Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School PLEASE HELP--Behavior issues in first grade

You can ask the public school to evaluate him even though he is enrolled in private, but I'm not sure what the evaluations generally consist of in this case (probably at least academic testing for a learning disability if you have any concerns about that). I do think some sort of eval would be a good idea at this point, even if you have to pay for it privately, to make sure you are not missing a disability.

Sorry things have not been going well. With a pregnancy, especially, that makes it really tough.

I'm not sure if anyone else has said this: it sounds to me like you need a professional evaluation (neuropsychologist or developmental pediatrician). If you go the regular psych eval route, you'll likely end up with a very descriptive report that describes things you already know.

You can also request an educational evaluation through the public schools, even though he's enrolled in private, at least in my state.

"Outbursts" of this magnitude are unlikely to be directly related to a poor curricular fit, I think. If he were under or over challenged academically, I think you'd see behaviors, but not to this degree.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the "advanced curriculum" comment. The teacher probably doesn't understand what's going on any better than you do.

edit: Call the public school DS would be enrolled in and ask how to make a request for educational evaluation, they should be able to route you. Also/or: ask pediatrician for referral for neuro/developmental eval--they should be familiar with people who can do these evaluations and how the referral process works.

Public school option is free to you but more difficult to access (and might miss things a medical professional wouldn't).

I'd guess there's something going on, like a learning issue, anxiety, sensory, etc. I'd get an evaluation done as folks have said and go from there. My heart goes out to you--my daughter has outbursts, too, and we're on this same road right now. She's also in school because I had a high needs baby. But she held it together at first, and it seems to be more of an issue in 2nd/3rd. I wish we'd had a more communicative teacher and gotten started on the eval last year. So I would advise go for it. DD's behavior seemed to be less often an issue, so it's more us saying hey let's eval instead of teachers hinting there's something up. But I agree, the pattern of reporting behavior sounds like teachers making up their minds that this is the kid to watch. Very easy for teachers to fall into and so damaging for kids. Behaviorist class management systems can be, too.

If you haven't seen this already, The Explosive Child by Ross Greene is really good for this kind of kid. He has another book, Lost at School, that is aimed at teachers and administrators, and is also very good. We have seen a lot of positive growth since we started using his methods.

I just wanted to give you all a quick update (and thank you again for your advice). Because our elementary school has a new principal (the previous principal actually retired and was hired as the director of the private school where we placed DS--much to my chagrin), I called and asked to make an appointment to discuss DS and his situation/needs. The secretary remembered me and scheduled me to come in and talk to the principal 90 minutes (!) later.

I told the principal everything that happened and was happening and she told me to bring DS back and she and the staff would work with me to ensure his success. This is all ever wanted! I re enrolled him the next day, and he is THRIVING! He hasn't had any outbursts or other behavior problems. He says he loves being back at school. The teacher, who is new to the school, but not to teaching is wonderful. Everything is so much better now. He skips into the school and out of it every day. I still plan to have him evaluated, though. Just wanted to let you all know and say thank you for your suggestions. I really appreciate them all.

wow that is amazing news!!!

Jai, that's really awesome! I'm really happy for you and your son that you've had such a great turnaround. A good and supportive principal is the best thing a school can having going for it, imo.

I would still follow up with the eval just because you never know how the future will go (what if the principal leaves next year or you end up with a new teacher who isn't so awesome? sometimes having a paper trail is helpful).