DS's crash and burn, part 3...
He-He!
I left out the "no one wants to sit next to him because he makes so much disturbance." which we got in 2nd and 4th, but when I asked the 3rd grade teacher about it - she had no clue what we were talking about. Having a teacher, like the 3rd grade lady, who is top tenth of a percent in teaching is very useful!
He had no friends in 2nd and was in the middle of a great friendly group in 3rd. go figure!
I finally got up the courage to look at Private schools the summer after 4th, and started him in a local day-prep type Last September. I realized that there was this pit in my stomach that would not allow me to send DS back to that public school, even though things had improved somewhat with "in-class" enrichment. So off to the private school in September, and a mid-year skip into their Middle School in October. ((Don't do this unless you have to - the IAS is right when they say bridge years are important - particularly to an underachieving and disorganized boy, who is "highly asynchrouous." Does he have ADHD? I don't know! A little more than a year ago, I brought him to a local pyschologist, who I heard was "great for advocating in the school system." This fellow diagnosed DS as "50% ADHD." He thought that if we gave him stimulent medication there was a good chance that he could sit in the regular classroom and behave well enough. Well golly, he could behave "well enough" without the medication. I just don't see how a psychologist can look at his IQ scores and think that he'll be "just fine" in a regular classroom. My concern was that he wasn't learning how to learn. He wasn't building Character that it takes to be a successful grown-up. His friends were learning what it's like to sit and do homework, how to study for tests. My boy was doing his homework in 90 seconds and whining and worried when the homework load was suddenly a 3 minutes! 2 worksheets! That's why I love the writing of Sylvia Rimm - a child who is underchallenged can look just like a kid who is overchallenged - worried and stressed. Kids need character. Does he "really" have ADHD? If the local psychologist doesn't know, than how am I supposed to know?
Luckily the school really really sees his ability to fly, and gets that he is a slow runner, but is determined to give flying lessons and keep prodding him to become the best runner he can be. ((tears)) Ok, I'm crying tears left over from the bad old days, when my son was a big mystery that no one could understand - finally he is at a school that finds him an interesting challenge, but clearly sees who he is.
Love and More Love,
Trinity
