After so much stress and worry over getting my DS 8 (2nd grade) into the dedicated GT magnet public school, the honeymoon period is over and DS has started to check out some. This was my biggest fear
He loved it at first because it was a lot different than the experience he had in private the last 2 years. Things seemed to be going well through the end of December but lately, he has been having trouble staying engaged telling me he already knows everything and sometimes it's boring. This is with the whole classroom and school being full of gifted kids and specialized gifted teachers with gifted curriculum. He has been reading when he is supposed to be paying attention to something else, distracting other kids with his talking, rolling around on the floor when it's not appropriate, impulse control issues, and last week, lightly "punched" another kid (in his stomach area) but said it was just a joke. That one got me a call from the teacher (that is not normal for him to do)
She told me that she has used all the methods she knows to engage him but that she has never had a kid that required so much more than she knows how to accommodate. Yikes. As a reminder, I've got a kid with visual processing and sensory issues (in visual therapy now and did some OT last year) who is probably in the 99th+ range (visual issues affected IQ score - scattered all over the place - will retest later).
She is going to start talking with other teachers, principal, VP, to see what they can come up with for further differentiation for him, particularly in math and science (I would argue for everything...). I'm also not sure if we need to start looking at possibly having an IEP. Can you get an IEP for sensory? That process sounds so intimidating.
So for you experienced parents - what should we be asking for from a GT school where your kid is beyond the other gifted kids? I know a lot will depend on the district and school but I think we are probably going to end up in meetings at some point and I want to have some suggestions, ideas, etc and sound somewhat intelligent.
