should be offering him. I am constantly worried if I am doing full justice. I am also unclear whether he is getting enough opportunities to work at his complete potential. Please provide the factors that can quantify and determine these variables.

He almost never loses in anything he has hands on like math competitions, art contests etc.. He can do wonderful pencil sketches. I know that I have to do something better for him. I do not know what and how.

I thought DYS can definitely help him, if he qualifies. Now that it is a dead end for me, I have no clue how to proceed. Sorry to sound so desperate and naive. Please shed some light on what I can possibly do.

Indigo "qualifying for a variety of memberships, summer camps, and other programs."

- Could you please detail on these?

He is in 2nd grade and can handle fractions, prealgebra and a bit of algebra too. He always maxes out in the achievement tests given in his class like STAR which are also tested 1 grade ahead for him. His teacher considers him to be one of the best performing even amidst the gifted students. He started reading when he was 2 and could handle mental arithmetic before he was 5.
And, he is bilingual. He can read, write and speak our native language fluently. He is a healthy, happy, and a jolly-go little guy.

Based on your posts, ss62, it sounds as though your son is doing well:
- happy
- has a lot of friends and is very social
- loves reading, knows his favorite genre, and reads a lot (several years above his grade level).
It sounds like the gifted program is a decent fit, and you are providing at-home enrichment when he craves it (higher math, contests, etc).

If a time comes when he needs more academic challenge and/or the company of intellectual peers, you may see pervasive changes, such as those listed in this brief roundup:
- not so happy (for example: change in personality and/or outlook, feeling invalidated, unsupported, unaffirmed, left out, marginalized, ostracized, internalizing a sense of "guilt" for being "privileged" with higher-than-average intelligence, anxious, afraid to make a mistake, bored, hopeless)
- withdrawn from friends (for example: saying they don't "get" his humor, aren't interested in the same things, he has to hide his intelligence and "dumb down" to fit in, etc)
- lack of interest in reading, and/or choosing genres influenced by popular taste of kids his chronological age and/or grade level
- avoiding challenge (for example: shunning new experiences, procrastinating when faced with learning about topics which he may not be too interested in or naturally good at).
These are quality-of-life factors, rather than being quantitative. For a quantitative measure, you might look for a trend in achievement test scores which indicate a lack of growth over time.

Welcome to the club, I believe we all feel that way. That is part of the bond within the gifted community.

There is not a one-size-fits-all-gifted-kids answer. Are you looking for something online? To be integrated into his school day? To provide at-home enrichment? Are you looking for further contests/competitions? Activities to pursue alone? Or as part of a team? Does his school have a math club which competes?

As mentioned by others, The Davidson Institute for Talent Development serves the general public with a number of valuable resources. Including:
- free access to the Davidson Database
- free downloadable Guidebooks

The possible use of IQ test scores for enrolling your son in a variety of memberships, summer camps, and other programs may vary GREATLY by your location, willingness to travel, your child's strengths/interests, and your child's age. This calls for a bit of research. The Davidson database and old threads on this forum are both rich resources for parental lists... what worked for others' children.