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Gifted testing


lulalu
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Is testing worth it if you suspect MG or HG? If you did have testing done how has that helped or changed anything?

 

I have assumed for several years around the age of 3 ds had some MG. Looking online at some simple check lists it seems like he fits into the gifted category. But not exceptionally or profoundly.

 

But I am wondering beyond just knowing if testing is worth it.

 

He has fine motor delays and can't write worth anything! But I can't keep up with math we are flying through everything. In six months we have done mep reception, mep 1 book 1. I bought miquon the orange book in september and we are almost done already. I just don't know how to slow down so we don't go through everything! We live where shipping is crazy expensive so I don't want to be ordering stuff all the time.

 

We may be putting him in ps in the states for about three months this year when we are visiting for a total of four months as international moves exhaust me, would it be helpful for that? But if I knew he was I probably wouldn't put him in as accelerations are difficult in the district.

 

But I also realize this could just be our environment he has grown up in.

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What state are you going to be in? Each state and each school district has different rules. Some places don’t test until the third grade. Other ones will not accept any outside testing at all. And some will work with you and your kid. It really depends on the place.

 

Re: Was testing helpful? Yes. But I was having a hard time believing my kid was gifted at all. Your situation sounds entirely different.

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Private testing... meh.  I don't know.  It's very situational.  In some ways it can be extremely helpful, but otoh, it's generally expensive and may not necessarily give you anything useful.  Reading up on gifted development might be more helpful than testing if you're not worried about 2e and don't need the scores for anything.

 

I had my older two (MG-HG, depending on what you reference) tested privately because of 2e concerns.  If they didn't have the other issues going on, I don't think it would have been worth it.  Our school district has it's own system for identifying kids for gifted services, so private testing wasn't necessary for that, though it has proven helpful in securing services (both for GT and the other "stuff") for my kid who is in PS full time.

 

IME, you'll need a lot longer than 3 months to get any benefit from gifted programming in PS.  It seems to take them at least that long to even respond to requests and/or initiate anything out of the norm.  

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I only did it because the Woodcock Johnson was being offered a really good price. I thought my son was HG...until the tester talked to me afterwards that I needed to rethink my planning for him as he was testing in the PG range. It did motivate me to join DYS and pursue other opportunities for him that I otherwise wouldn't have put as much effort to do.

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We may be putting him in ps in the states for about three months this year when we are visiting for a total of four months as international moves exhaust me, would it be helpful for that? But if I knew he was I probably wouldn't put him in as accelerations are difficult in the district.

 

 

Is the testing worth it?  It was for us.  It helped break through our denial (oldest) and offered the baseline testing to show dd was struggling with dyslexia (second child).  I haven't tested the third and fourth child. I know the third one is gifted (possibly 2e) and I don't care to know whether or not the fourth is gifted 'cause I think I've got it down now...

 

This bit you said above, though, is the main point I think? No? 

If you knew he was gifted you wouldn't put him in school.  May I ask why? 

What I mean is... if he's learning a certain way right now that either is or is not a good fit for the particular school independent of what any test might tell you. If he'll only be there for a few months and it would be helpful for you, it might be a good experience either way. However, if an IQ result alone is enough for you to keep him out... well... I wonder if there might be other reasons you would be willing to keep him out anyway. YKWIM?

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We may be putting him in ps in the states for about three months this year when we are visiting for a total of four months as international moves exhaust me, would it be helpful for that? But if I knew he was I probably wouldn't put him in as accelerations are difficult in the district.

My district doesn’t accept IQ scores only for acceleration purposes. So for four months of school, it isn’t worth it to spend on IQ testing.

 

If you or your spouse need the IQ testing report because of other reasons like suspecting 2E, then spending the money might be worth it. My husband was able to use HSA funds to pay for both kids testing so that makes it less financially painful for us.

 

My oldest went to public school for K and 1st and had fun despite being ahead. I get to catch up on sleep while he played at school. The public school was no homework, more play based for K-2nd so it was easy for me to after school him.

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Is the testing worth it? It was for us. It helped break through our denial (oldest) and offered the baseline testing to show dd was struggling with dyslexia (second child). I haven't tested the third and fourth child. I know the third one is gifted (possibly 2e) and I don't care to know whether or not the fourth is gifted 'cause I think I've got it down now...

 

This bit you said above, though, is the main point I think? No?

If you knew he was gifted you wouldn't put him in school. May I ask why?

What I mean is... if he's learning a certain way right now that either is or is not a good fit for the particular school independent of what any test might tell you. If he'll only be there for a few months and it would be helpful for you, it might be a good experience either way. However, if an IQ result alone is enough for you to keep him out... well... I wonder if there might be other reasons you would be willing to keep him out anyway. YKWIM?

I am just worried about more transition and changes. Different countries, languages etc is a lot to handle and I worry about adding more. But I also know how tired I get with an international move....

 

And I would hate for him to experience teachers telling him to do math differently than he does right now. What he does is working.

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For my older son, who is 2E (dyslexia) testing was indispensable, especially when it came time for him to take college admissions tests and he needed accommodations.

 

For the younger one, we tested just to see what was going on.  Knowing the extent of his giftedness has been valuable in that it reinforced my inclination to challenge him more than might seem prudent.  It also showed me that his visual/perceptual skills were much stronger than I understood (I had thought his verbal skills were stronger) which made me make different (and better) curriculum choices for him.

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You said you may put him in school in the US for three months -- this year -- so that's Kindergarten, right? I wouldn't worry about math. He's probably already beyond what they normally teach in K in the states. If you do put him in school, you can "afterschool" math to retain those positives you like so much and still get a break during the day. Where you are headed -- is it full day K or half day K? Would that influence your decision?

 

(I agree with the PP who said that there wouldn't be enough time for the test results to influence anything about his school experience. Even if you were there the full year... they often don't bother adapting K anyway.)

 

Were you thinking about a grade skip, perhaps, and hoping test scores might mean first grade (and full day and challenge level math or a gifted pull out program)?  IME few public schools will consider grade skips, even with test scores they respect (they often want to do the tests themselves, no matter if testing has already been done). Additionally, this can take a very long time to actually happen (and many won't even consider until 3rd grade).

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