Hi all,
I have a 3rd grader who is extremely gifted. They are able to accommodate him in his regular classroom for language arts but for math, he has always been pulled out to higher grades. He is currently being pulled out daily to learn math in a 5th grade gifted class (they are learning 6th grade math). When he turns 4th grade, however, there is no higher math he could take at his elementary school so they are saying they will bus him to the nearest middle school to learn 7th grade math. EVERYDAY! He will spend about 40 minutes a day on the bus, going back and forth, just to learn math with middle schoolers for an hour. He will have to do this again when he turns 5th grade. I am glad they are willing to go to such lengths for him (they have been very accommodating in other ways too), so I hate to complain, but does that seem like a waste of time to you? Does anyone else's child do this? I would like to ask if they could hire a private tutor for him, but they will probably say they don't have funding for that. I would love to hear what your experience has been once your child maxes out at the elementary level but is too young to jump to middle school. What have you tried? What do schools recommend usually? What are they capable of or required to do for kids like this? FYI: DS has already entered early so is in 3rd grade at age 7; I don't want him to skip another grade for social reasons and besides even if he were in 4th grade right now, it would still be too easy for him anyway, so I don't see how skipping another grade would help him. Please share your thoughts and experiences. Thank you!
