3. Questions everything. Picking things I say apart, challenging what I say. Asks a million questions if we are to do something new. "What about if...? What happens if...?" Seems to need the big picture to feel OK, otherwise gets anxious.
4. THRIVES on highly challenging, complex ideas. HATES doing easy tasks. Is not afraid of difficult tasks. Gets careless when things are too easy.
(This fact the teacher NEVER comments on, but that is another issue...:-/)
your #3 and #4 are exactly similar to DS7. He was not challenged in K (even with home made work packets at the appropriate level). And I started volunteering as a teaching aide on 1 day a week (when I could go in late to work) to just be there in the class and do some stimulating activities with him as well as to observe him. What I saw was that my DS was not paying attention to anything because it was all unchallenging to him. So, it was hard for him to follow directions because he was not listening to the teacher at all - he was busy observing other kids, interacting with the kid sitting next to him, trying to sharpen his pencil, fiddling with things etc. etc. In our case, we changed schools and the behavior is vastly different now.
And the teacher in K did not care if my DS could finish 5th grade math and LA worksheets - all she said was that a child incapable of neat handwriting would not be accelerated because he had not met the milestones of K learning (neat coloring and writing in this case). So, she never remarked on his academic abilities, because she considered my son "not ready" developmentally for anything other than tracing letters and counting and adding single digits. That year, I used to think sometimes that my son was in a sort of prison with recess being his only breaks (overly dramatic of me, I am sure!).
The fact that your DS grasps harder concepts is a sign that when he pays attention (if things interest him) he can follow along easily. I would strongly suggest that you have your son tested again for giftedness using the WISC (common in our area - I am guessing that maybe he is PG too and is bored) and then decide on how to get challenging work for him in the classroom. Good luck.
