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My son is 5.5 and is completing K. He is "very advanced" with "vast knowledge," but fidgets and frequently calls out answers to questions that he knows. The teachers don't know what to do with him outside of requesting that he be tested for ADHD, giving him extra work on subjects that don't interest him, and putting bad behavior marks on his report card. I would like to have him tested for a gifted program at Stanford, Northwestern, Hopkins, Davidson, or Duke. Has anyone had experience with any of these programs for a child his age? Which program would you recommend or advise against? We live in a farming community in NY State with no gifted programs. Thank you.

For context, see this thread.
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....2061/What_should_I_do_re_gifted_son.html

I did not see a response in the other thread but is there any way you could homeschool? Also is he 4 or 5.5? That extra year makes a difference.

If not, and he has to attend this particular school, lots of physical activity and some yoga to help him practice being calm. Role play classroom with him so he gets practice in letting others have a turn, and phrase it in such a way that he doesn't feel he's doing wrong.

What, specifically, are the teachers saying with respect to his behavior? He sounds a lot like my DS8 with the fidgeting and calling out, but we haven't had BAD behavior marks. There was concern expressed about ADHD but his pediatrician said while he shared some of the hallmarks, there wasn't enough to concern her.

Northwestern has programs for K-level. Distance might be a problem, though, and I'm not sure that I'd try online courses for such a young child. They do have online courses, though.

Your DS sounds like a normal 5-year-old boy to me. Is he on the young end of his grade? We ran into a teacher or two who pointed out DD's (now 8) immaturity (lots of asychrony) in younger pre-K and even occasionally K...well, she IS younger. She "called out," too, when younger. Doesn't seem to be an issue now, but it did cause me to question whether I'd be battling this for years to come (many summer birthdays are "held-back" in my area). Still, I could not fathom holding her back simply because she was young (she was also very academically advanced), so I didn't. Turns out that was ABSOLUTELY the right choice.

I would stick with "live courses" for a younger child. Do you have any colleges within driving distance that might have "summer youth college classes" or something similar? Also, my DC have benefited from some classes that were not necessarily aimed at G&T, but were of high-interest to bright, curious kids (science, chess, cultures around the world, etc.). These, too, can be great sources of enrichment.

Best wishes and let us know how it is going!

Agreed that calling out answerse and fidgeting is completely normal (if irritating to some adults) at this age and especially for a child who KNOWS THE ANSWERS. It's exciting to share knowledge. Child behavior 101. I'm always discouraged when teachers don't understand that this doesn't mean the child has a problem. FWIW, my DS7 had been doing this during the children's program at church. Fortunately, the leader understood that it was because DS does know the answers and so talked w/me and him about instead shaping the responses to appropriate norms (raising hand, allowing others to take some turns, etc.).

You may also want to educate yourself, and then later think of ways to gently educate teachers, about the concept of asynchronous development.

The book "Genius Denied" has some practical tips for working with educators on shaping the learning environment. Available for purchase, of course, or you may be able to get it on library loan.

Your other post noted that you are in a rural area. There may be weekend programs for gifted youth, within a driveable distance, that are affiliated with colleges. That can be a way for your DS to meet others who are "like" him while also learning. At that age, we fed our DS (or rather, he largely chose for himself) a steady diet of books. He tends to delve into one topic, then the next (dinosaurs, ancient civilizations, trains, aliens, etc.). That keeps his mind active outside of school.

My kids (twins) are 5 now. They entered K when they were 4, and my son was skipped while his sister wasn't. I would love to homeschool him but am having doubts about whether I want to follow the Core Curriculum and also am concerned about sending sister to school while HS'ing her brother.

My son is getting bad behavior grades but excels academically. He needs frequent breaks with lots of activity. I requested to sit in the classroom one day to observe him, but his teacher doesn't want me to. The school is not set up for him, but it's the best one in our area.

Thanks everyone for your replies. There is nothing in my area for my son, but there is a good library near us.

I would also like to see what happens if he tries out various computer-based programs. Are there any sites that have sample programs so we can "test the waters?"

Yes. There are a number of online programs, classes, etc. for neurotypical and gifted. Some are free; some are not. E-Learning for kids (http://www.e-learningforkids.org/) is free and has elementary material for English, math, social studies, etc. You might see how that goes. You could also pick up a printed general curriculum guide for less than $10 too and see how that goes and how quickly he accelerates.

My 2e/pg ds8 was similar to your son at that age. He was in a private, gifted school at 5. He quickly accelerated through the pre-k (MA redshirts kids and, for my son, this was the second yr of pre-K due to moving), kindy, 1st grade curriculum. He started to have behavioral problems, fidget, psychosomatic symptoms etc. School wondered if he had ADHD too - which he doesn't. My son was just bored and the school was a mismatch for him.

The long story is that we're un/homeschooling him now.

Well, if you're thinking of home-schooling him, why not home-school both of them? She's probably at the same intellectual level but just not getting the "bad behavior" reports; boys tend to be more fidgety and active than girls at that age. There have been a number of studies about how the school system isn't really set up for active boys.

Here's an article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-day/why-boys-are-failing-in-a_b_884262.html

I am reading a book now called The Well-Trained Mind; the author outlines a plan for homeschooling. I haven't got very far into it but it has rave reviews and is supposed to be a great starting point.

My son recently tested into the program at Northwestern and took his first two classes. He just turned 7. They have little kids in the program and it is really cool. We live a few hours away but travel there for him to participate. I'm not sure how the online classes would work for such a young kid. We haven't done the online classes yet although we intend to.
FWIW e also pulled our son out of first grade to homeschool him. He is doing much better at home.

Nvm; google is my friend.