I think you'll find that many of us have had the exact same or similar experience you describe. Many of us have considered ADD/ADHD as well, but please know that the symptoms of a bored gifted child are much the same as a child with ADHD. Also, it's not unusual for gifted children to also have ADHD. We're still not sure if there are real attention issued going on or if we've just never found the right environment to challenge and interest our son. Do some searches on this site, and you'll see this is the most common issue our gifted children face. It sounds to me like your son is needing a challenge. I wish my son "checked out" instead of just disrupting everyone else. When he's bored, he talks incessantly and can't sit still. If he's interested and challenged, he can focus for hours. I think it's a good thing you are addressing this now because it's tough on kids who go years without ever being challenged. Like my son, they do not learn to work hard to achieve, and when they are finally faced with a challenge, they don't know what to do. The result can be underachievement, and that's quite a challenge to overcome. It sounds like your son is doing well academically, but it appears that he's finding a way to occupy his mind while everyone else catches up. This is why a lot of us resort to homeschooling, or our children bounce around a bit until we find the best school fit. However, some schools are great with appropriate accommodations. If GATE is not an option for your son at his age, maybe after the testing is complete, the school can offer him accellerated classwork (curriculum differentiation), subject accelleration, full grade skip, or extra projects of interest to him. Do you think they'd be open to making some of those changes?
