Hi all,
Some of you might remember the CogAT/Nxxt Steps thread from a couple of months ago for our DS8 (grade 2, parochial school). He is having behavior issues at school despite testing well on his ITBS and CogAT (140 SAS, Profile 9A). So we had him tested independently by a psychologist. His WISC-IV GAI was 132 but his coding score was very low (6) and he is working with the psychologist on this. I’ve seen mention of low coding scores and dysgraphia but his penmanship is excellent.
The psychologists indicated that his behavior issues at school are due to his “superior intelligence” (their term, not ours) and not due to any neurological dysfunction (ADHD, etc.) or learning disability. They recommended several things for the school to implement for him (curriculum compaction, etc.). The school does not have any GATE curriculum but the teacher is willing to work with us on the recommendations. But the larger issue continues to be his behavior and attitude at school.
He closely resembles “The Challenging” Type II profile listed here:
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10114.aspxThe first of his issues (not sure if it’s an issue, really) is that he reads constantly, almost to the exclusion of everything else. He devours any and all reading materials he finds (books, newspapers, magazine articles, even betting lines on professional sports which he then rates for accuracy). The school uses the AR (Accelerated Reader) system (tests for books with level/point goals each quarter). He is set to amass more points this quarter than many kids in his class get in two full years in the system. He devours reading material at a furious pace. However, this is also one of his downfalls – he reads almost to the exclusion of everything else. He does very well at all his other subjects but falls behind because he reads when he is supposed to be writing, or doing math (which he doesn’t particularly like even though he is a wiz at it), etc. He has no problem catching up quickly but he will have a pile of unfinished work stuffed in his desk. He is indifferent when it comes to finishing regular schoolwork. A kind of “I’ll do it when I feel like doing it” attitude.
His other issue is poor self-control. He is in constant trouble for talking (he is a chatterbox), bothering his classmates when they are working, willfully ignoring instructions, lacking tact with his classmates, sarcastic comments, defiance with his teacher, etc. E.G. She’ll ask him to take his feet off the desk and he’ll remove just one foot. She’ll take a book away during lecture time and he’ll immediately pull out another one and keep reading. It’s almost gamesmanship. She’s clearly very frustrated with him, as are we. Also, FWIW, he doesn’t have any social difficulties and is well-liked and very outgoing with friends all over the school in multiple grades.
So the question is what to do with him next year. On the one hand, he really does need to be with kids of similar ability. I think he’s convinced himself that he’s smart enough to basically do what he wants at school, even if he walks a fine line between being just enough trouble to keep his day "interesting" but not enough that he gets sent to the principal’s office (at least not regularly). I think (hope) if he’s surrounded by similar kids next year, he’d do well.
The psychologist thinks he'd do very well at a local Montessori school which is highly rated. There is a significant gifted student population there and we are strongly considering it. But there still a nagging part of me that sees him there next year, talking incessantly and causing similar headaches. Clearly, we don’t want to go through another year like this past one. Without any GATE curriculum we are left with fighting the same battle year after year, only with different teachers. It’s not working out for anyone involved.
Anyone have a similar experience?
Al J
P.S. Sorry for the post length! It’s been a long year!
