We had the meeting with the counselor yesterday. She was very nice and is going to observe DS and talk with him about school. (She specifically said that she was NOT trying to look for ADHD but to observe how he is functioning in class.)
I feel like I was direct, cited examples and scores and the bottom line is that our county and school are quite advanced. Our bell curve is highly unusual. Thirty percent of the fifth grade class qualified for the Duke Tip program. They have advanced content classes at the upper grades and have considered cross grouping. Their concern is that if they accelerate kids and then they can't handle calculus in 10th grade, for example, then they've set the kids up for failure.
She said that the teachers would not advance DS if he didn't show proficiency in lower-level tasks. She said there were kids just like him in his class. I asked why then, are there 6 worksheets on tally marks when everyone can do addition and subtraction with negative numbers like my son. (Okay, I wasn't that snarky, but you get it
She said that, compared to the other 7 schools she's been in, this is advanced content.
I don't think they would ever consider subject acceleration. Not when there are smart kids everywhere. I don't think DS is PG. So, maybe he's in the right place and I just need to be very grateful. I'm not convinced about that, but it's something I need to consider.
Some of you suggested that I speak directly with him about what's going on at school. We talked for a while after school that day while we were playing in the backyard. He casually said his reading teacher asked him to hurry up and finish writing his facts. I asked why he thought it was taking him longer to finish. "I was thinking about it." Later, we were working on math. He was answering 30 questions on a computer game. I was checking on him and asked him to just enter the answer and move along. He paused and I told him again. He responded by saying, "I'm thinking. (Pause) Is thinking bad?" How sad is that? At six years old, he's picked up the idea that thinking is bad. That is NOT okay with me.
