Hi SFParent -
"In Kindergarten and the beginning of first grade, he told us he was very bored but we told him to stick with it. I still feel guilty about this response as he could have easily shut down. Fortunately, de did not."
Please stop feeling guilty over this. You did the best you knew with the information you had at the time. Same with us, and "shut down" DS did - luckily quite loudly! However, know that DS10, from the perspective of 3 years down the road, really values the life experience he gained during that rough patch - so who knows?
Trinity
