Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Had My 4-Year Old Take the Woodcock Johnson

I have an older child who is mildly gifted (not sure I like putting it that way, but it is the only way I know to describe it). But, she had a hard time in school with academic work. She was always ahead of the curriculum and it took years to get it straightened out.

So, when my younger son started reading site words at 2, I got a little worried. On his 4th birthday, he got a "Curious George" book and he read the entire thing to me. Then, I got really worried about him starting kindy the following year.

At 4 years and 3 months, I took him to a psychologist who gave him the WJ. His reading scores all came out at the end of 2nd grade. His quantitative scores all came out at the end of 1st grade. (I didn't even realize he knew addition/subtraction!)

Now, I'm trying to decide about kindy for next fall. I went in to talk with the principal. She told me that often kids can do well on these tests, but they don't really understand what they are doing. So, he still needs to learn his concepts.

What would be a normal course of action for an immature 5 year old that is several grades ahead. He is now 4-years and 7 months, and I can tell he has probably jumped even higher since the WJ was administered.

I am considering homeschooling, but part of me thinks he would benefit from a structured environment. (I'm not very structured.) I just don't want to push him into a difficult situation.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Sounds a lot like my DS6, he is not emotionally mature at all!!
Meanwhile he is 4 grades ahead.
I spoke to someone in charge of homeschooling in NYC.
They said to me, if he is enrolled in school there will be services available for him, school phychologist who can test him and other services etc. If I homeschool I am on my own.
And homeschooling 1/2 a day is not allowed.
So he kinda turned me off to it.
Also, if we homeschool how will that education be perceived later on when they apply for middle school HS etc.

Really?!
I'm having a hard time buying her interpretation of the Woodcock Johnson scores.
Can't he learn his concepts in a higher grade with the other kids who did as well as he did?

Also sounds a lot like my son who took the WJ-III test at age 5 years 1 month. He tested very well but his current 1st grade can't fathom that he truly knows the concepts of multiplication/division/fractions/negative numbers. They are forcing the "concepts" down his throat and he is bored, restless and has completely given up on learning in school this year.

IMO, it is possible for 4 and 5 year old children to know math concepts. Just because it developmentally doesn't happen for most kids until they are older---it can happen to some kids that are younger. That is why our children score at the 99%--they are not the average kids that public schools are set up to teach.

I'm beginning to think that all 5 yo gifties are immature. I've read a couple of studies on just this. My DS6 has the luxury of being in a school that gets it. Although he is registered in K, he spends very little time in there.

Although he just started school in October I have to say that he has matured tremendously. Peer pressure in some circumstances is a good thing!

I'm new here, but you sound a lot like me, and your child sounds a lot like mine. We have no choice but to either homeschool (which I cannot do) or sit and wait until the fall (even private schools around here would not see DS until he entered K in the fall). I know that DS's Elementary School has several programs for kids that are advanced, bright, or gifted, so it's the only thing "settling" my concerns even though waiting is not one of my strong points.

Check with your school board (county/district/state), they may be able to provide more information than the principal did. Plus, they more than likely have mental health specialists on staff who are more informed about the specific test(s) and can assist you and/or make a recommendation for your DS.

Good luck.

Traceyqns, if you see this, who did you speak with in charge of homeschooling in NY?

Pandabear, I'm curious, why didn't the psychologist do an IQ test?

I totally agree. My DS4 completely understands division and multiplications concepts and it astounds me. I know he does because of how he verbally works out harder problems out loud. It's clear that he gets it. It's really frustrating when people just don't get it. I have a feeling that Kindergarten is going to be a big challenge for us next year. We are starting testing next week and I am looking forward to having some paperwork to advocate for him. And hopefully they will believe the scores and not explain them away.

Your son sounds a lot like my DD6 (just had her b-day!) academicaly. I don't know if the same would work for your son, but by our experience this is what we did for her.

To start we put her in K (private school) then the teacher suggested we have her tested. (you've already done this so you are way ahead of me) in Jan. we put her in 1st grade. This seem to work for her because she had not been in any type of pre-school so things were new and exciting to begin with.

Next year she will be going to a different school, with higher academics and the ability to go beyond what they are learning in the classroom. I can see she had perfection issues so I always want to make sure there is a challenge in her school work.

I don't agree with the principal about these kids not knowing the concepts, my DD just seems to know or she reads about it and figures it out, I think that's one of the reasons why they call them gifted?

I think you just have to take it one year at a time, find what works and be pro-active about their education. Sounds like your already going that direction.

This was on another thread and I thought it was a useful analogy. Is the principal offering to do any additional testing to compare snapshots?