My son is starting to zone out in class, and his grades are starting to fall. The teacher said, "it is because the work is getting harder." But for him, I don't see that the work has gotten any harder. So now, advocacy is just going to get more difficult.
Hi TiredMommy- I love the advice you've gotten. Yes - you child is gifted. And sure they school will act like being gifted is no big deal, because for 2/3 of gifted kids it probably is truly 'no big deal' in some districts. The problem is that what we call 'Levels of Gifted' - and what is fine for a kid who is 125-130 Gifted, which is the majority, just doesn't come anywhere near close for some kids with IQs like yours. Of course it depends so much on the personality of the child, and the teacher and the classmates.
I do disagree that HG kids are 'high risk' for all those terrible things. I think that HG kids do get in trouble, probably at about the same frequency as kids to overall, but that for HG kids, spending years being bored at school is a direct contributer to the problems they do have. I would frame it more as a 'common decency' question. The other 2nd graders get to come to school and have both the excitement of learning something new and the growth of work ethic from learning hard things on a regular basis. Why shouldn't your kid get that too? If it's important for the other kids, they why isn't it important to your kid?
You school probably has a motto, and you may want to look it up and refer to it often. The official motto probably isn't 'teaching all kids to get by with the bare minimum.'
In the end, the school may just plain not give you what you think is needed. We had to switch school, get a gradeskip, enjoy that for a while, then switch schools and reverse the gradeskip. Because it's pretty normal for HG and PG kids to keep changing and growing and needing different things at different times - so flexability is the name of the game!
I think we did a great job of reviewing the basics! Go Us! The whole process is much easier if tapes of 'you always were selfish as an elementary student and we didn't care then and we don't care now' are drowned our by our group of voices saying: 'Trust your Mom-gut!' and 'Your child is worth it!' and 'It matters!'
Love and More Love,
Grinity
