So that brings me back to the question. Can his behavior be caused by being bored in class? If he were appropriately challenged could his behavior improve? I know the test will help and that I need to continue pursuing the psych visits – but have any of you experienced something like this? My gut reaction all along has been that he is bored out of his mind – could I be right?
ABSOLUTELY!!! (go back and look through my older posts if you want more detail)
We had some of the same issues with DD9 when she was in 1st grade. She started off the first week of school in trouble (maybe even the first day) and was pretty much in trouble the entire year. It had to be miserable for her, but we had no idea what was going on. She would come home and tell us she "hated" school, which is a very strong word in our family and not used lightly. This was all coming from a very inquisitive, bright kiddo that had no previous issues with school. That 1st grade year completely sucked every ounce of excitement for learning right out of her.
The school counselor swore DD had ADD/ADHD and the classroom teacher told us (flat out) that DD had ODD or conduct disorder. After trying to work with the school to come up with a solution and many, many meetings (most of which we requested) we had DD tested. We wanted to find out what we were dealing with so we could tackle whatever it was head on. We were expecting to maybe hear that she did have ADD/ADHD of some sort because she was wriggly at times, but not when she was engaged in something she enjoyed. Boy howdy - the testing really opened our eyes! We were told DD wasn't any of those things the school was telling us, she was bored (out of her mind) and dealing with a teacher that didn't have a clue. All her acting out in class could have probably been addressed if someone had a clue about gifted children and their needs. We, as her parents, sure didn't understand. She was our first child and we knew she was smart. We just didn't know how smart she really was and how that might affect her in school. I would have thought the school would have someone that understood, but now that we are educated about giftedness, I guess this happens more than you would think.
I think having your son tested is a good start. Make sure you ask the tester lots of questions and hopefully they will give you, in writing, some suggestions for school. Our tester listed several things we could do and several things school could do - it was at least a start!
DD's behaviors at school have improved some since 1st grade (she is going into 4th this year), but I'm not sure if that is due to maturity or her just being tired of always being in trouble or worse, just plain ole apathy. Last year she rushed through her school work, didn't really care how she did in school, and any time she didn't just get something, she would complain it was too hard for her. I really want the spunky, curious girl back!
