I am just curious as to where to go to get my 3yr old DD's IQ tested,she is very bright and constantly on the go even to the point of waking up at 2am and staying awake all day,She is just constantly on the go always wanting information.I am not by any means saying that she is a genious but I would just like to know so we can work with her and not let her waste her obvious talents.

I don't think you can at this age, and TBH there's not much point. It's pretty easy for you to keep teaching her new stuff at this stage -

teaching her the alphabet,

basic reading,

basic maths (addition and subtraction, pattern recognition, same vs. different, etc),

doing harder puzzles,

hone her fine motor skills through drawing/painting/buttons/zips/lacing games,

basic problem solving,

teach her a bit about the world - her address, her city, her country, where other people live and what it's like, etc.

Hundreds of learning opportunities present themselves every day through normal day-to-day activities like shopping, cooking, playing, reading, cleaning, dressing, etc.

It's pretty well established that smart kids do better when they're nurtured but treated as normal at an early age, rather than accelerated through programs that may make them feel socially isolated and a bit freakish as they get older. Often when they go down that path their social development lags significantly behind their intellectual development, and they don't know how to relate to other children.

BTW, I'd be concerned about her lack of sleep. I don't think it's healthy for a child to get so little, regardless of how clever she is.

You might get some more answers in the G&T thread

My DD was tested shortly after turning 3. It's not too early, but it's definitely better to wait until school age.

FWIW if there's a family history of high IQ then it's probable that your daughter will follow. My father's side all had IQ's above 140, with my father at 150. I think it skipped a generation and hit DD.

As a child psych I wouldn't necessarily see any benefit in IQ testing at this age, it just gives you a score on a particular test on a particular day. Rather I would be looking at her strengths and building on these to keep her interested and occupied. However, I certainly think being awake from 2am is very unusual for any child and I would be getting this investigated - can you get a referral to a paediatrician or child psychologist from your GP?

Quoted from my DD's IQ report-

"It is important to recognise that IQ results taken at such a young age should be viewed with caution, as there are intervening factors which might affect test performance on a particular day. The results do not have the same predictive ability for future life as results taken several years later. They do provide, however, a profile of strengths and weaknesses in current functioning across a range of areas and intellectual ability."

Basically with young children there's a risk they may be upset or ill etc. and this may consequently affect their IQ test. Their score might be a little lower.

I can tell you that knowing my DD's IQ has definitely helped. At one stage we though she may have some sort of sensory disorder or autism due to her often quirky behavior, sensory complaints, and advancement in some areas.

Her IQ was recorded at 138. You can't "fake" a high result, and if anything her IQ is higher than recorded due to her age at testing (3y4m.) This has helped us plan her education and understand her frustrations at home.

A good tip might actually be learning to spell the word genius first


Obvious talents of what?? Waking up at 2am? Yeah that's obviously something to be encouraged PMSL

There's no need to be rude onepinkoneblue, the OP was asking for some advice or suggestions, not smart @$$ comments.

We are having our 3 year old assessed at a physcologist.

Just look one up in the phone book, call them and ask if they do IQ testing for children.

Is there a reason you would like to know her IQ? We are doing it for early school entry for next year, but otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

Ignore rude people and their opinions. I am sick of hearing it all myself.

I remember reading that some children that have a high IQ can have a tendency to sleep less than the average child. So maybe getting the IQ tested might help with this too. I do understand how frustrating it can be to keep a child's whose mind is so active busy and satisified.

You need to do what you feel is best for yo and your child at the time, however I would suggest going with your child and what she is interested in. I just feel that you shouldn't treat your child any differently based on a number, but going with things she is interested, hard as it may be to keep up sometimes. The sleep is an issue, perhaps she needs to learn some ways to unwind nad turn her mind off, so she isn't thinking all the time? Some soft music or even a little song orpoem you could learn together so that she can do it on her own and nod back off?
I am really against IQ testing and even IM testing at such a young age, but that is just my opinion.
Best of luck with everything and I would love to hear how it all works out for you.

I agree.



Then give it to her! More, and more, and more! At 3yo I would just keep extending her through informal learning and broadening her experience of the world. If she soaks it all up then keep going!

Re the sleeping issue we have taught our DD that when it's dark outside it is time for sleeping. If she wakes during the night and wants to do 100 questions then I tell her we will talk in the morning and it's night time. There is nothing you can do to *make* a child go back to sleep so I just tell DD that if she lies in bed with her eyes shut and relaxes that she will drift back off to sleep.

Steph

Hiya

I asked my GP for a referral to a Paed, who in turn referred us to a child clinical Pysch (ours specialised in ASD issues).

