Where do you get your child tested . . .

[budeb]

to see what level of giftedness they are at? Is it really expensive or is there an online test that works well?

 

I am at the end of my rope with DS (7) . . . he's in grade two and is hating school. He sighs, rolls his eyes, does sloppy work and is not putting forth an effort. I think he's bored but I don't know what else to do. Math comes very easy to him as does reading (currently finished reading The magician's nephew by CS Lewis). He loves to read.

 

I have homeschooled him from the beginning but am putting him in school next year. I think he's just bored here. We are part of a co-op once a week, Awana, German Language school on Saturday's, track and field when in season, sports in season, etc. I don't know what else to do for him. I would like to have him tested so that I can see if he would qualify for a gifted program at school.

[aly9712]

You can try a local university. If there's a doctorate program in psychology or education, they probably have doctoral students who can administer for a lot less than other places, plus it's all supervised/reviewed by their mentor. Good luck!

[Dmmetler]

You can also contact your local school district and see if GT falls under Child Find in your area. In some, it does. 2nd grade is usually the year schools test, at least with the CoGAT or OLSAT for screening, and then do further testing. And, in fact, if you want your child to be able to participate in GT programming at the school, that's really the only way that they'll accept. Even reports from private psychologists usually just qualify the child to be tested again.

 

If you're talking about EPGY, CTY, or DITD, then check the program's website for the tests needed. DITD is MUCH pickier than EPGT or CTY. There's also a list on Hoagies of psychologists who specialize in GT and GT testing.

[Desert Rat]

We had our oldest tested through the University. I went to the Educational Psych department. A grad student administered the test and the PhD evaluated it. The testing was free to us. The test used was Stanford-Binet.

 

 

The school district will test enrolled students in third grade. I'm not sure if it's the same test though.

 

HTH

[2smartones]

See if there are any magnet schools, gifted private schools, etc. in your area (google). I second the hoagies recommendation. Also google the gifted development center in Denver. If you're not from that area, you can do a phone consultation.

[amsunshine]

We had our daughter tested by our local school district -- they offer testing for private and homeschooled students. It cost $50. It doesn't really change a whole lot for us, but it did reassure me to get the results confirming she is gifted -- some of the meltdowns were making my confidence waver a little.:glare:

 

If I were you, I would check the local public school district to find out if and when they test for out of district/private/homeschooled students. Our district begins testing in 2nd grade.

[naturalmom]

If your son is bored, I wonder if school is the best option. What do they offer for gifted? Our district offers an "extra" class every two weeks, which would definitely not be enough to keep a highly gifted child interested.

 

Have you looked at other curriculum options if your son is not thriving with what you currently have? It's much easier to make adjustments when homeschooling. Teachers at school are dealing with quite a few other students, and can't modify things for one child quite as easily or consistently.

[Kissy]

Regular public school was worse for us than homeschooling because they could challenge him enough even in their gifted program which was more like extra work to keep them busy. You might want to check around and see what type of things they offer gifted kids in your area.

[Crimson Wife]

I would find out what the qualification criteria is for the GATE program at the school. For the district where we lived until last month, they wouldn't accept a child into the GATE program unless he/she scored >98.5th percentile on the state standardized tests for BOTH math AND English. Doesn't matter how gifted the kid is in one domain, if the other score does not meet the cutoff, he/she is S.O.L. :thumbdown: Under this standard, neither my DH nor I would've qualified. I always tested sky-high in English but "only" 95th percentile for math. My DH was the reverse. Does that mean that we weren't really gifted or wouldn't have been able to keep up in a GATE class? Of course not!

[Guest jbcappuccino]

I wouldn't trust an on-line test.

 

Usually you can find a child psychologist to do the testing. The Stanford Binet is probably the best one for kids that are suspected of being gifted because it has a higher ceiling than other tests like the WISC.

 

But I don't know how much credibility to give any of these tests as Richard Feynman (one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century) only tested 125 when he took an IQ test. And this isn't a form of sour grapes either as my own child has tested in the high 130s. However, if you are having difficulties with your child, how is finding out what his IQ is going to make a difference for you?

 

Of course, rereading your post I can see it is necessary for special service. However, check to see what those are. We used to live in a part of the country where gifted programming was taken seriously and the program met his needs as an accelerated learner (that's why we had him tested) But since moving, while we have him in a GT program, it's a total joke, which is why we are now pulling him out to home school.

Edited February 9, 2010 by jbcappuccino
adding the final paragraph