This has been one anxiety riddled week. The reason is simple: Gifted and Talented testing. We received the testing date last week, and Dev took the test today. So we literally had seven days of heart palpitations and panic to get through – and a thousand “what ifs.” What if he doesn’t want to participate? What if he catches a cold before the test and can’t go? What if he draws a blank on stuff he knows? What if the proctor is mean? What if we can’t find parking at the testing site? What if he decides he has to take a crap in the middle of the test because he likes to use public restrooms? And so on. Me, I was so bad that I didn’t go (I had to work anyway). Plus, I can be intense sometimes so my friends and colleagues recommended that I let the smaller ball of nerves (the wife) take him.
In the end it was fine. He was happy to be there, he liked his proctor, and Dev said he did his best. We have to take his word for it because you can’t ask the proctors any questions. And four year olds don’t think that testing is important, so all Dev wanted to talk about was going to Pizza Hut as we promised. Thankfully New York City is moving toward overhauling it’s testing policies in an effort to bring more parity to the process, but until then you have to “knock three times and say the password.” Now we have to wait something like two months to get the results. But we are thrilled this stage is over.
I don’t know how this all would have turned out without the wife. Since she’s been part-time she has really taken on the task of educating Dev. Her research, patience, knowledge (she was the youngest graduate in her master’s program), and dedication has made the experience successful regardless of the outcome. It’s not over yet, the competition is fierce, however we are off to a good start in large part due to Dev’s mommy.
This evening we celebrated the end of a tense week over pizza, which Dev specifically requested. We celebrated swimming against the current of long-held stereotypes. And we celebrated the beauty of our tiny family. Cheers!
Your boy sounds awesome. I can’t wait to hear the results. Something tells me though that even if the results didn’t come back that your “Dev” is gifted and talented, from what I read about him it’s already been proven to me. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Don’t stress the testing. Really. If Dev has been exposed to mazes and tangrams and had a good tester, who took time with him, then he probably scored well.
Those are really the big keys to the G&T testing. Especially, I think, getting a good tester. When we were looking at schools for Sugar, we ended up having her tested twice. The first time the person spent 45 minutes with her. The second person spent 2 hours and still didn’t finish the test – we had to come back another day for about 45 minutes. Sugar’s score went up more than 20 percentage points from one tester to the next.
Also, no matter what results you get, remember that most experts believe that true giftedness can’t really be ascertained until kids are at least 8 years old. I found when I was going through all the testing that this particular thought kept me more grounded – both when we got results we got results that were a little disappointing, and when we got ones we loved.
I hope it all works out and that Dev winds up in the best school for him.
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Wow. Just wow.
That’s where I’ll be in just a few years.
When you think about it, that’s what it’s really all about, huh? Celebrating the beauty of family.
Ahh, so I love when you tell these types of stories. There is such balance and strength in your family efforts – I love it man. Keep it up! Good luck w/Dev and your nerves!
YES!!! *CHEERS*!!!!!!!!!! especially to the “swimming against the current of long-held stereotypes”!!! Cheers and pizza all around to that! 🙂 Heather
Go Dev! And go African American Dad and Mom – y’all are awesome parents and Dev is a blessed child for it!
I’m sure Devin did very well, but as a parent I can definitely relate to your anxiety.
It’s so great that your wife has extra time to dedicate to educating Devin. So many parents leave it up to the schools to do that and don’t do their part at home which is why kids have done so poorly in school. I’m not going to go off on that tangent though. LOL
You guys really do have a great family and Devin is very fortunate to be blessed with such wonderful parents.
Congrats,
I was like this for my son’s first karate test. I was more nervous at the possibility of him failing and facing that than anything. The test date came out of the blue and I tried practicing with him as much as I could in a couple of days. Congrats and enjoy the family….
It really is beautiful. Enjoy the journey.
nice blog folk, chk me out one day if u can, maybe we can exchange links
Not sure how often u check your comments – but u’ve been invited & cross-blogged over at my newest spot! ;-). Check us out if/when u have time. I know u got your hands full w/ li’l man, wife & LIFE!
it is real good to see a black father being just that- a father. keep up the good work, and your son is gonna do just fine.