Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment 1st grader needs testing?

My DS6, in first grade has been frustrated with school. At school she is perfectly behaved. She is doing well socially. She is an A student. Looks great but when she get home and down loads on me wow!

Here's some back ground:
Her brother is a borderline DYS canidate and we are waiting application results. I see her as ahead of her peers. But she is different from her brother. She does not seems as obsessive with learning but can be ambitous. In preschool she would go up to the table with some type of Manipulative and do beyond what I would think the problem would be and make it more challenging. She is still doing this. Her vocabulary is ahead. She can read some 3rd grade level books. She frequently recalls information and seems to have excellent comprehension. Ex. Last night she was telling me how bees have 2 stomachs, one is for their pollen. The list is never ending.... She seems eager at home to seek challenge. She want to try and learn German at the library.

Some concerns that she told me: At school she said she in not raising her hand all the time becuase she wants to give other kids a chance. The too slow Math is driving her crazy. The reading is too easy. She is writing the answers ahead in her workbook before the class goes over the question. I think she wants to show herself she can do the workbook without being babied. At home totally on her own she comes to me explaining Multipication ahead of school teaching. Instead of practicing her Math facts she wanted to do dominoes and talked about regrouping with 5s.

I think we should have her tested. Just to see where she is. Would any agree? Right now it's touchy with the school but they did volunteer to do my son's recent IQ. So how could I approach the school. I would like an AChievement test and IQ test done. I really don't have a specific goal for her other than maybe they could challenge her more. I think the best approach might be to look to them for advice but I'm not sure what to say.

onthegomom,

How likely is it that your DD's school/teacher will take action on any possible results from testing would be my first question. I don't think it can hurt anything to have her tested but if it was my DD I would ask myself what the benefits could realistically be. Here is my reasoning. If I suspected that my DD would score high on IQ and achievement tests AND I thought those results could be used to get her intellectual needs met then I would definitely have her take them. If I was not certain that her current educational system would make proper use of the test results I would wait. I would pay more attention and if I felt she was really not getting her needs met and was unhappy I would explore the options. Some of the options I might wish to choose might have testing that they require and if I had already had the school test her and it was out of date or the wrong test then she has to go through the testing again.
I also know that our school would not do IQ or achievement tests unless there were other issues involved.
Have you spoken with her teacher yet about the things she is telling you at home?

I have spoken to the teacher. She said have her to some ARs for a challenge. This has helped. She is proud she is doing this.

The teacher has been out for a month.

While in a meeting for DS, with the pricipal asked about DD and I told her a few concerns. I not sure if she was going to make any changes.

Is there a worry about testing? Like a lable? I'm not up on these type of concerns.

I'm not sure about what I want for her. I would like to not hold her back from DYS if she has what they want. I do think she is not as high as DS, but I could be wrong. She is one smart cookie.

I would guess she could go up a grade. I've thought that since preschool. Often I thought she could do her brother's work, two grades up. My thinking is just to get the ball rolling with understanding where she is and not have any pressure to act. I'm still not sold on the idea of having my kids graduate from Hs ahead of schedule, but I want accelloration or at least challenging learning. (Two ideas in conflict)

What motivates a school to test with out a problem in the class room? Do they just have an obligation to do this when they might think someone is a certain level of gifted and a parent requests it. We are in a parochial private school.

onthegomom,

When we had our DD tested it confirmed what we already knew but the best thing was I didn't doubt myself anymore (I'm sure the other kids can do what she does, type of thing) And if your DD qualifies for DYS then you will have those resources availalbe to you as well.

I don't think there's a lable when someone is tested, we went with a private tester so I don't know if that makes a difference. Even if you do nothing with the infomation at least you are informed and maybe get a better ideal of what your child may need, hope that helps, best wishes

Thanks for everybody's help.

I really need help for how to approach the school and ask for IQ testing and WJIII testing

With a private school, I'd be shocked if they handled the testing (after all, it can be expensive). I'd guess you'd need to do the testing privately.

You might check with the public school district (start with their website). Our district offers Cogat testing for admission to their gifted program (only on certain dates), and does some one-on-one IQ and achievement testing of special ed students. But here you can't call up and ask for a WISC to look for giftedness.

The school has already provided the testing for DS so it's not an issue if do they provide. It's an issue of will they for DD? or under what situations

Simply ask the school what they need to see from your daughter before they provide the same services they extended to your son.

Or, to turn it around, what ultimately led to them providing the assessment for your son?

On our end, I'm not going to say boo about my daughter until I see some of the same issues with her. I don't want to put the school through the time & expense, or her through the hoops, until the need arises.

I've read about the studies showing sibs within 10 points or so of each other, but so far our household seems to be ignoring that statistical figure.

Behavior issues like baby talk and tuning out were what promoted the testing. Once that occurred, I felt like the school could see the situation was hurting him. This prompted some help.

I feel like the school situation is hurting my daughter right now in some ways too. I think she won't get to the same situation as DS she is good at stuffing her feeling until she comes home.

I'm wondering how to approach the school about IQ and Achievement testing? Is there a reason not to approach them? I'm just concerned about asking the question the right way so I don't get anyone mad.