Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments When I realized the school change was a good idea

We recently decided to pull our son out of our local school midyear and move him to a school for HG kids 45 miles from our home. Just three days in, I had a "aha" moment when I knew we did the right thing:

DS7 had a previously scheduled appointment coming up. It happens to fall on the same day as the beginning of a new quarter at his new school. Today was the first time in DS's school career (short, I know) that I felt it was important for him to not miss a day. I am a little happy/sad about this - happy that we're in a new situation where he will be learning new things every day; sad that it was never previously a big deal for DS to miss school days, since he wasn't really learning a whole lot of new stuff.

Does anyone else have any "aha" moments that confirmed to you that you did the right thing in changing your DC's school situation?

Yes! I realized last night that since dd's mid year skip, she has been falling asleep within 30 minutes of lights out, instead of hours later. And she has been getting her homework done with time to play after school like a normal kid.

St. Pauli,
I have mentioned in earlier posts that we switched schools at a much younger age (pre-school), however I can relate to your "aha" moment.

Mine came within the first week of switching. I would pull up in the carpool line and brace myself for the litany of (somewhat minor, in my opinion, but still stressful to hear) behavioral complaints I used to receive daily from dd's previous teacher. And at the new school, the teacher would just say, "DD had another great day. She's fitting right in here."

The behavior problems went away overnight when she was put in a more appropriate environment, with teachers who understood her and peers to whom she could relate.

I think there are flaws at every school. And certainly there are things I would change if I could. However, I think you can't underestimate the impact of a good peer group.