Hello, again, I'm still looking for answers. It has been suggested several times by different people that my son (11) is not being challenged at school and that the boredom he is experiencing there is leading to his behavior issues at home. His WISC and WIAT scores are
here . (hope that link works)
He has skipped one grade already. He's young even for his correct grade (July birthday with a September cut-off and lots of red-shirting here). I've been thinking about how to get him more challenge at school. He does well on tests but it is a nightmare getting him through his homework. There still is the possibility that he is ADHD/ASD/something else but I'm wondering about this. He seems to have lost his spark, his passion, and his interest in exploring new topics. All he wants to do is read and play on the computer.
So, options and questions and thoughts:
- skip another grade - that would put him into 9th grade at the high school at age 12, he's taking Algebra I this year and is scheduled to take Geometry next year and Alg II in 9th; I guess he'd have to take Geometry on his own before fall? He'd be short a semester of PE, don't know how that would work. 8th grade history and science I have no clue about. He's already in the 8th grade band so he'd just move into the 9th grade band. He wants to play baseball in high school so that would be an issue. The school district is not big on skipping grades. His tester told me he could finish Alg I and II in one year, no problem.
- subject acceleration - I don't think they even offer that and what would he accelerate to? Alg II at the high school (I'd have to drive him)?
- homeschool -
- would that just bring more power struggles down on us? How would I know what to teach him? Partial homeschooling is not allowed in our state so he'd miss out on those fun and social electives like Band, PE, Art, and Theater Tech.
- different school district - we moved here three years ago specifically for the gifted program. I'd hate to move again and wouldn't know where to go anyway. There is a Yorktown close but I think it is only Elementary.
- early entrance to college - how would we set this up? He's too young right now and doesn't have the time management or organization skills. Any ideas on how to approach this for the future? maybe add a college class? I don't know when we could fit this in.
If it's truly a boredom/underchallenged/underachieving issue and not a psychological issue (which we are looking at), what would you recommend? Anybody been through this?
Even the DYS consultant advised more challenge at school. I did inquire if he could do an online class next semester in something like astronomy as an independent study but the director said he wasn't mature enough.
Any ideas, thoughts, advice, things to explore?
I want my sweet, happy boy back. I want our free time together back. I want to see him learning and stretching and growing and exploring. He says he's not bored at school and wouldn't change anything about school. Maybe he's just given up. We're all frustrated and don't know where to turn. This is keeping me up nights.
