Hopefully I won't let this get too long
So we did have a good meeting with DS's first grade teacher. That was about three weeks ago. We have been trying various techniques to engage DS including special after school work. Sometimes it worked great, but sometimes not so much.
The last couple of weeks have been challenging as we're definitely seeing signs of frustration from DS. There is some acting out, but that is almost exclusively at home. Kriston warned us of this, so it wasn't totally unexpected. His level of homework hasn't really changed, so compared to what we hoped for (being able to learn new things) he's largely reviewing material he's known for a while. It got to the point where DW and I were asking ourselves what other possible alternatives might there be. We're still waiting for the official gifted identification process to complete, but it'll be mid-year before we really have a formal GIEP established. For a majority of this year, we're probably working without PA's "official" gifted label. (We're not planning on any changes until we get identified)
Our personal frustration comes from not seeing DS challenged at school. It is still early in the year, but we were hoping that after our last discussion we'd have more differentiation. We do a lot of extra-circular activities where you can see him get very enthusiastic to learn. After checking out local private schools, they really don't seem to be an option for us (one tuition we might be able to swing, but there is nothing that to make me think we won't have 2 more in that same boat down the road). Not to mention that private school is a risk and doesn't guarantee that he'll get what he needs. DW has now brought up homeschooling which, frankly, floored me because she was pretty adamant against HS up until now. The closest gifted charter school is, unfortunately, 1.5 hours away.
DW did a one-on-one meeting with the teacher this morning which went pretty well. She's going to talk to the math specialist about DS... Reading groups should be established shortly.
So it's a mixed bag, and it's not all doom and gloom but it's not as peachy as I'd hope for. Again, I think the teacher is doing the best she can given the student:teacher ratio and her framework. It just appears to take a really, really LONG time to get adjustments made and it's frustrating to us and DS. We're not looking for perfect. Just a situation where he's learning some new things.
JB
