Update: no go. (as I expected) The teacher said it was not only the material, but because there was going to be group work/interaction that she didn't think a 4 year old could keep up with. While I understand, I am also disappointed that he wasn't even given the opportunity to TRY. He is never given that chance, which is a shame. I would love to see if he actual COULD keep up, and be (for once) in a situation with intellectual peers. It really does make me sad that something that is generally pretty easy for other kids, like finding friends that are similar to you/have similiar interests, intellectual profiles, etc, is just so very difficult for DS (and I mean, he is super social and will play/interact with anyone...but on THEIR level. He'll TRY and get other kids to do the things he likes, but they usually can't, so he has to leave that stuff for me and DH, and his teachers at school, essentially.)
The teacher also that her 5 year old is also very advanced and she knows he would have trouble in this kind of social situation but maybe she would make a class for younger kids in the future. Which in itself is all good stuff, and would be really nice IF the material was actually challenging enough. Then again, if her 5 year old was actually quite advanced, wouldn't she would have understood better where I was coming from, and not been so closed-off to the idea?? (Is it also weird that, as soon as I heard advanced 5 year old, I thought, PLAY DATE?) ...even as annoyed as I am at the whole situation, because of the issues illustrated above, I would LOVE to find another mathy young kid for DS to play with. I don't know if I'm alone in this quandary, but it seems to me that a lot of parents of young gifties are always on the lookout for other gifties that would hopefully spark a genuine friendship with their DC, on THEIR level.)
Sigh. I wish it weren't so hard sometimes.
and I'll have to ask the library about forming my own group...
