Q: Thank you for giving us your time, today. I think the world of the “gifted and talented” remains elusive and out of reach for many parents who will never experience this with their children. Please tell me a little about the impetus for founding such a program/company?
A: It’s actually quite an interesting story! After writing The Ivy Chronicles and Testing for Kindergarten, I was in the process of creating IQ Fun Park, a board game designed to help prepare kids for testing. I stumbled on a blog about NYC’s gifted and talented programs and was impressed by the breadth and depth of its content. I eventually reached out to the blog’s author, and we talked about how there was no comprehensive online resource for parents preparing their kids for G&T or private school exams — which we thought was surprising and also really unfortunate!
Ultimately, we decided to create TestingMom.com for that very purpose — to help parents busy parents who want fun and readily-accessible test prep materials for their children. That was in 2010, and so far it’s been a fascinating and really rewarding experience building the site and hearing from parents who have used our services.
Q: What methods did you employ for creating the tests?
A:Well, just to be clear, we didn’t create any actual tests. What we created were practice questions designed to help children prepare for different kinds of tests. Essentially, we isolated the skills being accessed by the tests, and formulated questions around these skills, presented in a format similar to that of the actual test.
Q: Assuming these are created for parents, rather than for professional tutors, what does their daily routine look like? How long do children study before taking the tests?
A: That’s a great question! At TestingMom.com, our core belief is that the best person to work with a child is the parent. I based much of what you see today at TestingMom.com off of my experience with my own son, Sam. Due to a hearing issue, he scored in the 37th percentile IQ wise, and we were told he would never be in a “normal” classroom. I refused to accept that verdict, and I worked with him every day to improve the skills that had been measured on that test. The next year, he scored in the 97th percentile, and he now attends NYU! In terms of the daily routine, that really varies from parent to parent. Some parents spend years preparing; others spend a week or less. Some parents work with their child for multiple-hour blocks, while others take 15 or 30 minutes a day to go over the skills that will eventually be on the test. The most important advice is to keep practice consistent and not to burn your child out or cause his/her performance in other areas (homework, extracurricular activities) to suffer.
Q: Do you think that tutoring young children on a daily basis takes away from valuable playtime and creative adventures – all important stepping stones in a young child’s life?
A: This is a question I get a lot. When people think about test prep, they picture sitting their child down in a dark, windowless room and endlessly “drilling” them. That’s simply not the case, nor should it be. Building the skills needed for test success can and should go hand in hand with creative adventures. To give you an example, on the NNAT (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test), a very intimidating test, one of the core skills needed to do well is spatial reasoning. When your child is out adventuring, you can play “shape spotting” where the two of you try to see how many shapes you can spot in nature. Things like this help develop the skills in your child without it feeling like “work.” Now, obviously you still need to spend some doing actual practice questions, but I advocate having this be “special time” with your child, where the two of you get to do this together. That’s what I did with my son Sam.
Q: Other than qualifying for entrance to certain schools and/or helping to determine the best path for a child, what are some of the other benefits of taking these tests?
A: This is another great question! I don’t know about actually taking the test, but I know that preparing for a test helps build numerous skills, ranging from critical thinking to creative problem solving. These skills will be invaluable throughout your child’s schooling and, ultimately, his or her life.
Q: Many parents hope their children will be highly intelligent, talented and capable of achieving whatever they might aspire to, when the reality is that more and more children are struggling educationally. Can you speak about this dichotomy?
A: I actually think that both of these things can be true simultaneously. I think the belief that our children are bright, talented, and capable of accomplishing whatever they want in life, and then the fact that often so many of these children will struggle in their education, is a testament to the fact that many parents, while having great ambitions for their children, end up doing little more than hoping. Hoping your child does well, and helping your child do well are very different things, and unfortunately, many parents only start working with their children after the school has told them their child is having difficulty. That doesn’t have to be the case. If parents don’t take an active role in their child’s development and education, then you have a situation like the one you described above.
