Hi Susan and AMDStreit,
I am one of the more militant parent advocates here so you may wish to defer my advice until you have heard from others who work with-in more flexible school districts. I didn�t start out angry, but our public school district was absolutely unyielding in their resistance to grade advance or even challenge my daughter when she was 6years old in 1st grade. They had even made her repeat K after graduating at the top of a private K (teacher told us privately) because she wasn�t quite old enough for 1st. Her scores were all over 100% on her report cards and she scored 98 percentile on the state test, yet she complained that school was �too hard�. You nailed the reason that your son tells you the same. They want to be good students and do what is expected, yet the mind numbing assignments sap their energy and eventually their drive. My daughter began to tell us that lunch and recess were her favorite times at school! We gave the district the benefit of the doubt for two years before we acted. I wouldn�t advise waiting that long. Grade advancement to a private school with a more challenging program was the solution for our daughter. I have no doubt that it was necessary and we have never second guessed ourselves on this decision.
If the teacher won�t accommodate your son after a couple polite requests, I would assume that she won�t without the involvement of the administration. If I were you, I would pursue an understanding with the principle. Most moms here state that the teacher is the most important adult to your child at school. That is probably true for K-2nd. In my opinion, as the child progresses, any one teacher has less impact, but an administrator with oversight may arrange the necessary accommodations regardless of the attitude of a particular teacher. If you can establish a relationship with the principle, it will take away a great deal of the uncertainty of whether or not your child will be challenged from year to year. I understand this is easier said than done.
Find out what the gifted program really consists of and evaluate whether or not it is what your son needs and whether it is worth waiting for. Our public district�s pull-out (beginning in 3rd also) does not offer advanced academics. Although their critical thinking and problem solving program would probably have worked for our daughter if combined with a grade skip, it would not have begun to address the needs of our son.
