Gifted kids and academics - update

amother

↑ Diamond ↓

Yesterday at 7:42 pm

amother OP wrote:

I checked the notes on my daughter's evaluation and saw she scored an IQ of 126. I'd appreciate if someone can comment on that, like what it means, if it makes her more likely to be gifted and ect.

That's pretty high. Look at her individual scores for verbal, mathematical abilities and definitely have the school know so that she can be taught appropriately.

amother

↑ Firebrick

Yesterday at 8:18 pm

amother Mayflower wrote:

I had my IQ evaluated by a professional, more than once at various ages.

There may be IQ tests online that you can do, for a fee, the free ones don't seem to be the full assessment.

So never had a professional evaluation of any kind to have the opportunity to have my IQ tested. The online ones I’d happily pay if I know it’s a legit one.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 10:19 pm

amother Mulberry wrote:

126 is above average for an Ashkenazi child but not extremely significantly so. The average IQ for the overall population is 100, but Ashkenazi Jews have an average IQ of about 115. So in a classroom of her peers, assuming they’re mostly Ashkenazi Jews, your daughter will have a higher IQ than approximately 85% to 90% of her class.

If we take Ashkenazi genes out of the equation and simply compare her to the overall population, an IQ of 126 makes your daughter “above average” or “bright”. The “moderately gifted” category starts at 130+ and the “highly gifted” category starts at 145+.

The psychologist wrote in the notes that she scored higher than 95% kids in her population

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 10:22 pm

By the way I'm not replying to everyone's post individual but I really appreciate it all!
I'm taking so many tips and ideas from you people and added some items to my Amazon cart.

Edit to add- I'd like to hear more about the pros and cons regarding skipping a grade. Please only from people with experience in this area

amother

↑ Mulberry ↓

Yesterday at 10:31 pm

amother OP wrote:

Absolutely do not skip a grade simply based on a 126 IQ! I don’t want to offend you because it sounds like your daughter is very bright and precocious and I’m sure she is wonderful but statistically probably 10-15% of her class is as bright or brighter than her. Social and emotional development is much more important than “smarts” when it comes to how well children do in their school experience.

For context my 7 year old son has a 140 IQ, I have a lot of personal experience with this.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 10:34 pm

amother Mulberry wrote:

No worry's about offending... I'm not so pro skipping a grade but I'm looking in on what's best for my child.

Her teacher once called me to ask if I'm pre teaching my child because she knows everything.
And she keeps saying how mature she is...

amother

↑ Mulberry ↓

Yesterday at 10:35 pm

amother Mulberry wrote:

To add on, if her class has 25 girls, there are likely 1-3 girls “brighter” than her. Which obviously still means she is very bright but it’s not a reason to skip a grade unless there are other factors.

A great thing you can do for her is take books out from the library, the children’s non fiction section, on any and all topics she is interested in. Buy and play games that challenge her creative thinking and verbal skills. This is major! When it’s time to buy her a birthday or afikomen gift, get a toy that’s intellectually stimulating that you feel she’d be interested in. Answer all her questions and let her know you’re listening!

amother

↑ Mulberry ↓

Yesterday at 10:38 pm

amother OP wrote:

No worry's about offending... I'm not so pro skipping a grade but I'm looking in on what's best for my child.

My child is in the “extremely gifted” category, he skipped a grade and is still truly years ahead of his classmates in his thinking skills. And I still strongly discourage it.

Is your daughter able to socialize well with kids her age, or do her verbal and conversational skills make her light years above kids her age to the extent she literally can’t enjoy talk to them because it’s like a 6 year old talking to a 3 year old? That’s the situation we had with my son and that’s why I had to skip him. But for social and emotional reasons it’s really not ideal and unless it’s a necessity I would advise against it.

amother

↑ Mulberry

Yesterday at 10:39 pm

amother OP wrote:

What grade is your daughter in now? Kindergarten? I would say you have another year or two before you should decide if you should skip her. Don’t rush it.

amother

Valerian

Yesterday at 11:15 pm

I've known a few people who skipped grades. They said it wasn't so good as grownups.

And I was a gifted kid who spent time with other gifted kids. A lot of the time, even though the part of you that can handle schoolwork grows faster than the other kids, you might be emotionally developed a bit slower.
They can be really smart, and really immature at the same time.

amother

↑ Vermilion

Yesterday at 11:25 pm

OP I've been debating whether to respond as there seem to be so many gifted imas on this site, I wasn't sure what I would be able to add...

But if you're asking, I'll tell you. I tested as gifted as a ten year old child (my IQ was a little higher than your daughter's), and this is what I would have wanted:

I was skipped. In retrospect I don't see how my parents could have done anything else as even then I was still way ahead of my classmates, but I was immature. I did suffer socially in the younger grades. I think most people who were skipped themselves do not recommend it, I did not skip any of my children.

As for what you can do for your daughter outside of school- follow her lead. Don't push her to do something she's not interested in doing. Ability and interest are two completely different things. Be prepared that she may be a voracious reader. My parents pushed me to read seforim (I read, and still read, a lot of English seforim) and I am grateful for it. I would also encourage her to read more nonfiction, perhaps even textbooks, as she gets older, which is so much better for a person than reading tons and tons of fiction (which IMO is mostly garbage).

If she likes math puzzles, you can buy her logic puzzles or sudoku.

The main thing is to encourage her interests but don't pressure her. She may have very different interests than I had, and that's fine, she will become the best person that she was meant to be.

Hope this helps.

amother

↑ OP

Today at 12:08 am

Thank you Vermilion for chipping in, and thank you Valerian, great points.
As to Mulberry's question, in school she's doing great with her peers but in any other time she'll choose to hang out with kids older than her. She is pretty mature so she looks at 4 5 year olds like babies. Her teacher told me that she can sometimes get silly with friends, I believe that it's because she's trying to lower herself down to their level and doesn't exactly know how to...

amother

Cerulean

Today at 12:19 am

Is she good at imaginative play? My son with a high IQ was not. You might think it's bec she's too "smart" to play with dolls etc. But really it's an important skill and social aspect. For my kids with higher IQs. I worry more about social than smarts and stimulation. You can follow their lead on the latter.

I personally would not skip. But there are a lot of factors.

Also stay focused on her personality and wants. Don't get carried away with how ahead and how brilliant she is. It's honestly easier to be of normal IQ than very brilliant.