Q: Do you feel that our current educational system provides children with the resources necessary to excel?
A: That’s a hard one. I think it depends 100 percent on the school and the community around the school.
Q: Many studies show Americans to be less educated than some of their European and Asian counterparts. Do you have any thoughts about this?
A: Yes, this is something to chew on. When I saw that America was ranked 17th amongst the developed nations in relation to education, it was really stunning. I think that those countries place a much higher value on education. And, while we are number 17, I believe that will change in years to come. We are seeing SUCH a high demand now from parents for gifted and talented programs to be made available for their children, and we are seeing much more involvement from parents and communities as well. I think that’s a really good sign.
Q: Other than I.Q.-related aspects of gifted and talented children – that is, greater awareness, comprehension and literacy – what do you believe is the main difference between these kids and mainstream America?
A: Believe it or not, I wrote an entire article on that very question, called How to Tell if my Child is Gifted. It can be accessed here: http://www.testingmom.com/michael-questions/how-do-i-tell-if-my-child-is-gifted/
Q: Before embarking on such a program, how can a parent determine if their child is gifted and talented, rather than just really smart and/or a (fast or) good learner?
A: I think that if your child can be in a gifted and talented program, s/he should be! Testing is what really applies the label, at least from the schools’ side, so other than that, there really isn’t much you can do.
Q: Do you worry that this push-for-excellence will create undue stress in young children, esp. those who have a high intellect, but, perhaps, low self-esteem and/or other emotional problems?
A: Not at all! When I was working with Sam, we kept the entire experience light. I didn’t use any words like “test” and when the big day came, I just told him that the man inside wanted to know what a child knows. Testing and education do not have to be hard, stressful, or unpleasant. It can be – and in most cases it is – something the child actually ends up having a fun time doing. After all, what child doesn’t like to show off?
Q: Do you intend to continue creating tests for just the gifted and talented?
A: Well again, I don’t create tests, but in terms of our services, no, I intend to branch out into general enrichment as well.
Q: Do you ever counsel parents in ways to encourage rather than push their gifted and talented children?
A: Of course! That’s really the only way to do a process like this with a young child, in my experience.
Q: Can adults use these tests, as well?
A: Well, some of the tests go into the adult age bracket, but our material generally only goes up to 6th grade. Although some of the upper-level questions (5th and 6th grade) can be quite challenging even for an adult!
Q: Can these tests be used to help “average” kids?
A: Definitely. The skills used in theses tests are critical for EVERY child. Working with our material is beneficial for most children.
Q: What message would you like to leave our readers with, today?
A: That it’s ok to want the best for your child, and that working with them helps develop important skills. It’s also really fun!
The story: After writing the best-selling book, The Ivy Chronicles, and her newest book, Testing For Kindergarten, Karen, The Testing Mom, soon found herself in the midst of creating the magnificent IQ Fun Park game. This test prep kit disguised as play became the newest addition to her extensive repertoire of helping parents in their quest to prepare their children for testing and kindergarten.
On a hot Miami night in the summer of 2010, Karen found herself Googling around to find avenues to promote her new game. During her search, she stumbled upon Michael’s popular blog for NYC gifted and talented programs. After reading a few blog posts, Karen reached out to Michael via email to let him know about her IQ Fun Park game. Michael immediately responded to Karen’s email and begged for a sneak preview of the game, which Karen sent to him FedEx Next Day Air so he could play it with his daughter. After receiving the game and staying up late reading Karen’s new book, Testing for Kindergarten, Michael was convinced there was an Internet start-up to be created that caters to parents to help their children with testing!
After a few weeks of trading emails and speaking on the phone, Karen flew to New York City from her home in Miami, where she met Michael in person at the Kitchenette restaurant in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan. Over two cups of coffee and a Lumberjack Breakfast, TestingMom.com was born! Karen and Michael are both extremely passionate about their new Internet start-up TestingMom.com which gives parents the tools, content and support they need to make sure their child is prepared for all of life’s tests! Karen is a forty-something mom with two children.