The GT kids receive two enrichment activities in the regular classroom daily. What I'm learning now is that enrichment and acceleration are two very different things. I'd like to see him challenged with second grade math and reading if that is his instructional level.
Yes, enrichment is a disappointment in so many ways. Sure, it's usually fun, but if so, why can't all the kids do it? It seems to me there is no way to avoid bitterness from others whose kids are not in GT if you go the enrichment way.
My son is very social and loves school. He is enthusiastic about answering questions in class and got in "trouble" last year for answering out-of-turn. I don't think he complains about any of it because he likes being right and it's easy to be right when everything you encounter is easy. At some point, he has to bump up against a challenge and learn how to navigate that.
Although your son's personality sounds quite the opposite of mine (mine won't speak up in class), their issues sound the same. We started our journey with advocacy because we also felt that our kiddo should learn how to be challenged, even fail, so he could learn how to learn -- before college. I think you need to ask about more achievement testing at this point (unless your school relies strongly on the MAP scores for placement, which is unlikely), to see what level your son is working at. If it turns out that most his academic peers are a grade up, I would ask if your kiddo could move up a grade.
It's harder when the kids appear happy and don't complain at school. You have to walk a fine line so you don't insult the teacher. They really don't see what you see -- you need to help them. What convinced our DS's local school was a combo of MAP and achievement tests the school psychologist gave. We had private IQ testing done before school, which opened the door to discussions, but most teachers have no idea what IQ scores mean and they want to get to know your kid on their own.
The CogAT is not an IQ test. It is a sort of OK predictor of how well a kid will do in a GT program.
