Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Should I have my four year old tested? What test?

Hi, I am also new here. I have a four year old who has been reading since before he was two. He currently reads and comprehends at a fourth or fifth grade level. He shows many other signs of giftedness. I am wondering what in the world I am going to do when he is supposed to start kindergarten. Someone recommended that I have him tested to show numbers to the school. If I do decide to have him take a test, which test do you recommend? I am concerned about putting a label on him at a young age, and I don't think he'll fit in at the school anyway, even if they allow him to skip a grade or two. I'm considering keeping him at home, but how do I fulfill his needs? Thanks for any advice you can give.

Have you spoken to someone at your local school? I'd probably start there; see what options they have available and what tests they will accept.

We are choosing to homeschool, despite living in a great school district, because we just don't think that it makes sense to expect a school to accommodate a child like ours (also 4 and reading at at least a fourth grade level). We may decide to dual enroll, but once we hooked up with our local homeschooling community, that seemed less crucial.

Our DS was given the Woodcock Johnson III test by the school at the age of 5, when it came time to skip him over kindergarten. It really doesn't start until age 6, but the computer allowed them to norm the test for his actual age and for "Kindergarten 9th month" as if he had finished Kindergarten already, which was the earliest they could do. It skewed the grade equivalency scores a bit, but he was already so off the charts it didn't really matter. Yours would probably do the same. It was a really good test for showing skill levels across the board.

I would check and see what testing the school would accept and definitely go ahead with testing. Schools need something to see, especially with a child that is HG/PG and will probably need some form of acceleration. We had a very similar situation with our DS6. He too was reading well before 2 and had many other signs and we weren't sure what to do. Everyone told us that he would not make it in a public school because there was no way they could meet his needs. We had him tested in spring before he would have been starting K. Testing confirmed how gifted he was and we met with the school to talk about a plan for him and had them meet DS. After reading his report and meeting him they felt he should skip K. Now he is 6 in 2nd grade and goes to 4th grade for Math and has subject acceleration in his class for other subjects. Anyhow, there is lots of support if you go the homeschool route as well. That just wasn't an option for us and so far so good with the school. It has taken some work and everyone is learning and new to all this, but they are willing to try and see what works. I wouldn't worry about the label part. It's not as if you have to walk around saying "my child is gifted' all day. Labels are useful when they help a child to get their needs met. And children like that seem to draw attention anyhow, it's not like people don't already know that he is gifted. He just doesn't have the test scores yet : ) But I do completely understand, I felt just like you about a year and a half ago when we were testing and did have some mixed feelings. Now, no regrets at all. I can't imagine what we would have done if we didn't do testing.

As far as tests we had DS do the SB5 for IQ and WIAT for achievement. The psychologist who tested DS was great and spaced out tests over several mornings to break it up a bit. DS quite enjoyed the testing and still asks to go back and do more testing sometimes. : ) Good luck and hold on for the long ride ahead! Keep us updated.

We had our 4 year old tested with WPPSI, after just having turned 4 years. I managed to find a psychologist to test dd who is basically an extremely gentle kind older woman, just the sort of person that a little girl would warm up to, or any small child. I think the tester will be a question you have to tackle as well. But getting with the school to find out what they would accept for either grade skipping or for a gifted program is a very good idea. Putting your son in school and then waiting for them to test will likely be very difficult for him.
Of course it seems totally odd to be asking for testing for a 4 year old, but once you have results to show people it makes the conversation WAY easier; the big circular conversation about whether or not the child is even gifted is (usually) concluded, and you can move on to what to do for them.

Best of luck!

Hi!

We had our two children tested with WPPSI for IQ and WJ-III for achievement.

There is a list of psychologists who are familiar with testing gifted kids on Hoagies website:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/psychologists.htm#list

Like others have suggested, definitely check with your school. For our school, neither WPPSI nor WJ-III helped as far as grade and/or subject acceleration. (Thinking back, I am not even sure if anyone other than the GT teacher knew what the WPSSI and WJ-III results meant.) To qualify for grade acceleration in our area, a student must take an exam with qualifying scores (>90%) in ALL 4 subjects (reading, math, science, and social studies). Oh, and there is an age requirement too--you must be 5yo by Sept 1st of the school year in order to be eligible for the exam.

Hope this helps... and good luck!
Mag

Every School system handles this question a bit differently. The thing to understand is that very often the public school can be worthwhile, with lots of modifications, such as subject and full acceleration, but it may take time to get to exactly where your child needs to be.

I would start with putting together a 'portfolio' - as much in your child's handwriting as possible - demonstrating what the child is up to academically. Bookstores sell workbooks that are grade labeled, and those are an easy way to start. Not the whole workbook, but a few pages in a few subjects in a few grades that show what he can do.

Then get a meeting with the school. Check their website and see if they have a gifted program, if so call the coordinator, if not, call the Principle. I would call now. Everything in schools happens slowly, but you are going to want to spend time sitting in various classrooms and observing what the various teachers and students are like at various grades.

Homeschooling is a viable alternative, and you need it as a 'back pocket option' but it isn't nescessarily the best alternative at any given moment.

I would definitely look at this page - and print it out - so that when you start hearing about tests, which the school might do, you can keep track of the various ones -
http://www.davidsongifted.org/young...holars___Qualification_Criteria_384.aspx

I would search around Hoagies and see information about the various tests. WPPSI isn't the best for your child because he is too far past the academic milestones. WISC !V you'll have to wait until age 5....I wouldn't mess with fudging the numbers. SB-V is a great alternative, but it's harder to find psychologist who use it.

I would stongly recommend you read or buy
http://www.giftedbooks.com/productdetails.asp?id=130

it's a wonderful guide to help you understand the tests and ponder the alternatives. You can read a review of it here
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10053.aspx

As far as labling the kid, my guess is that you can't take him to the grocery store without him raising eyebrows and turning heads. If so, he's already attracting lots of attention - better to have a calm and thoughtful explaination than an elephant in the living room. BTW, I hated the word at first, and tried valiantly to work around it for years...I sure got a lot of funny looks!

Love and More Love,
Grinity

is that why the DYS cut off is 5 points higher for WPPSI? Is it the content or the ceilings that make the difference? I thought I read some study that did a comparison of the two and found that the results were similar although the younger kids liked the SB5 better.

Also, WPPSI has a timed and writing component, if your kid has fine motor issues that will show up there but not necessarily with SB5.

DeHe

Before my youngest started K, I took her in for achievement testing with a private tester. He administered the Woodcock Johnson III and having those results has been a big help in finding a better fit with subject acceleration. He recommended waiting on IQ testing until she turned 6 but the achievement has been enough help so far.

I made an appointment with the principal in the spring before my youngest started K to make a plan. She offered to try a full grade skip but subject acceleration seemed like a better option since there's a gifted magnet that starts in 3rd grade. I didn't have the full report and the brief exit interview seemed good enough. I just gave the principal a one page breakdown with the numbers.

I think the achievement took a couple hours and included writing. I wouldn't try to pack it all in on one day if you also do IQ. Good luck!

Unless you absolutely have to (travel for example) I would not do both in the same day. My dd at about that age took about 2 hours for each the WISC and the WJ. She took a couple of small breaks each day.