To want to get my child tested by an educational psychologist....

[royaljelly]

Sorry quite long as a bit of backgroung is needed.

My daughter turned 2 at the end of June 2011 and she is really intelligent (may be biased).

The main factors are:

Can count to 20 in English

Can count to 8 in Spanish, (we do not speak spanish and think she has picked this up from Dora),

She recognises if you ask her to count in Spanish or English.

Often counts backwards from 10 correctly, even whilst playing

Will remember statements, such as, 'We will build a den after dinner'. As soon as dinner is done we have to build a den.

Recognises colours such as pink, purple, brown, as well as primary ones and will get the correct crayon even if the wrapping is a different colour.

Recognises shapes and can draw them if asked.

Spots mumbers in the street and calls them out.

Has circled the toys in the Argos catalogue for Xmas.... we thought she was scribbling but she has a definate view on what she wants, (quite a tomboy and has missed out the entire girly range except for a kitchen).


As parents we thought she was rather bright, but thought our own biased views made this the case. This has now been picked up by her childminder and even people at the bus-stop who think she is older than she actually is.

I have been on the Mensa website and they have said that for children under 10, their tests be carried out by an educational psychologist.

They seem to mainly carry out tests on ADHD or troubled kids and partner now thinks that if I go ahead and organise this it may label her.

I think that if we get advice on encouraging and building her intelligence then this will benefit her in the future.

I should add that we do not sit her down and command her to draw shapes or count, but do this as part of family fun time ie: sat on one parents knee as we play Trivial Pursuit with her much older brothers, (she gets to move the counter).

Do I go ahead with the tests or not. I am afraid of becoming complacent with her intelligence and not allowing her to have the best opportunies in the future.

[paranoidandroidwreckmyownlife]

Let her be a child for now. There's plenty of time for gifted and talented at school.
Let her play.

[belledechocchipcookie]

She doesn't need testing. Take things at her own pace, you know she's bright to it serves no purpose at all. FWIW, my son was counting and could recognise the alphabet out of sequence at 12 months. I've never had him tested, there's really no need.

[workshy]

no point getting her assesed at this age

let her play and enjoy her

she can't start school any earlier and labels this early are not helpful

just enjoy the chatter :)

[SausageGoulsAndFruitSpooks]

She sounds like a very bright girl but I agree with paranoid. She is 2yrs old, just let her be 2yrs old. Plenty of time for tests & such like in the future.

[squeakyfreakytoy]

She sounds bright, but I cant see any need for doing any testing. Being way ahead of your peers (and especially being "labelled" so) is not always the best thing for a child, and if it were me I would just let her go along at her own pace for now.

[JustRedbin]

You could teach her the difference between i.e and e.g.

[GypsyMoth]

Tested for what? And who would pay for this?

She has older siblings. My ds is 3 and can do all you list, maybe when he was 2 he could too ( bloody Dora fan as well)

Maybe it's his 4 older siblings that has 'brought him on' don't know or care. Kids tend to even out eventually

[royaljelly]

paranoidandroidwreckmyownlife She is most definately a playful, (and willfull) child and I do not want anyform of encouragment to seem like work. We have family time where we turn off the TV. This might mean colouring or playing with her magnetic letters or a board game. She loves to be outside and we are always walking the canal or the woods.

The strange thing is that she picks up these things on her own such as counting in Spanish. It was only after one day in Asda when I listened to what she was counting that I realised. She also counts backwards from 10 in English when she is playing. We have never asked her to do this and when her childminder mentioned it was a bit advanced we realised that maybe this is not the norm.

[tabulahrasa]

Educational psychologists assess children to see if their needs are being met within their educational setting.

What could they do with a 2 year old?

[531800000008]

I think you need to remember that all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected. So communication, language and literacy or problem solving, reasoning and numeracy has their equal in knowledge and understanding of the world, creative and physical development.

Just to let your bubble down very gently though - my own children were doing what you describe in your OP, except that they weren't counting by rote to 20, they were able to sort, group and order.

[Aislingorla]

Agree with all the above. My youngest child knew and could write all the letter sounds at around two. We were impressed but not overly so. He has 2 much older sibs and picked up a lot by osmosis!
There is nothing at all to be gained by having her tested. Enjoy her!

[belledechocchipcookie]

Children are like a sponge at this age; they take up everything. Just carry on doing what you are doing and don't worry about testing her IQ or finding out if she can join MENSA. It stops being fun otherwise. Go at her pace, play, have fun. She's only going to be 2 for a very little while.

[royaljelly]

JustRedbin grow up.
ILoveTIFFANY I think that if she could have her intelligence scores submitted to Mensa then it would aid all future College / Uni applications. As I said I may be biased but other peolple have mentioned it to me and I def. would do whatever I could to make her future marketability in the job world secure.

[PattySimcox]

OP she sounds like she is within the normal range for her age.

Just enjoy her and let her enjoy her childhood - it seems like your home is a good place for an inquisitive child to grow up in.

Ed psych is usually brought in to a nursery / school to assess the provision in line with the childs individual learning needs.

You could have a read through the gifted and talented thread if you want to explore ways of stretching her learning, but play is the main focus for under 7s

[belledechocchipcookie]

NOOOOO, jelly! It won't. All they care about is how she does on her exams. She's 2, she doesn't need her IQ testing. It won't make her marketable for the job market, skills like turning up on time and being able to work with others will do that.

[GypsyMoth]

University? She is 2!!!

She may get to 15 and find new interests and fail all her gcse's!

[MrsStephenFry]

Her iq at age two will not help her future college applications, trust me.

[PattySimcox]

Sorry OP crossed with your last post.

Mensa will not aid UNI applications - IQ is not indicative of academic success and AFAIK does not go towards UCAS points

[GypsyMoth]

Actually, is this for real?

[531800000008]

oh, hang on, it's one of THOSE aibus

OP: AIBU?
MN Hive mind : YES
OP: BUT BUT BUT
MN Hive mind : YA still BU
OP : toys outta pram followed by mighty flounce

Am I right?

[Feminine]

After your last post I am a bit

At just 2 I was very, very advanced ...could write my whole name nicely, and make wonderful origami -placed in Montessori early ...I am quite average now

What she is like now ,might not have any bearing whatsoever.

But, she does sound very smart...

[OurPlanetNeptune]

ILoveTIFFANY wrote exactly what I was thinking. You do know what you describe is not particularly rare? All my 3 boys could do this at the age of 2. And we also got similar comments from nannies and strangers, but I can honestly say it never occurred to me to have them tested.

Indeed, my youngest DS has developed much quicker then his older brothers. We have simply put it down to him trying to keep up with his brothers.

Your son is two. I'm baffled as to what, if anything, can be gained (at this stage) by testing.

[PattySimcox]

ILT - I'm thinking the same too - its got to be a wind up surely?

[Aislingorla]

It is a wind up!

[OurPlanetNeptune]

sorry OP, your daughter