Educating our kids is just never straightforward is it!
Let's see if I have this right, your son currently goes to fourth grade Maths now but fifth grade is middle school? There is a middle school next door to your son's school but it isn't the school he will ultimately attend.
What is the school's plan or suggestion for continuing SSA in Maths in the next school year? Making use of the next door middle school resources would make sense if it is achievable.
It's been much easier for us to accelerate our DD in Maths and science but interestingly her LA skills were always good but we didn't focus on them so the eventual perception was that she was weaker in those areas. This year, because she is accelerated in all subjects, she is really developing her LA skills. It may be that you could actually work on the LA areas with your son in preparation for fifth grade. Does that make any sense.
He will still need extension in science and Maths or, as we have seen, interest can flag. But do you think he would also respond to some LA activities?
Out of curiosity, did you get the sense your son actually liked the gifted school? Reading his experiences of the Open Day, I wasn't sure he found it that stimulating. Of course, that isn't always a good way to judge if he would ultimately like it because he feels attachment to his current school and friends and that can cloud his opinion of any change.
