I was wondering if I could appeal to the collective wisdom around here about finding a 'good fit' for my son next year when he's in first grade. I had a conference with my son's Kinder teacher last night and she asked if I had any ideas in mind for what might be a good fit for him and I wasn't sure what I should even look for.
Background on my son: We've never tested his IQ or anything like that but have some reasons to feel he might be gifted. When he was around 2 years old he started to become very interested in cars and learned to identify about 80% of the cars we could see on the road by make and model. He remembered so so many of them and could identify them just by seeing a tiny bit of the headlights or taillights, etc. So that was definitely an unusual skill.
When he entered kindergarten at the local public school he knew his letters, letter sounds and a few sight words, was starting to figure out sounding out some words. Now at the end of the year he seems to be testing at about a 3rd grade reading level, both in guided reading and on the computerized testing they do each week. He's also doing well at math although they seem to test that with less detail. His teacher said that he understands concepts at a deep level and that she's going to put a 'possibly gifted' designation in his file for next year. They give the CoGat to all 1st graders to screen for possible giftedness. Overall, the school seems to be very good. It's highly regarded in our city and has been established for over 20 years, has lots of good programs, seems to be full of caring people who know their stuff at all levels. Lots of sweet kids and good families too.
So that's all the good about kinder but the bad is that he's had lots of trouble with his behavior. His teacher is as sweet as she could possibly be but was very worried about his ability to focus (she's been suggesting ADD but I'm not sure it fits exactly). He's gotten in trouble all year for talking to friends, getting out of his seat, disturbing instruction time, doing sloppy work, etc. His handwriting is not particularly good and he's not very careful when he colors, glues, etc, although he's been getting better. He doesn't seem to have trouble getting along with other kids and enjoys socializing with his peers (a little too much, evidently).
I had a conference with his teacher yesterday and she mentioned that they're gearing up for their recommendations for placement next year in 1st grade and wondered what sort of teacher might be a good fit for him. I'm not 100% sure and wanted to get some advice from people who maybe had kids that fit a similar profile. My instinct says that this year's teacher was a bit too permissive (she doesn't discipline until a few infractions, tends to forget to follow through on certain consequences, etc) and a little disorganized. On the other hand, she loved to pull in extra information, let kids explore topics more deeply, and other great things. However, my son is still intimidated and didn't want to talk to her much, which concerned me. I think it might be because he was getting in trouble so much.
So basically, what do you think the 'ideal' teacher for a gifted but energetic little boy might look like? He's tricky to discipline because he's sensitive but doesn't tend to show it and he also likes to explore the limits of the rules a bit. I'm sure this is highly individualized but I'd love to hear about other people's experiences.
