Originally Posted by aeh
And in the bigger picture, if he's happy and learning other kinds of new things this year, there will still be plenty of opportunities for him to pick up the pace academically in the future.

Agreeing with this.

A kid at the 99-point-whatever percentile is unlikely to be getting much in the way of academic input in a regular classroom, and if there has been any, the MAP may or may not show it (and be prepared for his score to actually go *down* in the spring even if he has learned something). But, as aeh points out, there is far more to the school experience than academic gains.

I think it's important for parents with gifted kids to really consider their own beliefs about the purpose of school. Why send your kid to school? What are you hoping that they'll gain there? Kids get a whole lot out of school that has nothing (or very little) to do with academics.

Some non-academic reasons to send your kid to school:

--Child care (this is a huge purpose of school that essentially no one acknowledges)

--To be a part of a community

--To develop friendships

--To internalize social norms related to school

--To have experiences with groups of children and adults other than primary caregivers

--To be exposed to diverse cultures/ways of living

A wise person once told me that when it comes to HG+ kids, a truly appropriate academic placement is going to be hit and miss (and highly teacher dependent), so her goal was appropriate social placement. At the time I thought she was just being touchy feely, but I see now that she was right. Assuming that you have determined that sending the child to school is the right choice for your family, place them where they will thrive socially and then work on delivering appropriate academic experiences (either inside or, more likely, outside the classroom). Yes, school should be a place where all kids can get an academic education that is appropriate to their needs, but realistically, for the outliers on the right hand side of the distribution, it is unlikely.