est1215, I literally said that I understood (and appreciated!) everyones' perspective in my previous post. The fact that I have my own opinions, regardless, doesn't mean that I haven't looked from all perspectives. I have.
In response to your comment about how an older child would feel if a younger child knew math better than them... what if an 8 year old math whiz signs up, as well as an 8 year old who is awful at math? Would that be acceptable? Would the fact that at least the math whiz was the same age as the one who is not good at math make the difference? So it's not adding insult to injury? I just don't understand the logic. And would this even apply anywhere else other than math? In art, in music? Would a parent really not put their child in an advanced art class (based on ability) because they were worried that some of the older kids in the class would be upset that they weren't as good at the younger one? Or because art is subjective, is it different?
I am not sure you understand where I am coming from. Yes, there are lots of resources for him, online, books, games...all things that he can do on his own (which he does), or with adults (which he does). But there is virtually nothing that allows him to interact with children who are learning/interested things on his level. And that was the reason we were looking forward to this. So, from my perspective, I think there was a large benefit for him to be in that class.
All that being said, please keep in mind that we aren't pursuing this, aren't fighting to get him into the class, or anything. We registered, were told no, contacted them to explain the situation further, and were still told no. And that was the end of it. I get the feeling that some people think we are waging war on our library, which is hardly the case. I wrote the original post to vent my frustration, and get some advice from those who had blazed this trail before. For some reason, it seems like this thread is blowing up needlessly, which only ignites frustration, rather than tempering it, thus subverting my original intention.
