I'm trying to decide what to do- if anything. DS8 is in 4th grade (skipped 1st- worked great!) but is coasting by this year with minimal effort. He had an amazing teacher last year that really challenged him and brought out the best in him.
At home he rushes through homework and completes it sloppily. His classroom work is always finished, but written work is not even close to what he is capable of doing. 100% on spelling tests, 100% on math tests (unless there are careless mistakes).
In the past, he has been difficult on the homefront when he is bored and we address it with the teacher, come up with solutions, and try to adapt. This year, he doesn't complain much (except math being boring) so for the first half of the year, I've seen it as a welcome change. He is usually so adamant about his need for challenge that I thought it was healthy to relax about school.
My older sons 4th grade year was also more relaxed (though he put more effort into learning and classwork). Dad is also deployed (left for 6 months at the beginning of school) so that has some impact on emotions and daily life.
His class size is large (34 students). There is no GATE program. Socially, he is doing well. We will be moving this summer to a new duty station- so I'm starting to focus on finding a good school.
Any ideas on how to help motivate him to do a better job? We talked about % of effort last night and he said he was at 50% effort. He has had a high achieving personality up until this year. I don't want to push him but I also don't want to let him slip into a pattern of underachievement.
