I guess that the question for your son and mine is this - would he rather do dull homework now for 20 minutes a day, or work a dull job later, 8 hours a day? Test scores alone will not get him into a competitive college - he needs to show the schools that he can
1) figure out what the teachers want
2) give the teachers what they want.
I'm not 'in favor' of our current system, but it is our current system. I would encourage him to start some kind of business on his own this summer so he can see the downside of leaving himself without the option of doing things the 'regular' way.
I would love to see him at Davidson Academy, if you can get there. I share with you the feeling that the regular track is just not meeting my son's needs. BTW - at 12 you can consider leaving him home while you work, and letting him homeschool independently. Community Colleges are an option. Look around for local homeschooling parents who might 'take him in.'
In the meantime, I would watch 'The Karate Kid' with your son. Washing the Master's Car seemed 'mind-squashing' at the time, but turned out to be mind-body training. Of course that's just a movie, but since you have freedom of perspective, it might present a more useful way to frame the problem. I'm never sure which of my son's experiences will turn out to be 'just right' for his future. Will doing mindless homework make it easier for him to change diapers and stay up with colicy offspring in his future? Who knows?
Finally, I would lobby the school really strongly to give him all three honors track classes. My guess it that if he starts and does poorly he can do fewer next year, but if he does well in one or two, that he will not be allowed to join the track midstream. That argument maybe will influence the school. The other idea I have is to imagine the money required for relocation or private school and then hire a tutor to met with him daily and help him get organized.
My son faces similar issues, and somehow, after trying and trying, found a notebook with an outside envelope that he uses exclusivly for homework, and active classroom projects. So there may be some ways to engineer a higher success rate. His school also has electronic gradebook, so I can see if are any outstanding homeworks by checking up on him. We also are starting to have email weekly reports from each teacher that determine how much weekend computer access DS11 will have. I send out an 'How was the week?' email on Friday mornings to each teacher, and they respond.
Best Wishes,
Grinity
