WPPSI-III Gifted Tested

[WIS0320]

My son is quite young at 3.5 years old. Over the last 6 months it has become clear that his learning is fairly advanced for his age. I am so hesitant to consider him gifted - I suppose I feel like I am trying to attach a label on him that may or may not be valid.

 

If you did early testing with a child do you think it was helpful or not? Would you do it again?

Edited September 11, 2011 by drexel

[Runningmom80]

We had my son tested 10 days before his 4th birthday. We were attempting to lobby for for early K admittance to a gifted school, and they require IQ testing as part of the application process. At that point, I had no doubt he was gifted, I knew he would qualify, I just needed the paper that said so. :D

 

The test was fun for DS, but not overly helpful for me. The one thing is that it was validation, and being that we are going to end up HS, it was a good confidence boost, that yes, I can skip a bunch of stuff, no I'm not crazy. (Well, I am crazy, but not about this.:lol:)

 

Anyways, in your situation, I don't think it will do much good with the preschool. It sounds like a play based program, which I think is actually great for gifted kids. How much time do they spend on academics? If it's minimal, then, personally, I'd keep him where he is and let him play. If it's academic, then maybe the IQ score will help getting him a more appropriate challenge.

 

I was in your shoes 2 years ago, and I picked an academic, Montessori school. My DS started sight reading words before 2, was reading Dr Suess on the potty at 2.5. :lol: So, of course, I thought he needed to be challenged in preschool. I didn't realize at that point that there probably wasn't a preschool that existed that could challenge him. (His teacher was more than willing to work with us with new material, but my son just didn't like the Montessori experience.)

 

If I had to do it again, I'd enroll him in a nice play based program, let him make messy crafts, play and sit through the minimal "academics."

 

As far as the IQ testing, like I said, I don't think many preschools will really "differentiate" all that much. The days are short, and there just isn't that much time. I think IQ testing can be valuable for sure, but it's only one tiny piece of the intricate puzzle that makes up a gifted kid. I'd even be willing to guess that most preschool teachers and directors wouldn't really know much about IQ testing. That's not a knock on them, it's just usually not on their radar. (Unless they have personal experience of course!)

 

I know lots may disagree with me, but that's my 2 cents.

[WIS0320]

Thanks for your reply! I ended up editing my OP during the time you were replying. I thought if I asked a more open ended question about early gifted testing I'd get more information from those who have used testing with their toddlers.

 

I think you are probably right. It isn't worth trying to have the PreK challenge him academically. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that and I'm his mother! Most everything he knows he seems to have learned on his own. I certainly haven't been drilling the alphabet or anything like that. I'm guessing he will continue to progress even if we do nothing really formal for awhile.

[Laura Corin]

We tested Calvin when he was 5 1/2 with the WPPSI and the Stanford-Binet. It was helpful in our decision to home educate him, but if we had already been home educating, I don't know that it would have been important.

 

Laura

[tarahillmom]

Most educational psychologists say wait until later at about the age of 7-8. This is when you will get better results, and there will be more use for the results. In preschool they are learning how in interact with other children. This is really important especially for gifted children. They have to learn not everyone is like them. You may find that preschool is for socialization and you may have to after-school for academic learning. Most schools are not able to handle the very top and very bottom of the IQ levels. It is nothing against the schools, it is just the gifted are special needs in a very different way. That being said, unless a doctor or teacher says your child really need to be tested now, I would wait a little while longer. I may be in the minority out there, but I would say hold off until at least 6. In fact by the time mine was 7, it was so apparent with standardized testing and other indicators teachers, doctors, and later my homeschool accountability group said it wasn't worth the money. I have been able to take that money and find the resources he can use. This is just my opinion and I know there are lots with regard to this subject. Follow your gut and you will do what is right for your family.

[Crimson Wife]

My oldest was tested at 4 when we were trying to figure out about schooling options. It was helpful to us because it made clear that unless we could somehow come up with the $25k/year tuition for the local private GATE school, we would have to HS.

 

My DS took part of the WPPSI at 3 1/2 during the IEP assessment for his speech/language delay. He wasn't very cooperative and the psychologist stopped the test after he ceilinged on the puzzle sub-test. At that point, she had gotten the information she needed (that his delay wasn't due to an overall low IQ).

 

We haven't had him retested yet but may when he's 7 or 8 for access to certain enrichment programs that require a score. I'll probably do an above-level CogAt at home first to see if he's likely to meet the cutoff before shelling out hundreds of dollars for an individual IQ test.

Edited September 11, 2011 by Crimson Wife
ETA age at testing

[Dmmetler]

My daughter was tested twice, first at 2 and then at 4 -the first time because we knew something was going on, but didn't know what, the 2nd because we were trying to get early entry to K. The testing at 2 was very helpful in that it introduced me to the idea that "gifted" was more than just "smart and good at academics"-that it COULD encompass all of the strange behaviors and emotional reactions and sleep disturbances and the like that I was seeing, and gave me places to look for resources. The 2nd got us early entry to K (but no real new information except for academic levels at that moment), and the K teacher tried, and tried hard, but ultimately I'm not sure that we wouldn't have been better off had we NOT gotten early entry to K-because then I would have homeschooled a year earlier, and K ended up a wasted year for the most part (although I do think that socially she grew up a lot that year-I don't know if that was Kindergarten or if that was simply that she was getting older and was ready for those kind of relationships, though). I knew already that traditional schools weren't going to be a good fit, but I wanted to "give it a chance".

[Runningmom80]

Thanks for your reply! I ended up editing my OP during the time you were replying. I thought if I asked a more open ended question about early gifted testing I'd get more information from those who have used testing with their toddlers.

