Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Ruh-roh... WISC-IV results are in...

I often think the same thing Dandy....what would DS be like if he had been challenged from the start rather than held back. He was soooo eager back then....not anymore.

I am definitely not negative towards public schools, I think they generally try their best with what they have to work with. I have worked in inner-city public schools for years and love it. I have encountered lots of GREAT teachers and awesome kids. I do think that it is hard for them to get kids like ours and realize that they need to provide an education for that child and that they truly don't have the resources to do it at times. Although, sometimes it takes creativity and there are ways for them to meet those needs without extra money. I just want schools to be open to that and think outside of the box for these kids. Thankfully ours has so far. Although school hasn't started so I have no idea. They did at least realize that putting him in a K class wouldn't work and they would have to start him in first and they say that they realize they will have to give him work outside of the first grade curriculum. Here's to hoping that continues : )

that makes me sad. I worry about that. DS is so excited about school...but when he gets there are they are learning to read and do basic addition and subtraction I hope that doesn't discourage him.

It has been some time since I read the book and I could be wrong but I came away with a different impression. My recollection was that the PG kids in the book demonstrated that generally radical acceleration and multiple grade skips were necessary. The kids who didn't get this often had pretty significant social and emotional problems.

These are fantastic scores!! Really super!

I do though very much get your wife's comment about shoe laces.... we face the same issues here!

My DD isn't at this level of GT, but after years of a PS that wasn't willing to challenge her the boredom, for lack of a better word, set in and the spark went out. Even now she is fighting because she doesn't want to do a partial enrollment this year, when I think one more year is necessary, at least. We are just beginning to understand what she can do now that she can pursue her studies as she wishes and I am always fighting the PS attitude. She is soaring with her studies when given the choices and I am truely amazed. I hope you are able to strike a balance with the school and find something that will truely work for your son.

re: Changing testers, sorry I missed responding to this. But to share, we had something similar happen to us. DD did whatever the test is called to get in to John Hopkins Online Maths program. I had her tested at a local gifted centre for that test.

Anyhowzers, dd apparently got the highest score they had ever seen on the test, whose name, I now forget. The tester, told hubby and I flat out, after telling us what a great unique little kid we had, that she wouldnt feel comfortable doing full scale testing for our dd, as she had little experience of children who are at the extreme. So, I am wondering if the tester that your ds had for the initial test, feels that their colleague is better at WIAT or just better, with kids who are at the extreme?

The tester who, we did use for the WIAT and SBV, is known for doing more work with kids at the extremes. And that tester's philosophy is more to test kids on what they do know as opposed to what they dont know. How this actually plays into the testing, I have no ideas, as hubby and I went to have some very long lattes at Starbucks, whilst dd was doing her labrat stuff.

DD herself and you can read my post on what do grade equvalencies mean for the WIAT? (According to Dottie, not necessarily a whole heap!) refused towards the end, to do any more questions. Fortunately she had already ceilinged nearly the entire WIAT, but I guess, going back to my original point, maybe the tester just thinks that their colleague, is better, at getting kids to do well on the WIAT?

Also, whilst Dottie is probably right on the grade equavalencies, not meaning a heck off a lot. To share (I seem to love doing that!), when I was looking at new schools for dd, for this fall, I looked at a few schools. Now, like your son, my dd's scores, are really near the top of the test, well your little guy is at the top off the test! But, the number itself, to outsiders of the GT world doesnt look exactly impressive. You know, people tend to think Einstein must have an IQ in the 200s, and they had an Uncle that had a score of 165 etc, and so on. They just dont understand how difficult it is to get 150s on these tests. However, the super WIAT(lol), or whichever achievement test you are using, has lovely grade equvalencies (or at least ours does) next to the scores, and my goodness, did that change the tone off conversation.

I have also had, the usual, oh we have seen kids like this before, and when I have shown the WIAT and said, okay, well with 5 year olds, that have a reading comprehension of 8th plus grade level, what did you do?? The proverbial needle zipping across the record..... tends to be the response.

Anyway, I will be looking forward to seeing how your ds, does on the WIAT.

Reading your post reminded me of something that I have pondered off and on for a while. I sometimes wonder if the schools that don't typically see gifted children do the best job in accommodating them, because they are forced to think outside the box. We live in a school district where it is competitive with a high ratio of children in the gifted programs. Parents expect their kids to be in it, be it for social bragging rights or whatever. So when a HG+ child comes along, my fear is they will lump them with the rest and expect the program as established will be just fine.

[quote=Dandy
The challenge is when adults (who should know better) ask him, "You're really smart, aren't you?" Sometimes it rhetorical, but other times they stand there, waiting for an answer. There's just no easy way out of this one. We've tried showing a little modesty with "I do okay, but you should see my sister!" or a similar deflection. [/quote]

Sylvia Rimm address this extensively. The plan is for the parent to jump in and rephrase in such a way that stresses 'character' traits instead of 'inborn gifts.'

Stranger: Arent' you smart?
Parent: Yes, he loves to learn new things.
or
Yes, he is a very hard worker
or
Yes, he has wonderful curiosity.

The 'all brains are different' discussion is important too, for within the family, but out in public, all talk and excitement needs to be funneled into 'character development.'

Rinn says it better.

Smiles - and congradulations - remember that even his 'lower' scores are very very high.

Grinity