Giaan scored highly on the tests and the Psych said that she would have scored higher if she had actually focussed and tried LOL.

Giaan is HF Autism BTW.

Oh and a little story for you all;

One of DS friends who I met when he was 2 was amazing.

He first met me and said

"Hi, my name is XX. My dad's a sculptor, he does sculptures"

He was a confident assertive boy who used to bully my boy no end.

He was accepted into Uni when 9 to study Maths.

He went to a prestigious Perth school.

He now works as a waiter and is undergoing the process for sex reassignment!

Are you against a child repeating a grade (or many) or receiving additional learning support for difficulties? Why is it any different for a child to accelerate a grade (or many) or receive additional learning for their competency?

Having a child with high a IQ (gifted and talented) is the equivalent of having child with learning disabilities. Each present their own problems and require additional costs and tailored learning environments.

I understand from the outside it may appear that gifted and talented children are nothing more than children that have pushy parents. I suggest that you research the topic if you find it interesting enough to comment on. There are many organisations on the internet that you may find useful.

~*kathy*~ it is a little sad that you assume I don't know anything about this issue simply because i do not agree with IQ testing at 3 years of age.

TBH, I don't agree with it either... Let them be & nurture them doing what they enjoy. It really doesn't matter as long as they are healthy....

OP, not sure where you live but I saw an ad in Sydney's Child saying that there is psych clinic at Sydney Uni that does child IQ tests and assessments, it looked quite cheap too.

I'm actually quite for testing, but not at this age.

Having spent my last two years at primary school in a G&T program then gone into the everyday high school system I would heartily agree that G&T kids have their own subset of "disabilities" that make fitting into the school system difficult. IME bored intelligent kids make fabulous trouble-makers!

Steph

Yes, I agree Stef. Perhaps I should have made it a little clearer in my OP, that it was the age, not the test that I disagreed with.

OP, If you have an older child at school, the school counsellor affiliated with the school may be able to help out with where to get your child assessed, before having to pay the money for an IQ test. Good luck and let us know how things work out for you.

Could someone suggest a better age for a child to be tested?

Are you suggesting a child enter Prep/Grade 1 and wait for acceleration? What happens when the child enters grade 1, becomes bored, disengaged and rebellious? The child is viewed upon negatively, and there isn't any indication of the child being gifted- why ofcourse gifted children perform outstandingly and it's blindingly obvious! Gifted children aren't bored and they certainly are able to complete all given tasks. Oh but the parents are certain their child is gifted, they never needed an IQ test to tell them so. The school isn't going to offer an IQ test to a rebellious non-achieving child no matter what the parent states.

An IQ test before school age allows the parents and the school to prevent these problems, by placing the child where academically suitable. I'm sure you're aware of why the above problems present, and I won't bore you with the details.

Just some off humour- Serial killers Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy had high IQ's. I wonder if their parents subjected them to Grade 1 & 2! ROFL

ps- Check out the Qld Assoc. for Gifted & Talented children. There's a forum and a wealth of information. You'll also find numbers for Child Psychologists.
http://www.qagtc.org.au/

I think you already suggested a better age yourself~*kathy*~

That's my opinion. Did you misread my post? I asked for another suggestion- clearly my opinion is incorrect

3yo (the age my DD was tested) is a little too young in my opinion, and in our circumstance it wasn't sourced directly. 4-5yo is a better age IMO.

Quoted from the Parenting and Child Health Page, a link from Early Childhood Australia... but what would they know

The importance of early identification
All children, whether unusually gifted or not, will do best in an environment that provides support and stimulation that fits well with their abilities and interests.

Research indicates that because of the importance of providing gifted children with appropriate support and stimulation from an early age, it follows that they need to be identified as early as possible if they are to reach their developmental potential.

Whilst many gifted children will thrive in a supportive and stimulating environment in their preschool or school, some will show behaviour problems because they are bored, or because they are needing to work with, and relate to, older children who are of a similar mental age. Some will not show their advanced skills because they want to be like the other children, and to be liked by them. Some may have specific learning difficulties which mask their advanced abilities in other areas.

Identifying children's giftedness can be a difficult task, partly because of the many forms giftedness can take. Also, many forms of giftedness are not always easy to see in early childhood.

If you think that your child may be gifted and talented, and you have concerns that your child may have needs that are not being met within the preschool, school or home environment, or your child is having difficulties that may be affected by being gifted, you should discuss it with the staff at your child's preschool or school, and with a professional such as a psychologist or doctor.


http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopi...&np=122&id=2253

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/...d_children.html

Or what about this from the QAGTC

At what age can a child be assessed?
It is generally recommended that a child is four years old before formal assessment, but it is possible earlier. Parents are often aware of advanced ability in very young children, and may still benefit from professional advice, even if the assessment is delayed until later.

