Okay, here's a positive post on K progress and challenge. We only see the homework coming home, so were concerned about the challenge in K. We had DS6 assessed at CTY and provided the report in advance of our conference to the K teacher. She has been challenging him and took the recommendations from CTY seriously. She just started him on an independent research project on the subject of his own choosing (Dinosaurs, of course!). He is going through books and tabbing new facts he is learning and will eventually put together a powerpoint presentation for the class on his project. Wow! We had no idea about this project because DS6 isn't very forthcoming about his schoolwork, but we like what we heard from his teacher. We still are concerned about his math instruction (Everyday Math), but otherwise are happy with the challenge and progress he is making. We would like to see him placed with the more advanced learners in his school next year. Hopefully our teacher next year will be as accomodating. DS6 told us not to tell his teacher that he was bored (a common complaint at the beginning of the year), but that school was still too easy. I think it is progress. We are still applying for the magnet next year, but if we get another teacher that is willing to challenge our DS6 in 1st like his K teacher and the reading and math specialist, I think staying where we are won't be the end of the world. We are working on getting more challenging homework. Right now he gets the same as everyone else, which is about a half an hour a week max. I feel much better after seeing what he is actually doing in school. Keeping the lines of communication open with frequent conferences (our third this year) seems to be doing the trick. We are also doing EPGY. Our DS6 seems to have found his level around 1.7 in math. He also enjoys the LAW program, but it moves more slowly with all of the drag and drop problems. Just wanted to update our progress.