ds is in 3rd grade in a dual-language magnet school (spanish-english). He has been receiving the in-school gifted services since K, and our school district offers an accelerated learning program for highly gifted kids (a differentiated school) beginning in 4th.
ds qualifies for the gifted school and it is up to us to decide whether or not we want him to go there for 4th and beyond.
The school is about as far away from us as possible within our school district. It's not exactly convenient. We have a younger child who could be moved to the same school but would then lose the spot in dual language.
He's bright, he's bored, he's a bit disruptive. Honestly, I can't imagine him not being bored in school - he just thinks quickly and gets ahead of things. But maybe this would be fixed by the separate gifted program?
he's also not especially concerned with achievement. And this gifted program is known for being a mix of naturally bright kids and hardworking, slightly less bright kids (cutoff is 97th). Would he fall behind or disengage if not as "motivated" as the other kids?
He has the IQ, but there's a lot more to school fit than just test scores. How can I figure out if this is a good move for him? or not?
Are differentiated gifted classrooms always a good choice?
And does anyone have any experience, good or bad, with placing a child in a program for gifted kids?
thanks for any answers.
