The attention to detail is definitely something you do not want to squash. However, completing assignments on time is a good skill to have as well. I would approach this as an appropriate timing/environment type thing. For example, in school, he may need to complete an assignment within a certain timeframe, so timing is more important than precision. However, at home, the timeframe can be removed so he can pursue the attention to detail that he wishes. Then be sure to create the timeblock needed for him to pursue the creativity outlet he seeks at home. You will also need to help him determine which choice is the appropriate choice and when. Similar to certain behavior is expected in public vs at home.
One of the problems we had with school is that all the rules and the short time frames really suffocated DS's creative juices and freedom to explore, which required hours, not 15-20 minute blocks of time. We had to work very diligently to create that space at home. I was very protective of his creativity time. We finally just started homeschooling (for many reasons, but preserving his creativity was one).
Thanks for this and the following post.
The school has been good about differentiating his work, seemingly letting him do math at his level. Letting him read the books that he selects or brings from home (although they have a content restriction based on age which I kind of understand). They ask him to show that he can perform the same tasks as the other kids 1x and if he can then he doesn't have to keep doing it along with them.
This is the first time that I've been worried. I'll take your advice and set up rules for different environments. We already do this for some things so he should transition fine. And I'll keep an eye on the rest of the curriculum to see if this problem creeps into other things.
