Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy To advocate or not

Sometime I wonder what if my child is bored at school all day, what kind of long term impact will it have? Underachievement? Under challenged? Not using his/her full potential?

I am first to admit, I am not using my full intellectual potential. I could be so much more than I am now career-wise, but I find a nice work/life balance. Am I underachieving? Probably. Am I under challenged? Definitely. Am I not using my full potential? No, but I made the conscious decision not to.

We live in a school district where gifted education starts at 4th grade. We opt for a private school for the children due to smaller class sizes. I would have to push pretty hard at the current school to get any accelerations/differentiations, if any.

I have no problem to relentlessly advocate since I have the typical Type A personality, but I was wondering how far is too far? How far should you push for accelerations/differentiations if your child is happy socially at school but clearly (to you) not challenged?

Am I doing my child a disservice to advocate since he is happy socially? Or am I doing my child a disservice to not advocate since he is not challenged?

I am sure there is no right or wrong answer, but I am curious to hear from BTDT.