I've been thinking about what all of you have written and here are my late-Sunday night thoughts.
DS started his day today saying "oh no, It's Sunday. I have to go to school tomorrow!" He's really been trying. He just can't stand it. He likes other kids. He likes recess, and lunch and art and all that. But he knows he's not learning and it is making him nuts.
I have another meeting with his teacher Thursday. I think that will be the last one. After April vacation, he's mine. I had a college student lined up to teach my two oldest boys when we thought we would homeschool in January. I've written to her to see if she's still game.
I bought the Art of Problem Solving not long ago, I need to take good look at it to see if he's ready or if there should be some intermediate steps (I have several levels of Singapore Math and Life of Fred; he likes both). I'm going to look at your other suggestions, too, Grinity.
Our public school doesn't track in math until 8th grade. There is a 5-6 school and a 7-8 school, then the high school, so there aren't a lot of easy opportunities for subject area acceleration. I sent an e-mail to the Asst. Superintendent on Friday to meet about some long-range thinking. She'll be a good resource, I'm told.
As far as language arts--he reads the way a starving man eats, indiscriminately and fiercely. He is a third grade writer. Sometimes his writing is lovely and brilliant. But he does not try in school. He finishes most things before the other children even settle down to work, and does the rewrites as required.
His comprehension and recall are great, if you really want to talk about books with him. He recently made a connection between Ponce De Leon (whom he had studied in school) and Copernicus (from his own reading) and the Age of Enlightenment (he didn't call it that) that would have made fine college paper thesis. But, again, his non-math schoolwork is not so inspired. Based on that, it would be hard to make a case for full grade acceleration. And we were told at both schools that full grade acceleration wouldn't help--the math would still be too easy. A full grade skip with an additional grade acceleration for math might work, but his grades don't support that.
I so wish he could go to school with other kids like him--where the level of expectation was very high, and where the quality of instruction supported that. Does such a place even exist outside of NYC and a few other cities? I would love for him to be among peers, and still challenged.
Dee, Dee, I'm going to pursue that. RI provides no funding for gifted education, and there is no mandate to provide it. Still, the law require an education be provided. By definition, that means the student needs to learn. You cannot learn what you already know. So, if he knows it, you can't keep teaching him it over and again and call it an education.
On to another line of questions: should I pursue the DYS program? It would mean an intelligence test, and paperwork. Would it really help us? If you have the scores, how difficult is it to be accepted?
Again, thank you for reading this, and for any advice or words of wisdom you have.
