I believe that a child’s behavior
and personality should be observed depending on their environment and
experiences throughout their childhood. Even if they are playing by themselves
you can simply learn a lot through observing. When it comes to assessing I
believe its best to do academic testing to see what subject the child is doing
well in and what they need more help in. It often times makes the child feel
inferior to their studies but it can help them to get the help that they need. When I was in school, I had always believed that those test made to see how smart you were and I felt that I was in competition with my peers.
In Australia, one way students are
observed is through IQ testing. If a child's teacher does not recognize their
ability level there may be a need to provide objective documentation of their
learning capacity. A report is very useful to share with teachers, so that the
parents' opinion is not perceived as biased. A gifted child may miss out on
being identified unless an independent IQ test is administered. The age range
for IQ testing is 3 years to 16 years old for 11 months. Depending on their age
and abilities, testing can last from 60-90 minutes. The report is written by an
experienced clinical psychologist. The report provides objective verification
of a child's needs and thoroughly outlines all the results in the test,
highlighting test scores which indicate giftedness. The report provides parents
with feedback in terms of personal advice and recommendations on how to improve
a child's learning experience. Specific learning strategies are provided if
relevant. The report is sent to parents within 10 days of the testing session. (Bloom, n.d.)
Resource:
Bloom, D. T. (n.d.). Child Assessment.
Retrieved from Sydney Child Assessment and Testing Service:
http://www.sydneychildtesting.com.au/iq_testing.html
