Has anyone tested the child's IQ?

[arvi]

Has anyone in this forum tested their child's IQ officially? If so, can you share the experiences. Do you think testing the child's IQ has any benefits in the form of school admissions or as a confidence booster?

[mybabyian]

Good point.  I think he explains it better in the book, but still good.  I have seen this as a coach to kids.  Gifted kids sometimes have trouble with motivation and hard work because they believe things are supposed to come easy to them.  I think it is something we all have to look out for.  Because we are teaching them early our kids are going to find so many things effortless.  We have to be careful they don't base their self worth on this, but instead learn to value the challenge.

So, I don't know how IQ tests would help admissions.  It is probably different depending on where you live.  But, I would avoid it if possible.  Whatever their score is I think it is sending them the wrong message.

I try to remember to praise my sons effort even though he is not yet even a year and a half.      When he can walk down a step that was difficult for him I say "Wow, you've been practicing really hard at that and now you can do it."  Sometimes it feels a little silly, but my natural inclination is to say "You're so strong," or "You're so smart."

Thanks for the question and the video!

[arvi]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. By confidence booster, I meant as a booster for the parents and not for the child.

[Mandabplus3]

Arvi, I chose not to test after doing all the research. Overall it's of little use to kids until they are nearing upper primary. Unless you are sure your child will test extremely high and will not function well in a normal classroom then most say don't waste your time and money.
I understand your question about confidence boosting.... Sometimes I think the test would make good ammunition with the school, sigh. But a good teacher is more useful than a test score overall.
I usually say if you are wondering if it's worth it, don't bother. If you are convinced it will be needed then you child is really high IQ and go for it.
I want to mention though that just because we teach our kids to read early and do math ect doesn't mean they have a high IQ. Up until they turn about 8 the tests will show a high IQ due to the nature of the test and the nature of our teaching. After that the tests change to more logical thinking...and true IQ shows through in the scores.
Also the comment on kids finding everything effortless is worth a thought. It is vitally important to offer a challenge at every age, stage subject and level. Otherwise when they hit the ceiling of their knowledge in the classroom your kids will not be able to break through, and more than their self esteem will suffer.
Do plenty of research before you decide.

[Kerileanne99]

Being part of a University, we run into a lot of situations where other academics ask us about this and offer advice, free testing, and/ or opinions....like it is a validation, THE validation of whether or not she is intelligent!  I have done a tremendous amount of research on this because of the way it affected me to be tested as a young child....personally, I believe that there is rarely any good to come out of it...the test itself has many problems, but regardless, what are you hoping to gain from this? Especially for a younger child when the results are so much more ambiguous!?
If they score highly, or very highly, the child often relies on his/her genius to get through...if they don't score as highly as they would have liked, or parents would have liked, this often leads to feelings of inadequacy....

Regardless, if Genius is a measure of how fast/easily someone learns material, and someone with a lower IQ puts much more time/effort into love of learning/ methods of learning// effective learning, are they not in effect 'smarter'? Even if a so-called genius level IQ learns things much more quickly, but does not put forth the time and effort, guess what? It won't matter what his arbitrary Intelligent Quotient is....he will still be more ignorant/ less successful/ less well-rounded/and appear 'dumber' than someone who believes him/herself to be intelligent....

And just to assure you that this is not just an argument put forth by someone who didn't score as highly as their opinion of themselves, not so...there are also many such tales of woe on the MENSA site itself...

Did I mention that the testing itself can be very, very stressful for children?  Unless it is the absolute, only way to get a child into a program that you AND they believe is essential, it just is not worth it!

[seastar]

Just a note to say that I don't think the assessment itself is necessarily stressful - I believe it all depends on how it is presented and the rapport between the child and psychologist. In my experience, while initially nervous, most children I have worked with have LOVED the assessment experience. I bumped into a mum the other day and she said her daughter is constantly asking when she can go back to see the 'puzzle lady'.

With regard to the value of the score, it goes way beyond being able to say whether a child can go to a normal school or not. That is really just a yes or no answer. The true value in assessment tests is looking at the child's problem solving approach, analysing their errors, looking for patterns, trying to determine learning style etc, all of which should lead to recommendations on how to best help the particular person achieve their potiential.

In answer to the original question, I completely know where you are coming from - I have to resist the urge to test my daughter. But I just remind myself that:
a) IQ scores change (so what is the point in knowing them unless absolutely necessary)
b) IQ scores are not that reliable before the age of 6
c) Testing is not really in the spirit of the early learning philosophy
d) Why do I want to know this score? What good could come out of it? Either I will get confirmation that she is bright (which, as her mother, I already feel I know), or the score will be lower than expected, and I just don't think I need to know anything that would have the slightest chance of changing my opinion of my daughter's learning capacity, one way or another. When I was training in how to administer tests, I avoided assessing anyone I knew, especially my husband, as I did not think I had the right to know such personal information about someone so close to me.
e) I always discourage families from going ahead with an assessment unless there is a very specific reason for it, e.g. to figure out what is underlying a reading difficulty etc. as I do not believe in wasting a child's time or putting them under any possible unnecessary pressure.

[Mandabplus3]

Seastar I think your answer is perfect sometimes someone else can say just what I think better than I can. thank you.
Arvi I hope you got the information you needed and know that you aren't alone with your thoughts and experiences.

[izzabanana]

I haven't done that yet, but if I did I would definitely feel proud if ever my children has a high IQ. Oh well, I wouldn't be surprised after all it runs in the blood. Just kidding. Hehe.

[arvi]

Thank you seastar, for understanding my intentions behind asking this question. Your post is very helpful.

[seastar]

 

[mybabyian]

Reading everyone's thoughtful posts I hope mine didn't come off as insensitive.  If so, it was not intended.

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