How Smart Is My Child?

Using the Ruf Estimates™ of Levels of Gifted

Many parents wonder how their children compare to other children. They worry about how to select the best school for their young children and wonder if they will not only learn up to their potential but be happy in their school environment. But, before parents can make good choices about where their children go to school, they need to learn how their children compare to the other children who will go to that school they’re considering. The single most important factor for achieving academic as well as social and emotional success, I have found, is whether or not the child fits the school.

So, you need to find out how smart he or she is compared to the other students likely to become classmates. You may have very good reasons to suspect your children are above average, maybe even gifted (for example, your five-year-old is adding pupils and eyelashes to drawings of people or your three-year-old can read an “Exit” sign), but you’re not sure if this is advanced, normal, or means anything in particular at all. Knowing how smart your child is can be critical, because it helps parents to provide more opportunities for their kids’ increased growth, enjoyment, and success in areas of interest.

There are certain childhood behaviors — milestones — that can tell us when children are ahead of or behind others their age…