 

I think you are probably right. It isn't worth trying to have the PreK challenge him academically. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that and I'm his mother! Most everything he knows he seems to have learned on his own. I certainly haven't been drilling the alphabet or anything like that. I'm guessing he will continue to progress even if we do nothing really formal for awhile.

 

 

 

May I recommend a good book? Deborah ruf's the 5 levels of gifted is great. It will give you a good starting point as to what you may be dealing with. It's no match for actual testing, but still very informative.

 

It also touches on some of the things we struggle with understanding as parents of gifted kids.

[SKL]

I have not had my daughter tested yet (she is 4.5), but I wish I had done so around her 4th birthday. Then I would have had more time and resources to lobby for early KG entrance. I was in a different mindset back then for reasons that don't apply now. If I had it to do over, I'd probably start planning around age 3.5 to have the test done as close to 4th birthday as possible. I think if you do it too much before age 4, it may confirm that your child is gifted (assuming he cooperates* during the test), but may not be as accurate as a later test.

 

*One of the reasons I steered clear of any testing for either of my kids when they were tots was that I doubted they would perform according to their abilities on a test. They might just decide to hide behind my legs half of the time and play dumb the other half. That's how they generaly acted around strangers. Now, if they were the type to go up to strangers and start a conversation, I might have felt differently. It's a personality / maturity thing more than an intelligence thing.

[Runningmom80]

I have not had my daughter tested yet (she is 4.5), but I wish I had done so around her 4th birthday. Then I would have had more time and resources to lobby for early KG entrance. I was in a different mindset back then for reasons that don't apply now. If I had it to do over, I'd probably start planning around age 3.5 to have the test done as close to 4th birthday as possible. I think if you do it too much before age 4, it may confirm that your child is gifted (assuming he cooperates* during the test), but may not be as accurate as a later test.

 

*One of the reasons I steered clear of any testing for either of my kids when they were tots was that I doubted they would perform according to their abilities on a test. They might just decide to hide behind my legs half of the time and play dumb the other half. That's how they generaly acted around strangers. Now, if they were the type to go up to strangers and start a conversation, I might have felt differently. It's a personality / maturity thing more than an intelligence thing.

 

 

Yes, if your kids are in ps, i have a different answer to the question. :). SKL, you are in the in between spot for the Weschler tests, but you could do the SB-V. My DS scored a most exactly the same on the the WPPSI and the SB-V.

[Truscifi]

I had ds tested at a very young 5 to qualify for a once a week gifted class at the ps. He got in to the program (which has been good for him on several levels) but I didn't learn much else from the WPPSI. I have thought about having him tested again, more in depth and by a gifted specialist, to get more info.

[JenneinCA]

I waited until the kids were six and could use the WISC because it gave us the most information and had the highest ceilings.

 

If I had to test before six I would have used the SB-V. I would not use the WPPSI because the ceilings are relatively low and I could get more information using something else.

[jennynd]

I supposed u need to ask why do u want to test him?

Most poeple will tell u that testing before 5 is not accurate. I have a 7 yrs old who read when he was 22 months. I thought to have him tested but decided against it. There is no gifted school around, I know he is smart and I teaching him accordingly. I found no reason to test him.

[Momling]

I was a grad student when my kids were little and I had a colleague who needed more control subjects for her study. So both my kids had a full battery of psych tests every six months from age 2-6 at the Yale child study center. So that was kind of neat. I would never have done it otherwise, since I can't imagine what exactly it would tell me that I didn't already know. In all honesty, I think IQ tests are often totally unnecessary.

[Parker Martin]

If you want to take advantage of something like Davidson but wish it didn't require testing, what test would you use? What is the shortest test? Alternatively, what is the most laid back/fun test?

[SnegurochkaL]

I don't have a straight answer but I think it also will depend on a child. How does your child handle a conversation with a stranger and how is your son willing to work with him. My daughter was not shy at age of 3 and could communicate with strangers in different languages. I would have no problems testing her. My son,who is 4,5, is a different case. He is shy and would not show what he knows. It is very seldom he will actually cooperate with a stranger. My husband asked him very simple math problems and my son was fooling around and convinced my husband that he didn't understand the concept by giving wrong answers. I knew my son was teasing his dad, but I couldn't convinced my husband. We homeschool so I am not in a need to send my kids to a "special" gifted class, so I didn't proceed with testing.

Edited September 12, 2011 by SneguochkaL

[Jill]

We tested our son with the WISC-IV at 6 years and 3 months. We only did so to try to get into the Stanford EPGY Math program since his math skills were advanced but his handwriting was not. If I could have had him in a good computer-based math program other than EPGY, I would have done that but EPGY is what I knew about at the time. We still use it even though his handwriting has improved.

 

I generally only think the testing is useful for practical matters such as our case or in the case of looking for support and contacts through Davidson or other similar programs. My homeschooling program has not been radically altered by the info in the test since I just teach to his abilities and natural progression. He has done "Measures of Academic Progress" testing through our local school and scores well above his age/grade-level in most areas. I am sometimes advised to look into Davidson and I may in the future - he still had undiagnosed celiac disease at the time we tested him so his results could be different now after some years of healing. However, it works for us to just generally think of our son as "bright" and to use rich educational materials and work with his strengths and weaknesses just as they are, no labels attached.

 

Are you specifically looking for help via Davidson or something? If not, this forum is also great for info on what kinds of curriculum homeschoolers are using, of course. :)

[Crimson Wife]

Having an IQ score or a score on an out-of-level achievement test like the EXPLORE or SAT/ACT can help provide reassurance for acceleration. It's objective proof that you're not some horrible "hothousing" parent for deciding to do program X at age Y.