Student’s Ability to Adjust. Socially and emotionally the child should be free of any serious adjustment problems. Principals should be aware, however, that some gifted students’ social or emotional difficulties may have been caused by inappropriately low year level placement. In such cases the problem may be alleviated by accelerated progression.



http://www.qagtc.org.au/

What age are you planning on getting your DD tested Danette?

This isn't personal Kathy. All of the responses are personal opinions, mine included.

I asked for other suggestions on what age a child should undergo IQ testing. You simply made reference to my earlier post? I was hoping for something more specific.

I'm sorry if I come across short. As a parent of a child with a high IQ, it is as you'd imagine an interesting topic to discuss. I'm assuming you feel the same way also, and I appreciate your input. Likewise I'd like to hear other suggestions on what they feel is an appropriate age, or why they are against early testing. I think I've made my point LOL now I'd like to hear elaborted versions of why early testing isn't suitable and I feel this is valuable to the OP.

IME there is a huge difference between 3y and 4y. Early last term I had to go back to DD's 3yo preschool for some paperwork and ducked in to say hello to her teacher and my goodness those children seemed like babies !

I personally believe (but maybe it's just DH and I and our background) that for children who are mostly cared for at home, parents can provide an appropriately stimulating environment for a 3-4yo apparently advanced child without having to accelerate them beyond their chronological age peers into schooling with 5-6yo children.

Edited to add...

I've just read Kathy's most recent reply above and I suppose my feeling against testing at age 3-4 is what is a high IQ report going to change for the child? Are you going to put them into full-time school simply because they are deemed intellectually capable of learning to read and write already?

I'm not entirely sure whether my feeling that DD is gifted is real or has an element of wishful thinking/hoping on my part. Both DH and I have high IQ and we tend to treat DD as an intellectual peer. She has been incredibly articulate since before she was 2y and has an excellent memory particularly for music.

On one hand I guess I might not be dealing with a gifted child to the extent that others in this thread are (and since she hasn't been assessed we will never know)? If so then my responses are BS and can be discarded. But OTOH we just naturally extend her along the lines of her interests and since she is an only child, I am a SAHM and DD is a part-time WAHD it seems relatively easy to do.

Steph

No worries Kathy.

I just think, based on the OP that having a 3 year old IQ tested because her DD is not reason enough to have this particular child IQ tested at 3 years of age. If there were other factors, maybe!!!?? I just don't know what difference a number would make for the OP. If looking to enrol early etc, then an IQ test is mandatory, so she would have to have one done. (I just think that bright does not equate to gifted, as you would know, that is what worries me about Iq testing at 3) If a lesser result came back then perhaps the expectations of the child would change, which would be a shame with the potential a 3 year old holds within. I guess I am saying that if you get an IQ test doen and the results are good, GREAt, but what if they aren't!!!??
As for my DD kathy,I couldn't count the amount of times i have been asked why we haven't put her into school this year or had her IQ tested etc, the questions started before she was even 2, sometimes from complete strangers, but I am a SAHM and I like a PP said, I feel that I am able to cater for her interests at home, tiring as it may be sometimes, thankfully.
I think those children who are truly gifted do need lots of support too, i just sometimes worry that extra pressure is applied from the outside once they are "IQ'd". It can be very isolating for them also. Once again, just my opinion.
Perhaps the OP can give us some more info as to what things her DD is actually doing?
Is that the kind of explanation you meant? Hope it makes sense?

Yeah good point. There are a few checklists in the links I posted which she may find useful too.

Thanks for your replies guys. It helps to know where others are at with their decisions.

Although DD did return a high score, we now know that she isn't exceptionally gifted and this has helped us decide that we're not going to look into early entry or acceleration yet. She is attending Kindy this year after 4 years at home with us, and seems to be on the same page as the other children. She's popular with the kids, and doesn't appear to be having any difficulties. We do have quite a collection of PC games for older children, and she attends piano lessons once a week. I think this provides the extra stimulation for the mean time We'll see how things go next year though, I'm a bit nervous about it all actually. I'm glad we did go through with the testing. I started to feel guilty that I wasn't providing enough stimulation for her. I guess that's a common feeling when your child learns something on their own- you wonder if you'd provided assistance if they'd be on to bigger and better things. You wonder if you're holding them back.

Anyway, I hope I've provided some info. for the OP or anyone else interested in the topic.