assessment for toddler?

[DizzyKipper]

Hi all,

Just a bit curious as just heard from some one that their 2.5 yo has been assessed and is at the level of a 5yo and has been told he should get a scholarship to a private school. I'd always thought children developed at different rates and being ahead now didn't mean you would be in the future, hence being a bit surprised at the assessment of a toddler. Are such assessments common? And are they actually reliable?

I've just finished reading a book called Nurture Shock

Basically it looks at common parenting 'myths' and explains scientific research that's been carried out to see how accurate they are.

It has a chapter talking about intelligence tests in young children. Apparently it's quite common in the USA for young children to be tested, and some funnelled off into gifted and talented programs (not sure how common that is in the UK).

The general conclusion agrees with your opinion - children develop at different rates, and there's not much correlation between a pre-school child getting in the top 10 - 20% in an intelligence test, and that same child being in the top 10 - 20% all the way through school. Testing pre-schoolers also means that late-developing children can be wrongly labelled as having low or average intelligence. The older the child is when tested, the more accurate the results - IQ doesn't tend to stabilise until a child is 11 or 12.

The people writing these tests also warn against classifying young children on the basis of a single test result, and recommend secondary testing, and retesting children as they age.

I am always cautious when I hear of one so young being assessed. Its not that I disagree with testing per se, its just the thought that the parent/s have obviously given it consideration for some particular reason. I would have had any of mine tested Had school/ another professional suggested it but I can't see them doing this at such a young age, for reasons of varying development at this age, as discussed above.
Is this person you refer to very competitive? Of course its up to you what you do but personally I would wait and see what happens.

Thanks both for the replies, especially for the book share - I think I'll pick up a copy and look it over. And more yes I personally had her pegged as a pushy/competitive parent and hadn't really been taking her that seriously about the advanced level of her son. Me and DH (who is the one related to the boy) were more concerned about her causing self esteem issues for him with her continued insistence that he must be the first/best at things. We already pointed out to her once that children develop at their own rate and it was probably best to just wait and see - but with her then going out to get an assessment and now talking about scholarships (not sure they do them for infant school?) she obviously wasn't interested in listening to that sort of thing.