Thank you for your tips on helping my DS to develop some of the skills needed. Those are great advice.
Last year in first grade, the school came up with an individual plan for math. He was given a math packet to do in class on his own and met with the math specialist once every week or every other week to check on his progress. It did not work out as well as intended. He wasn't really interested in doing the packet. I suspect that he did not like the idea that he was the only one doing the packet and he was not at the point where he would learn new math topics on his own without any instructions from the teacher.
According to the MAP test (for 2-5) he took in winter of last year, he was at about middle of third grade level. That was before we really started to expose him to more accelerated materials (Beast Academy). So when I talked to the principal, she actually suggested to do the in-class differentiation for the rest of the 1st grade and start him off with 3rd grade challenged math in 2nd grade. I agreed to that plan because I thought challenged math in 3rd grade math would be a good start when he's in 2nd grade. However, after she discussed this with the district, they would still like him to stay in 2nd grade math. They think the new math extension program they are setting up this school year for advanced 2nd grade math learners will challenge him. That's probably not going to happen until they have the MAP test and CogAt done in the fall. I am not sure how advanced the other kids will be in this extension class and I haven't heard what the format it will be (pullout? in-class differentiation?), since this is a new program for the school (gifted programs start at 3rd grade).
Right now, I have little faith in the school to provide the appropriate learning pace and challenge for my son. So we are doing all these after-school enrichment to keep him challenged. We are not considering grade skipping because of social skills and maturity reasons.
