Gift and Talented Testing for My 5 Year Old

There's nothing to do to be tested for 'gifted'.

A child either is or is not gifted. They are either gifted and it will show in the test or they aren't gifted.

nothing.
Just let him be himself.
Then you will get a more 'real' assessment of him.

No. Good Gifted Programs do nto begin until the 4th grade, when reliable testing can be done. Many children learn to read and write very quickly, but very many will seem more typical once the focus is reading and writing to learn.

I am an educational advocat for kids with disablities, but it seems that every year, someone will contact me about how to get their child into a gifted program when they have not qualified, because they have already invested themselves in the idea that the child is gifted, and when they do not continure on the path, or fail to make it on to the next step, they are devistated. I would wait unitl you are sure that he will stay "gifted" before I put him in.

Children are hard wired with only so much potential. There is nothing you, or anyone else can do to take a child beyond that point.

M.

No way to 'prepare' for a gifted and talented 'test'. People are either in this category or not. If he is four and already reading, can print and write his letters plus write simple sentences and has mastery over his basic mathematical skills like adding and subtracting, I wouldn't worry about how he will do.

If he not doing the above, don't stress. The average four year olds are not developmentally ready for these skills.

You must always think about their academic/ social/emotional development and how they are progressing together. I have a seven year old son who taught himself how to multiply and divide in K and by the beginning of First he understood and could apply the concept of factorials. He is also very immature. Its an interesting combination!

S H , Jess and some of the others are right. Do not prepare the child for GT testing---just good night's sleep, good breakfast and "go do your best."

Preparing for the test puts a lot of pressure on the kids--and on you.

If the kids do not score well on GT test, it is best they not go into GT. So if there is a lot of prep that gets them into the program when they should not really be there (not that this is the case at all) then they will be very frustrated in the program.

As a mom of 3 boys who have all been in GT, and 2 in college, I can tell you that our experience is that most kids---whether they are GT or not---even out by sophomore/ junior yr. of high school.
My high school grads went thru HS with many kids who were GT and many who weren't and all those kids are doing very well in colleges all over the country.

a good breakfast, and tell him to be polite to the person testing him and do the best he can do on everything they tell him to do. (some kids freeze up or don't know the tester so get nervous). When he's done, don't bug him about how he did. He likely doesn't know. Just praise him and make him feel like a super kid.

Give him a good breakfast and a good night sleep every night so that he doesn't feel like this is an important test. Act like it is no big deal. Make sure you don't tell him it is to see if he is smart or not. You don't want your 5 year old to have the pressure of not measuring up to what you want him to be. Instead just tell him that morning (and not before) that he will be taking a test to see what he knows and what he will still have to learn in school. Tell him to just do what comes naturally and don't worry about what they are asking. It is a test to make sure he gets the best teacher for him so just be himself. And don't you worry about it. There are plenty of years ahead where he will have the opportunity to see if he needs to be in a gifted program.

Make sure he gets a good night's rest and a good breakfast. You can't study for a GT test. Either he is gifted or he is not.

I'm surprised they're testing so young. Ours doesn't test for GATE until 3rd grade and when I was a child, it started in 5th grade. I took the test in 5th grade, so my memory is a bit rusty. I remember it was very strange and feeling like "how in the world will this show anything." One task (and this was about 30 years ago) was a page full of empty squares. I had to color in any picture I wanted in those squares. I still wonder today what that said, since that's so subjective.

I agree with the others. You can't really practice, especially at such a very young age. Just give him a lot of positive encouragement when he goes, but don't talk about this much for the two weeks. The less stressed he is, the better he's going to do and the less disappointed he will feel if all doesn't go well.

Keep in mind, too, that he may not pass now, but could when retested later. I didn't pass in 5th grade but did in 7th and moved into GATE after that.

You can't prepare a child for G/T testing. Just remind him to use his imagination like he always does. These tests are very strange. It doesn't seem like there is anything in particular they are testing for but they are looking for very specific things. G/T classes these days aren't what they used to be (at least in our district). Now they pull the child out of their normal homeroom class and send them to their G/T class away from the others. Most kids only test GT in one or two subjects so they will go to G/T math with the other kids in their grade who are strong in math, for example. When I was a kid, all of the GT kids were in the same homeroom class and if we struggled in one of the subjects, that's just the way it was (we did our best to keep up). I think it's interesting that your district tests before kinder even starts. Our district tests in kinder but it doesn't even start until 1st. Then they retest every year or every other year until that. Anyway, I wouldn't really say a word to your child, just let him do what comes naturally.

There is no way to prepare him. He either is or he isn't. It's not something you learn, it's something you are.

G&T has no bearing whatsoever on intellect or book smarts. Your child could score perfect scores on the SAT and be valedictorian at Harvard and not be G&T. It's a different way of thinking - outside of the box, coming up with ideas that are totally in a different direction than anyone else. Some kids just naturally think like that. My 5 yr old is being tested as well and has been assured admittance to the program by his teachers because he's - for lack of a better word - a complete oddball when it comes to ideas. For instance - when he was 3, they were all given yarn, pumpkin seeds and leaves to make a string pumpkin on paper. The class had gorgeous pumpkins, some way ahead of their years. Mine made a blob in the center of the page of all the materials, covered in way too much glue. He said it was the INSIDE of the pumpkin. This kind of thinking is the norm for him.

G&T is really a safety net for those kids who would typically fall through the cracks and not reach potential due to class boredom or for constantly not following the rules. It provides them a creative outlet without being wrong or teased for being different. If your child tests in, then that's great - they found a place where they belong. If not, then it's not the end of the world by any means.

My daughter was "tested" in December of 1st grade!! Bad move-they came and got her during the class Christmas party!! I was highly upset and they would not retest her. They told me I could not see her test because GT tests are confidential?? but told me she did not qualify cause she colored the sun yellow and not an abstract color??
Anyway, she graduated high school with a 91.18 GPA and has a 3.5 in college.
But she did have to go thru the rest of the year feeling like she did something wrong and wondering why she did not get to leave class with her friends who went to GT classroom in the afternoon. So be careful what you tell your child about this test and you will love them no matter what!!
The reason I am telling you my story is so you know that GT does not make or break their education.

I went through the test questions in the app KidWiz with my daughter. This helped her understand what was going to happen in the test room. She wasn't nervous to go in to the testing and did a great job!

A lot of students prepared for the GT testing through an online program. It worked well for the students as a lot of them needed the extra help in feeling confident. I recommend trying out Beestar as they have a lot of useful questions that especially in the pattern and spatial thinking categories.

Go to www.mindware.com they have books called perplexors. You can order these depending on age and they are great to help your child. After my daughter was tested for the GT program at her school the GT teacher recommended these to me to help keep her mind working and challenge her. I don't know if all GT teachers use these books or not but my daughters GT teacher uses these work books in her class. The Logic Links is great as well.

A good nights rest and a great breakfast. Beforehand tell him what he will be doing so he's prepared for what they will ask him to do.

My 8yr old has been attending gifted ed since age 5 in Kindergarten. He loves it and really thrives. Good luck!

I don't think there is much you can or should do. My daughters kindergarten teacher recommended my daughter be tested. She is gifted with a score of 98%. From what i've heard the test is very long and demanding of the child. Diffinately agree with the other mom about a good breakfast!