Honestly, it doesn't sound like much fun to me, either. He's five, right? If you and the school keep working with him, and looking for opportunities to make learning fun, I would expect a lot of growth within the next few years (which will like occur in short spurts of big leaps forward).
I would not hold back a gifted child because first grade is writing intensive. This is one issue with schools... I have had several teachers tell me that many young boys just aren't physically comfortable writing in K, 1 or 2. It doesn't mean they should stop learning while their writing catches up. This is one of the things that's great about our son's 2nd grade teacher... she gets that he's not going to love it yet, but works through it.
BTW, our PG son consistently says lunch and recess are his favorite subjects... although recently he's been telling us good things about his accelerated grade math class.
Yes, 5 y/o. I have to stop sometimes and think how different his childhood is from mine. I played at home everyday, wanted to start school, and then K was just playing too. He has been in a "school" setting/daycare since infancy, and now K is not how it was.
Unfortunately writing/written expression is part of his grades. Not that I really care what his grades are now as I don't think they mean much anyway. My biggest concern is needing to write so much and that adding on to his dislike of school in general. I'm hopeful that as we work to improve his writing and it becomes easier, it will make his feelings about school change. Similar to how there were subjects I disliked but learned them after working hard and don't dislike as much.
The other thing is if school is pushing him so much, it is probably at least somewhat challenging. I'm thinking him being the youngest in a competitive school may help with regards to his intellect as he may not get bored so quickly.
