This is really interesting.
For us, it's been one of the better years. DS13 has gained a lot of free time since he moved to a GT private school. I think he learned less during school, but he is happier. Outside of school, though, he has a lot more time to do projects and self study so overall I would say his academics really advanced this year. Online courses kind of became a routine for him, and there is indeed a large selection at all levels. His social interactions also improved a lot because he now has time to go to community groups and develop projects there. He participated in various academic competitions/talent searches, etc., and did very well. His extracurriculars (music, chess, etc) all improved more than usual this year, I think it's because he feels happier in general which helps everything, really.
DD9 is usually very easy going, and she doesn't mind doing the repetitive work at school even though her level is way above that. She has not had an IQ test. But last year in 2nd grade her math was tested to be at least 5th grade level and she was reading at 7th grade level. (We don't know about this year, haven't seen any report yet.) This year though, is the first year when she started complaining about being bored at school and not learning anything ("why can't they just let me read a book?") She loves school, though, because she has a large number of friends and the teacher is funny. This year's teacher is actually quite understanding and does do in-classroom differentiation, it's simply that the differentiation doesn't go to DD's level. Outside of school things are really good. I started working with her on middle school math this year, and helped her identify projects that she can do (writing a book, etc). Her extracurricular activities (which she doesn't do at school but uses community resources) have been going really well and she is getting a lot of recognition and rare opportunities.
I feel that things have been going well this year more than before partly because we gave up false hope in the school system, and devoted energy on looking for alterntive resources. It's also partly because the kids did incredibly well when they got the right opportunities. Next year, though, I think, will be challenging for DD, because she will feel even more strongly about school being a waste of time (she has already asked me to talk to the school about letting her opt out of some classes, but I'm not optimistic--the school district is very rigid). for DS, the challenge is to settle into high school and truly understand that he will need to do a good job on everything even if some tasks are boring--most of the things that one does in life are pretty routine and not exciting but one needs to do them well nonetheless (he understands it, I believe, but next year will be the real test).
