Thank you all, again.
As far as handwriting goes, he scribbles and hurries to get as much down as possible. He is VERY verbal, and that often translates to lots and lots of writing from the many thoughts, some tangential, that he has all the time.
He keeps a little notebook with him, and he's always writing in it. Pictures & plotlines for a cartoon series he says he's working on; notes about what he ate that day, or who he played with, ideas for Lego towers to build in the future, etc.
A lot of it is nearly illegible to me, but there certainly is a lot of it. Spelling, for the most part, is not a problem.
He's a fantastic speller, and was getting extra spelling words each work, at an advanced level. He missed 1 word all year, of the 15 given to him every Friday, every week, for a year. He spelled it right, but the a looked like an o, so she marked him down and told him to write neater next time so there would be no confusion, when he explained. I agree with her decision.
He got pull-outs for advanced reading, writing, and for a book discussion group the librarian runs once a week for 5 kids from Grade 2. They'd all read the same book, then take turns leading a discussion of it. They each have a notebook for this, where they'd write details, quotes from characters, their thoughts, pictures of what they thought characters looked like "in real life", if they existed, etc.
he reads at a Grade 6+ level.
He is allowed lots of free-choice, self-led discovery and online work (Starfall, MathMasters, Fastt Mast) each day in his classroom--all assigned or allowed to him and maybe 2 others in his class (and those two others are his best friends), when they finish their in-class work on whatever subject.
He and several other Grade 2 kids wrote a newsletter about Space, the Universe, etc, which was published for his schoolmates (this was s pecial project he did with the school's director and 5 other kids).
He wrote and read a speech he gave for Jane Goodall when she was there, about her Roots and Shoots program, etc.
Everything was suggested by, or just set into motion by the school or his teacher, and I generally became aware thru my child when he would tell me, or thru the teacher, when we would meet up at school (I volunteered there, and sometimes in her classroom).
He generally does very well in school, and all his grades are at, or above, grade level expectations. I don't think it's thinking, or thought processing that is the real problem for him. Or even writing.
He can write so clearly in cursive. And, if he writes slowly, his printing is great, too.
I wish he cared enough about math to try harder there--he is at grade level, but his teacher said she thinks if he would just try, he could be brilliant at it.
Not sure if it matters, but he was taught using Every Day Math at his last school, which I and lots of other parents loathed, and I am wondering if that could be part of the math issue.
As far as working memory in real life, yes he has issues there. But he can remember what his peds dr said to him in her office five years ago before we went over seas, word for word; and he notices when people get their hair cut, or they have lost weight, etc, even if they look the same to me when we run into them.
He also told me he remembers lying in his crib when he was about 2 at our old house, and looking out his bedroom window, and described very accurately to me what was there. Almost grass blade by grass blade. It was actually a bit eerie, to me.
He has always had issues with forgetting, being late, etc. He can be very disorganixed, but with other things so anal, it drives me nuts.
He dawdles and daydreams, a LOT. He is very imaginative, and creative. He talks non-stop. He hums and sings and wigles while he works.
He tries to direct the other children to do what he wants, and he thinks his way is best, in group settings with kids.
The reason we asked for a meeting with the teacher, and as a result of that meeting, for the testing (6 months ago), which we thought we had to do through school (a mistake; we didn't).
We asked because we felt he was bored a lot. He said so. And he was bringing home books the teacher gave him to read, that were way below his demonstrated level of ability--and then she admitted she told him he couldn't take certain books (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Percy Jakson, and others) out of the library when
the kids had free choice or free reign to pick what they wanted. She also hates Halloween, and would not allow her kids to celebrate that in her class, or talk about it in her class back in October.
He was having issues with bullying (verbal and physical) w/two of the bigger kids in his class (not while in class, apparently, only on the playground), at the same time.
So in October, I emailed and asked if we could meet after school one day to discuss all the above.
We dealt only with the bullying then, and for several months and meetings thereafter. He was the victm, they were the aggressors, and one almost got kicked out of school over this, in the end. BTW, never allow agree to peer mediation between your child and their bully/ies. Those kids went back at him harder and more slyly than ever, after every stupid peer meeting they had.
But once another kid they trifled with ended up with stitches, things did get better for my son, because the fall out was, in the end, they finally believed my warnings that these 2 were trouble, and that someone was going to get hurt. Suddenly, they doubled the student volunteer monitors on the playground, and those volunteers got more training in HT recogmize bullying, etc.
We finally got to the testing issues and other things, in late April.
Her concerns then were that he dawdles, takes too long to write, or change his clothes for PE, or his shoes thrice daily, when they had to change to go in or out of the building (in Europe the kids wear slippers only in class/inside the school); that he talks too much/asks too many questions which she felt was disruptive; that he is not very good at "assimilating" in groups; that she thought he was not trying hard enough at math, etc.
We had him speak to the school's PhD psych and counselor about the bullying and the other issues, and some changes were made to his day/work to give him more free choice. And he was then allowed to choose his own books, anything he wanted, from the library, too.
ABut then, he was asked to write a manual for the psych which teaches other kids "like him", whatever that means, how to survive second Grade, which prompted my asking for another meeting w/the teacher and the psych, which eventually led to my being here, today.
The psych we saw 2 weeks ago for testing, was off-site and is not affiliated with this school.
So, this is the first time we've had an indication he has significant issues or deficits (if the tests actually in the end up saying he does).
My son may have ADD---not any H in any ADHD spectrum, though.
I am coming to the conclusion for many other reasons, though, they he may also be gifted.
And possibly, both things.
Thanks to all, again!
