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Gifted and talented

Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

Original poster

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

359 replies

royaljelly · 26/10/2011 23:36

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.

OP posts:
PosiesOfPoison · 27/10/2011 13:07

oooo I know Fairy Dust.

LeBOOOf · 27/10/2011 13:14

All I can think of is a sort of friction-based shuffle up the wall and side of the wardrobe. It took me ages to work out how she was undoing safety catches at the top of doors when she was about that age, until I once caught her up at the ceiling of the narrow landing by pressing her hands and feet against the the opposite walls Shock.

WitchesAreComing · 27/10/2011 13:15

I used to sit on my Dad's knee while he read the "newspaper". But he has only ever bought the Scum or the DM as far as I know. I'm going to have another baby and give him or her pages from the Financial Times to digest at every nappy change.

Grin at BoF's talented DD. If she's anything like my son I'd have been mostly astounded that he was actually sleeping.

TheScaryJessie · 27/10/2011 13:20

I'm going to learn from the experience of other parents, and install CCTV now, before my own young athletes get to that stage!

creepypantsandzombierags · 27/10/2011 13:23

I have no idea whether you are serious OP (the fact that you seem to have buggered off would suggest not!) but I really wouldn't bother wasting your money on an ed psych. Everything you describe shows you have an intellegent DD but you're not describing anything out of the ordinary for her age. My 3.8yo could do most of that at that stage, and 21 month old DD2 can do a lot of it too.

Oh, and people at bus stops etc also think 3.8yo DD1 is much older than she is. It's because she's the height of a 5 year old Grin Wink

TandB · 27/10/2011 13:24

Is there a space between the wardrobe and the wall? DS has figured out how to do that thing where you put your back against one thing and your feet against something else and walk your way up.

FanjoForTheMuahahammaries · 27/10/2011 13:26

BoF, are you sure her father isn't spiderman?

BatmanLovesRobin · 27/10/2011 13:31

I was a bright child. Miles ahead of the class in primary, secondary and sixth form. Went to Cambridge where I was suddenly very average and found that very hard to cope with.

PosiesOfPoison · 27/10/2011 13:52
ouryve · 27/10/2011 14:05

:o at leBof's DD's climbing madskillz!

BTW, OP, if you're still lurking (or busy teaching your DD calculus, perhaps?) my DS1 is gifted. He is also autistic. Believe me, it wasn't the madly running round in circles counting in 3s to somewhere in the 400s when he was 2y6m that got him an assessment. [hhmm]

ScaredBear · 27/10/2011 14:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tenebrist · 27/10/2011 14:16

I think EvilLittleLeprechaun has said all that needs to be said on the matter.

LunaticFringe · 27/10/2011 14:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

jandymaccomesback · 27/10/2011 14:59

So OP, does your child meaningfully count 20 objects in English and count 8 objects in Spanish, or is she merely reciting the numbers? If the latter then she has just memorised a sequence in the way she might learn a nursery rhyme. If she actually counts sets of objects up to 20 I'm a bit more impressed.
I am tired of people forever telling me how intelligent DS2 is. He has been like a walking dictionary since the age of 5, but has an IQ in the average to slightly above range (oh and he has Aspergers). Just because people are impressed by aspects of a child's behaviour it doesn't mean they really think they are a genius.

LIZS · 27/10/2011 15:04

Save your money for when you can more meaningfully use the results to discover her aptitude and develop interests. Otherwise IQ is just a number which won't change over time, or do you just want to be able to say my chidl is a member of MENSA Hmm.

jandymaccomesback · 27/10/2011 15:07

I used to work with a MENSA member, who never missed an opportunity to tell us about it. She also read the Daily Mail, and quoted it to us as fact...

Triggles · 27/10/2011 15:24

LeBOOOF - any shelves inside that wardrobe or anything to climb on? She could have opened the wardrobe door, climbed up, and then closed the door again when she was on top. Scary that I know this, but DS2 is an active boy. Grin

Oh, and OP he could do pretty much all on your list (except he could count much higher), and at 5 now can do all his times tables up through 12's up to over 100. And he is being assessed for ASD/ADHD/etc etc. Honestly, he's really really bright when it comes to reading and maths.. but will walk right outside without remembering shoes or coat in the rain. Grin The main reason I know about his times tables is he is forever reciting them and doing number pattern games. It can be mind-numbing at time. Hmm Mensa and IQ testing never crossed my mind. I just want him to be happy in his life when he is an adult.

prizewinningpig · 27/10/2011 15:36

OP there is a poem by Philip Larkin called "Born Yesterday". When I was at Cambridge I printed it out and sellotaped it to my door in my college. It was stolen and I replaced it. I ended up printing it our about fifty times in one term and sticking it up, only for it to be taken again.

You may want to read it and think about it, and also think about why it was taken off my door so many times.

clam · 27/10/2011 15:47

I think the OP and her brilliant DD deserve a round of applause for providing us with such entertainment on a wet Aumtumn Thursday. Thanks. Grin

EdlessAllenPoe · 27/10/2011 16:26

prizewinningig - maybe they didn't like Larkin? i just googled the poem and thought ' i bet he is a mysogynist prick' ...googled him, and then noted the criticism was more than that 'He was condemned as a misogynist and racist' is the headline of the guardian article....

EdlessAllenPoe · 27/10/2011 16:32

a little story for those wondering what might have caused the MW to be suprised..

my brother suprised the MW (and everyone) at birth. First he looked like a perfectly formed frog, and not a baby at all, and then whilst being held by my dad, he appeared to notice the distance from himself to the ground, and proceeded to scream his lungs out....(sounding more like a piglet)

he carried on the for the next 12 weeks. now that was shocking.

WHat did the MW say OP? come on, you're a namechanger aren't you :)

reality ??

LeBOOOf · 27/10/2011 16:32

Triggles- no, because the wardrobe was locked (and the key long since lost). It was a proper mystery...

I agree with clam, btw- we havent had a thread as good as this since the famous Marks And Spencer Ravioli one

prizewinningpig · 27/10/2011 16:39

EAP - haha definitely a right prick! I saw the poem up in the rooms of other though, so I think regardless of opinions about Larkin the sentiment of valuing the unremarkable obviously spoke to people who had been told all their lives that they were remarkable.

ouryve · 27/10/2011 16:44

Triggles - our boys sound like long lost twins. They'd either get on like a house on fire, or, knowing DS1, hate each other :o

pigletmania · 27/10/2011 17:48

YABU thinking about uni, she is only 2! If you wanted her to be assessed by an Ed Psych you will have to pay to go privately.

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