Dear KAT,
Is your son going to go to the highly gifted program before the end of this school year of wait until next year? If it's this year, you might ask to go see the program and meet with the teachers before the IEP. That way you'll know what's appropriate to ask for. Our highly gifted program lets the child visit for a day before the IEP to make sure they like it, fit in, etc.
Does the highly gifted program go through elementary school or all the way to high school? I had my kids grade-advanced (1 grade) after several years in the highly gifted elementary program. It was a hard decision because I didn't want to rush them out of the program, but I hated the fact that they would end up on the "other side" (middle school) back with age mates after spending years doing accelerated curriculum. It seemed stupid. Also, my kids like older kids (like your son) and it worked well for them. But I wouldn't rush into it before you see the program. Presumably age/grade shouldn't matter much while you're in the program (they should do advanced work)--it should matter more when they get out.
Your son seems to have strrenghts across the board so see what they do for each area. The program might already have in place that might meet the needs of your son. Reading, language arts, math, etc. should be accelerated and/or compacted and enriched. Our program uses accelerated reader, class book analysis projects, ALEKS math, they can test out of spelling units, etc. Does your son have specific passion areas yet? I have a son who loves to write so we had him do a book publishing project and create a newsletter. Your son may be a little young for those type of goals. I like contests (art, essay, poetry, math)--that's possibly something to ask for. We do Continental Math and now (thanks to Ania) Math Kangaroo. I really think keyboarding skills are very important from the start. Also working with programs like Word, Powerpoint, Xcel, etc.
Go see the program and talk to people there first--that's my suggestion. Good luck!
