Hi all,
We're contemplating a change of school, and I was wondering what others' thoughts/experiences might be re doing this with a child who says he doesn't want to. DS6 is quite against the idea of leaving his friends, although this is one of the main reasons we're thinking about the move.
During our horror third term (southern hemisphere) he seemed to really struggle with not fitting, although he didn't see it as that - but talked a lot about how he didn't like the games they liked, preferred class time to lunch break etc. This term he's adamant about certain children being his friends - and I sit in class, so I can see they're on friendly terms. But I see how he is with them, and he's often not being himself at all - well not his home self anyway. We had a play date from hell last holidays with one of these children - DS ran around like a maniac, threw things, leapt around, shrieked, squealed - I kept pulling him aside to ask him why he was behaving this way, and he told me that this was how *friend* played - he wanted to be like him. Hmm. He plays quite differently with other children we know (not from school), who are either older or probably gifted. Of course he is 6, so often does like to play soccer and chortle about wedgies, but he has other strings to his bow.
We're tossing up the GT specialist school partly because it's got expertise (although our current school may come to the party with acceleration), but more in search of an intellectual peer group so that he won't be isolated. I'm afraid that he might hide his light under a bushel pretty comprehensively if needed to fit in - particularly as it becomes more apparent to him that he's doing things the other guys aren't.
So what do you think - a realistic concern about an immanent danger, or fretful parents who should have more faith in their child's resilience and let him cement friendships? Has anyone been down this path and regretted it? Or not, and regretted it?
Cheers,
BK
