Oh, and it can be hard to persude a teacher that an "aren't" child is really GT. We had the test scores and school ID from the previous year for our son, and his 1st grade teacher *still* made noises to hint that she didn't think much of his abilities since "he didn't even finish his work." *sigh* <eye roll>
Many teachers think that a GT child is always an eager, compliant child. The "aren't" kids don't fit this mold, and are consequently much less likely to be served. But compliance is a personality trait, not a GT trait, and many GT kids don't have it.
Furthermore, if an "aren't" kid and a teacher get into a shoving match over an assignment--which may be what's happening here--it usually doesn't end the way the teacher thinks it will. "Aren't" kids are usually GT in stubbornness as much as anything else! Even if the teacher wins the battle, she's ultimately losing the war because the child loses respect for her. At the extreme end of things, a GT kid can do a lot to undermine a teacher if s/he chooses to. It can get ugly. And what it does to a child's sense of self and feelings toward authority are not good.
I guess what I'm saying is that if this is what's going on (and I freely admit that it may not be), it's best to nip it in the bud as fast as possible. It probably won't end well for anyone.
