Originally Posted by thewayweroll
Newbie to Davidson and to this Forum. Can use some advice, because we are in trouble. frown My son is an 8th grader at a well ranked Southern CA middle school. We knew he was bright, but individual testing very recently revealed him to be exceptional/profoundly gifted. Seems to explain his pattern of behaving disruptively (challenging, joking) in classes taught by his weaker teachers. Not acceptable, but he cannot seem to conform (or at least keep quiet) in these classes. He is also underachieving academically.

He is a wonderful kid -- extroverted, funny, trustworthy, honest, well-liked by peers and most adults. The gifted tester informed me he was unusual -- most kids with his IQ were like "little professors" but this child is a "guys guy" type, which seems to be quite true.

Unfortunately, after "many chances" the school informed me last week my son must attend 4th qtr 8th grade at another middle school in the district in a special, segregated small program for kids who can benefit from "more structure and attention", due to his disruptive behavior.

I was collecting information in preparation for advocating gifted differentiation in High School -- this has thrown me. I seek any advice on effective advocacy, best practices for helping my son. Thank you. p.s. family situation is stable, loving, supportive. Good health, no learning disabilities, etc.
Doesn't sound that odd in a gifted bored 8th grade boy. My son got in big trouble in his science class last year(the only class not honors) for doodling because the teacher thought he was drawing a caricature of her. He was just doodling because he was bored. She was the only teacher who didn't recommend him for honors in H.S.

I want to suggest homeschooling but some districts are very picky what class they have been in for placement in H.S. What math class is he in? In my District (also a well ranked So. CA district) if you homeschool you can not move back into accelerated/honors math, PERIOD. There are no exceptions, I was just talking with a mother who's 8th grader who gave up and is homeschooling him Algebra II because they hated the teacher (the one my son has) and the schedule was impossible. They only works because he will be going to private school next year. If he was to stay in the public school, he would have to have finished Algebra II within the system.

In my district admission into H.S. honors/AP are only allowed based on achievement. Until 8th grade, my son had to be placed in the honors class because he was tested as gifted even if he misbehaved. (We had misbehaving problems in 6th grade, that continued slightly into 7th.)

Not sure what to do honestly. Can you look into private schools for next year? Homeschooling? Online schooling?